Acupuncturists Put a Fine Point on Helping Patients

Acupuncturists used to hang out a shingle, advertise and hope that patients would materialize. The latest trend is for these practitioners to work in hospitals or clinics with a variety of providers in what's come to be known as integrative healthcare.

"Many hospitals, allopathic clinics and specialty clinics are actually seeking out acupuncturists to join their practices. Acupuncturists are also frequently partnering with chiropractors, massage therapists and naturopathic physicians," says Mark McKenzie, dean of the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington (www.nwhealth.edu). "It's still early in that transition, but I think with the Obama administration's focus on health reform, complementary therapies will see an increase in use because of the cost-effective nature of the treatment."

Although it represents one aspect of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is still a relatively new discipline in the United States, according to Patricia Culliton, who helped pioneer the practice in Minnesota. Now director of Hennepin Integrative Health Services, Culliton co-founded the first acupuncture clinic in Minneapolis in 1982. Her current clinic, part of Hennepin County Medical Center (www.HennIHS.org), employs seven acupuncturists, most part time.

What Patients Seek

Eighty percent of that clinic's acupuncture patients come in seeking pain relief for their back, neck, shoulder, head or joints, Culliton says. Most of the rest are seeking help for infertility and other women's healthcare issues or for gastrointestinal problems such as acid reflux.

Culliton also teaches at Northwestern, which offers master's degree programs in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. The latter includes acupuncture and education in medicinal Chinese herbs.

Supplementing Western Medicine

Acupuncturists are licensed by the Minnesota Board of Medical Examiners. To keep costs down these days, some are setting up practice with multiple chairs in one room instead of private treatment rooms, Culliton says. She warns that most new acupuncturists shouldn't expect to practice full-time.