Acupuncture Society Accreditation began in 1998 and has been setting high standards of training and practice in acupuncture and TCM.

The ASA ensures that accredited colleges keep up to date with new professional and academic standards in Traditional Chinese medicine.

Standards adopted by the ASA are in line with other professionals in the field.

The ASA follows closely and adopts any new emerging industry standards which are to be undertaken by accredited colleges.


Enquiries please email
asa@acupuncturesociety.org.uk


The Acupuncture Society Accreditation of the College of Chinese Medicine began in spring 1998.

The objective of the accreditation process was to ensure that the College and its syllabus:

A) Preserved its original character combining Chinese Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Ancient Chinese with Modern Western Diagnosis

B) That the procedure was established to enable the course to be regularly updated in line with others in the profession

C) That the Western Bio Science content was to be taught by experts in each field

D) That the College should begin using industry standards of Mandarin for Herbs and point numbers for Acupuncture

E) That the course should be practical and included all students regular access to College Teaching Clinic

Acupuncture Society Accreditation has been evaluating and regulating the College of Chinese Medicine since 1998.

The Acupuncture Society is a non profit company and the Societies register has been in existence since 1998

The Society represents the views of its members on professional issues

All Acupuncture Society Committees consist of 2 Society members a lay person

Acupuncture Society Accreditation annually revues its stated objectives against the achieved outcome made by the college during each year

Society members with criminal records must disclose these in full to the registrar

Society members must demonstrate sufficient command of the English language to be able to carry out one's work adequately

Each spring since 1998 acupuncture society accreditation officers have met with representatives of the college of Chinese medicine to set achievement targets the outcome of which are monitored at subsequent annual meetings.

Acupuncture Society Accreditation officer's serve on a voluntary basis and are not paid for their efforts

Officers may sit in on any lectures, question lecturers, can request syllabus information, inspect college records, talk to students and examine examination records, they may consult with experts to be informed of up to date movements within the industry.

The College is obliged under the terms of the accreditation process not to restrict or impede officers carrying out their enquiries and is bound to act on their recommendations

Accredited TCM Curriculum for The College of Chinese Medicine

Course outline

Below is an outline of the twelve main modules covered by the course, and the number of hours assigned to each.

MODULE	Contact hours	Home study	Total
Anatomy and Physiology	70	180	250
Plant Chemistry and Pharmacology	52.5	125	177.5
Nutrition	17.5	45	62.5
Clinical Medicine I and II	122.5	245	367.5
TCM Theory	77	210	287
Traditional Diagnosis and Treatment I & II	122.5	367.5	490
Acupuncture I, II and III	182	546	728
Chinese Herbal Medicine I, II and III	175	525	700
Acupressure Massage	28	56	84
Practitioner Research	21	42	63
Practitioner Development & Ethics	14	28	42
Clinical Practice	420	840	1020
TOTAL	1,302	3,209.5	4,511.5

Twenty weekends plus one weekend of introduction Ten additional days of clinical attachment (80 hours) One day First Aid course

(AM and PM college sessions are each 3.5 hours in duration, and clinical attachment days are 8 hours in duration)

MODULES COVERED

1. Anatomy and Physiology
2. Plant Chemistry and Pharmacology
3. Nutrition
4. TCM Theory
5. Chinese Herbal Medicine I
6. Acupuncture I
7. Clinical Practice I

1st weekend	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Anatomy & Physiology	TCM Theory
PM	Anatomy & Physiology	Chinese Herbal Medicine I
2nd weekend
AM	Plant Chemistry & Pharmacology	TCM Theory
PM	Plant Chemistry & Pharmacology	Acupuncture I
Weekends 17 - 21 on alternate weekends:
1st weekend	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Anatomy & Physiology	TCM Theory
PM	Anatomy & Physiology	Chinese Herbal Medicine I
2nd weekend
AM	Nutrition	TCM Theory
PM	Nutrition	Acupuncture I

Twenty one weekends Ten additional days of clinical attachment (80 hours)

MODULES COVERED

1. Clinical Medicine I
2. Traditional Diagnosis and Treatment I
3. Chinese Herbal Medicine II
4. Acupuncture II
5. Acupressure Massage
7. Clinical Practice II

1st weekend	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Clinical Medicine I	Acupuncture II
PM	Clinical Medicine I	Chinese Herbal Medicine II
2nd weekend
AM	Traditional Diagnosis I	Acupuncture II
PM	Traditional Diagnosis I	Chinese Herbal Medicine II
Weekends 20 - 21
	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Acupressure Massage	Acupressure Massage
PM	Acupressure Massage	Acupressure Massage

Twenty one weekends Twenty additional days of clinical attachment (160 hours)

MODULES COVERED

1.Clinical Medicine II
2. Traditional Diagnosis II
3. Chinese Herbal Medicine III
4. Acupuncture III
5. Practitioner Research
6. Practitioner Development, Ethics and Dynamics of Private Practice
7. Clinical Practice III

1st weekend	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Clinical Medicine II	Acupuncture III
PM	Clinical Medicine II	Chinese Herbal Medicine III
2nd weekend
AM	Traditional Diagnosis I	Acupuncture III
PM	Traditional Diagnosis I	Chinese Herbal Medicine III
Weekends 17 - 19
	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Practitioner Research	Acupuncture III
PM	Practitioner Research	Chinese Herbal Medicine III
Weekends 20 - 21
	Saturday	Sunday
AM	Practitioner Development & Ethics	Acupuncture III
PM	Practitioner Development & Ethics	Chinese Herbal Medicine III

The forth year comprises of 100 hours of supervised clinical work and individual case study projects. There are 3 meetings on a one-to-one basis for analysis and discussion on the students work.

Course Particulars

The course satisfies the length requirements of the Acupuncture Society Accreditation for Acupuncture and TCM Education.

	Lecture Hours	Clinic Hours	Home Study
Year 1:	294	80	871
Year 2:	294	80	907.5
Year 3:	294	160	951
Year 4:		100	200
Total:	882	420	3,209.5	4511.5

Successful students are awarded a Certificate from the College.

The College has designed its curriculum to explicitly meet its educational objectives, and is committed to an ongoing process of improvement and refinement to the course

Please refer to curriculum

The Acupuncture Society's Code of Ethics, Rules and Regulations has been fully adopted by the College, and is taught and assessed as part of a Year 3 Module Practitioner Development & Ethics..

Please refer to curriculum.

The College places great emphasis on patient-centred education firmly based in clinical practice, and fully embraces the Acupuncture Society's standards for professional competence.

Regular student evaluation identifies potential areas for improvement to tutorial support.