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Career Details

29-1291.00 - Acupuncturists


Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
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Forecasted Employment
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Change in Employment
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Change in Employment %
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Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Formulate herbal preparations to treat conditions considering herbal properties, such as taste, toxicity, effects of preparation, contraindications, and incompatibilities.
  • Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
  • Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.
  • Dispense herbal formulas and inform patients of dosages and frequencies, treatment duration, possible side effects, and drug interactions.
  • Consider Western medical procedures in health assessment, health care team communication, and care referrals.
  • Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
  • Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
  • Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques.
  • Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health.
  • Assess patients' general physical appearance to make diagnoses.
  • Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.
  • Apply moxibustion directly or indirectly to patients using Chinese, non-scarring, stick, or pole moxa.
  • Apply heat or cold therapy to patients using materials, such as heat pads, hydrocollator packs, warm compresses, cold compresses, heat lamps, or vapor coolants.
  • Analyze physical findings and medical histories to make diagnoses according to Oriental medicine traditions.
  • Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.
  • Treat medical conditions, using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, or tuina.
  • Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.
  • Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Medicine and Dentistry
  • 92%
    Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 83%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Therapy and Counseling
  • 81%
    Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
 Psychology
  • 78%
    Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
 Sales and Marketing
  • 73%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
 Education and Training
  • 72%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 English Language
  • 72%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Administration and Management
  • 64%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Biology
  • 59%
    Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
 Clerical
  • 57%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 56%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Economics and Accounting
  • 52%
    Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
 Sociology and Anthropology
  • 52%
    Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
 Personnel and Human Resources
  • 51%
    Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Holding and clamping tools
  • Tack tweezers
  • Wide grip tweezers
 Pumps
  • Ion pumps
 Specimen collection and transport containers and supplies
  • Lancet needles
  • Three-edged bloodletting needles
 Electrotherapy equipment
  • Digital electronic acupunctoscopes
  • Electroacupuncture stimulation units
  • Electronic muscle stimulators
  • Four sensor probes
  • Microcurrent systems
  • Pen probes
  • Pulsed magnetic field generators
  • Trancutaneous electrical nerve stimulation TENS units
 Floor grade instruments
  • Angle tip forceps
  • Hemostat clamps
  • Lockable forceps
  • Splinter forceps
 Heat and cold therapy products
  • Digital heat lamps
  • Infrared heat lamps
  • Mineral wave lamps
  • Portable heat lamps
  • Hydrocollator units
  • Moxa boxes
  • Moxa burners
  • Moxa burning bowls
  • Moxa cans
  • Tiger warmers
  • Glass cupping sets
  • Magnetic cupping sets
  • Moxa extinguishers
  • Moxa spoons
  • Plastic cupping sets
  • Therapeutic cooling packs
  • Therapeutic heating packs
 Injection and aspiration needles and accessories
  • Acupuncture needle guide tubes
  • Needle inserters
  • Needle plungers
  • Ear needles
  • Filiform acupuncture needles
  • Intradermal acupuncture needles
  • Press needles
  • Seven-star needles
  • Biohazard containers
 Acupuncture equipment
  • Ear tacks
  • Therapeutic acupuncture magnets
 Blood pressure units and related products
  • Blood pressure monitors
  • Adenoid sphygmomanometers
 Neurological exam products
  • Wartenberg pinwheels
  • Babinski hammers
  • Buck neurological hammers
  • Taylor-type percussion hammers
  • Acupuncture ear probes
 Hearing testing products
  • Acutonics tuning forks
 Rehabilitation exercise devices and equipment
  • Positioning bolsters
  • Gua sha tools
  • Manaka hammers
  • Rolling drums
  • Ultrasound massagers
  • Vibration massagers
  • Hand exercise balls
  • Hand rollers
  • Magnetic finger rings
  • Massage chairs
  • Massage tables
 Bandages and dressings and related products
  • Bandage scissors
  • Scissor pincettes
 Bath and body
  • Foot rollers
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Word processing software
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
 Industry specific software
  • AcuBase Pro
  • AcuPartner Professional
  • Electronic health record EHR software
  • Miridia Technology AcuGraph
  • QPuncture II
  • Qchart
  • Qpalm Acupuncture
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific certifications are listed for this career
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
A program directly related to this occupation is currently not offered by any of our partner institutions. You should contact the Institution(s) you are considering to discuss other options that may meet your needs and background.
Jobs
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Jobs related to this career may be found on Indeed.com or on the Google Job Search page.