Acupuncture

As an acupuncturist, you will make a unique contribution to patients, providing powerful treatment options for pain and other conditions. You’ll help solve public health challenges with acupuncture by treating pain effectively and without medications. Symptoms of stress, fatigue, women’s health disorders, and many other conditions will respond to your care. Through long-term, supportive relationships, you will work to relieve suffering and enhance wellness for patients of all ages.

Throughout your career, you’ll have control over your independent clinical practice as you make your own decisions about business goals, work hours, and schedule. As a leader in integrative medicine, you can provide care across a range of specialties, including pediatrics, women’s health, and elder care. You can focus on increasing patient access to acupuncture in hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and physician offices. However you choose to shape your acupuncture career, your clinical care of patients will be superior, based on your training that combines multiple modalities within Chinese Medicine with orthopedic assessments and interventions.

By choosing the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) at MCPHS for your acupuncture education, you’ll be studying an ancient medicine at a contemporary health sciences university. You’ll train side-by-side with other graduate students in the health professions, and through collaborative practice, you’ll learn to understand both their role and your own as part of an integrative medicine team. You’ll also have access to clinical placements in leading hospitals throughout New England. And when you graduate, you’ll be well-prepared to represent acupuncture in team-based care with advanced skills and confidence.

Looking for an undergraduate pathway to acupuncture? We offer a time-saving dual degree program that leads to a combined BS/MAc or BS/MAOM. Please see our Health Sciences: Acupuncture pathway program.

Questions about our acupuncture programs? Connect with our Worcester Admission Office at 508.373.5607.

Online
Worcester

Master of Acupuncture (MAc)

Worcester
Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAOM)

Worcester
Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Chinese Herbal Medicine (CAGS)

Worcester
Doctor of Acupuncture and Integrative Health (DAIH)

Online

Why Choose Acupuncture at MCPHS?

Distinguished Legacy

A leader in the integrative health medicine field, NESA has been training the next generation of healthcare providers for 40 years. Ours is now the largest acupuncture school operating within a regionally accredited health sciences university.

East-West Connection

By joining MCPHS, NESA connects Eastern medicine with Western health sciences to create the next generation of healthcare providers who embody integrative medicine.

Modern Facilities

Featuring the latest advancements, our brand new facility on the Worcester campus gives students the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe and effective acupuncture.

Clinical Experience

As a vital part of the acupuncture program, all students complete extensive internship components in biomedical partner facilities located in the greater Boston and Worcester areas.

Multiple Track Options

Both MCPHS degrees include a core curriculum in Chinese Acupuncture Studies with an optional Japanese Acupuncture Styles track for additional expertise. Students in the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine program also study Chinese Herbal Medicine as part of their required curriculum.

Leader in Japanese Acupuncture Education

Our school is a leader in Japanese acupuncture education in the U.S., teaching several different acupuncture styles brought from Japan.

National Board Certification

Upon graduation, students are eligible to sit for national board certification examinations provided by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) and to apply for state licensure.

Graduate to a Promising Career

A Field of Growth

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for health diagnosing and treating practitioners, including acupuncturists, is expected to grow at a faster rate than many other occupations, with a potential 13% increase in jobs needed by 2026. The Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine reports there are approximately 30,000 Acupuncture and Oriental licensees in the U.S.

Well-Prepared

With innovative training and immersive clinical opportunities, our graduates are extremely well prepared to enter and advance in the field of acupuncture and oriental medicine. Clinical education experiences are varied so that students are prepared for professional practice in an ever-changing healthcare environment.

Well-Paid

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for health diagnosing and treating practitioners, including acupuncturists, was $73,830 in May 2017. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) estimates that the median annual income among Acupuncture and Oriental medicine licensees is $52,000, with some incomes exceeding $100,000.

Mission Statement and Program Objectives

Our mission is to be the premier source for medical education rooted in the traditions of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for the next generation of healthcare providers.

Vision Statement

While fulfilling our educational mission within our community of scholarship, research, and public service we advocate for patients and for our profession, and commit to a lifelong process of learning to provide excellence in clinical care that promotes wellness and relieves pain and suffering.

Guiding Principles

We commit to the following beliefs:

Tradition: We honor Traditional Chinese Medicine teachings, materials and methods and apply innovative thinking to drive new discoveries and incorporate lifelong learning with historical wisdom.
Excellence: We are committed to the highest educational standards for training exceptional acupuncturists who will provide leadership and service locally and globally.
Integrity: We are bound by the ethical foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine to practice acupuncture and treat all who are in need of healthcare with respect, the highest quality of service and professionalism.
Diversity: We acknowledge and respect the variety of human experience and foster unity and common purpose both within our college and in the community at large.
Compassion: We are receptive to the suffering of others and provide relief with benevolence, kindness and tolerance for all who seek care.

Program Learning Objectives

NESA’s carefully designed programs graduate practitioners who:

Are able to apply the philosophies and theories of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine;
Can promote wellness, diagnose illness, and develop and implement effective treatment plans for patients;
Have an acceptable understanding of western medical terminology, pathophysiology and approaches to treating illness and are able to make informed and appropriate referrals;
Are prepared to establish and maintain successful clinical practices and can participate collaboratively in a variety of clinical settings;
Have an awareness and appreciation of research in Chinese Medicine.

Accreditation

The New England School of Acupuncture is programmatically accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM), which is the recognized accrediting agency for freestanding institutions and colleges of acupuncture or Oriental medicine that offer such programs. ACAOM is located at 8941 Aztec Drive, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55347; phone 952/212-2434; fax 952/657-7068.

In 2015, NESA was re-accredited through 2021.

Institutional accreditation by the New England Commission of Higher Education, Inc. was approved effective March 4, 2016, as NESA became a school with in the University in the merger effective March 31, 2016.

NESA's Master of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (MAOM) is an approved program with the California Acupuncture Board (CAB), allowing graduates to be eligible to sit for licensure exams in California.

Program Outcomes

NESA Graduation and Retention Rate 2017

Program	2014-15 Enrolled Students	Graduated 2017 (3-Yr)	Continuing	Withdrawn
MAc	59	23.7% (14)	N/A	16
MAOM	N/A	16.9% (10)	N/A	5
Total	59	40.7% (24)	23.7% (14)	35.6% (21)

The graduation rate for students completing their programs in three years was 40.7% (24/59), reflecting the Newton student population of working adults, who require additional time to complete part-time programs with numerous modified pathways. The overall retention rate, a combination of those who graduated in 3 years and those continuing in an extended sequence is 64.4% (38/59). The remaining 21 students (35.6&) withdrew for a variety of personal and academic reasons, likely reflecting challenges students face in balancing responsibilities for families, jobs, financial obligations, and their graduate studies. For the prior year, the overall retention rate was 77.8%, which included 27.8% (15/54) who graduated on-time in 3 years, 50% (27/54) who continued in an extended pathway, and 22.2% (12/54) who dropped for a variety of personal and academic reasons.

Placement Rate One Year After Graduation

Program	2013-14	2014-15	2015-2016
Placement Rate MAc	77.8% (21/27)	72.2% (13/18)	100.0% (15/15)
Placement Rate MAOM	87.5% (21/24)	50% (11/22)	81.0% (17/21)

Graduates are determined to be working in the field one year after graduation by survey and internet research documenting a professional website. Those not working in the field may be completing examination requirements and credentialing for licensure.

National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) Certification Examination Pass Rates

NESA/National Yearly Groupings	Acupuncture Point Location	Biomedicine	Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM)	Foundations of OM
2017 NESA	82.9%	82.5%	94.4%	89.7%
2017 National	79.4%	74.5%	83.9%	79.1%
2016 NESA	89.5%	73.7%	86.4%	88.0%
2016 National	75.9%	73.5%	78.0%	78.0%
2015 NESA	87.8%	76.5%	72.7%	79.2%
2015 National	79.8%	72.3%	80.2%	78.1%

*First Time Testers

2017 board scores for NESA students exceeded our accreditor’s threshold of 70%, our internal goal pass rate of 80%, and national averages. Scores improved in 3 out of 4 domains. The Biomedicine pass rate improved by 9 percentage points compared to last year’s rate following improvements in a preparation program provided for students.

The Newton Campus

In March 2016, New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) became part of MCPHS University. NESA has been synonymous with excellence in acupuncture education since 1974, making NESA the oldest acupuncture program in the US. By joining MCPHS, NESA connects Eastern medicine with Western health sciences to create the next generation of healthcare providers who embody integrative medicine. Students who matriculated prior to the fall 2016 semester will complete their program at the Newton Campus.

The facility in Newton has a Teaching Center and Chinese Herbal Medicine Center, servicing area acupuncture patients with low cost treatments.

Download the Newton campus curriculum.

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