You would not allow an acedemic Ph.D to perform heart surgery, a pharmacist to perform dentistry or a hosptial volunteer to delivery a baby. These are obvious unsafe practices that would never be tolerated, even if there was a weekend certification course to support it. Dry needling vs acupuncture is a question of semantics. If you feel dry needling is a more medical or professional description, so be it. One must still respect the standards of care, training and medicine behind this "procedure". A physical therapist that utilizes a filiform needle, inserting that needle into a point to ilicit a specific reaction either by manual or elecrical stimulation is performing acupuncture-without the 2000+ hours of didactic and internship training, without the knowledge or needle finesse required to maintain a safe environment for the patient-because this is not their scope of care. This lack of specialty knowledge and training may and does create an environment of pain, anxiety and potential negative outcomes. Studies in other heathcare professions show that specialty trained practitioners are more apt to create healthy safe environments, as well as identify problems and utilize the critical thought process. While the practice of dry needling by a physical therapist may not be an obvious unsafe practice as those sited above, wouldn't you want your family member to be treated by a practitioner with the education, fellowship and hands on training required to earn a graduate degree in this specialty? That would be an Acupuncturist.