Have been a recipient of acupuncture for many years. It has helped me to recover from many kinds of musculoskeletal issues. I only go to licensed acupuncturists because I know they have completed many years of training. The educational requirement for licensing in California is 4 years didactic in the classroom as well as a clinical internship of over 800 hours seeing patients under licensed supervision. VA also requires acupuncturists it licenses to complete this standard education and pass the 3-part NCCAOM licensing exam to be licensed to practice in VA. It makes sense to standardize the practice and licensing for acupuncture in VA for anyone (PT, RN, DC, and/or MD) who wants to use any type of acupuncture in their practice. The public should be able to reasonably expect that people practicing acupuncture all have the same training. The general MD has the same training worldwide. When you go to a general MD, you don't wonder if they have different training. It is detrimental to public safety that other medical professionals have been allowed to adopt tools in the acupuncturist's scope of practice without the same level of training and education, not to mention being unlicensed for the practice of acupuncture. Acupuncturists would never be able to do surgery for instance, without a license as an MD. Please create a standard for the practice of acupuncture in your state. For clarity and the safety of consumers, regulate the education, practice and licensing of acupuncture for all health professionals -- if they want to practice acupuncture, require them to get the education, training and most of all, the license to practice it.