Dry needling training is entirely inadequate to protect public safety and consumers. Most dry needling courses involve only one or two weekends of training and does not include any of the supervised clinical training that has been critical to providing the real-world experience that has been key to acupuncture’s strong reputation for safety and effectiveness. In comparison, acupuncturists in Virginia are required to have at least 1,365 hours of acupuncture-specific training including 705 hours of acupuncture-specific didactic material and 660 hours of supervised clinical training. Even medical doctors with extensive training in the use of invasive medical devices, such as acupuncture needles, need to have 300 hours of training in acupuncture (including 100 hours of clinical training) to satisfy the minimal standards for certification from the American Board of Medical Acupuncture (ABMA).

Please consider public safety and leave Acupuncture/Dry needling to properly trained practitioners.

Sincerely,

Joachim Marque