A letter on behalf of FSOMA

On September 24, 2024 the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM) published a Call for Public Comment on its website regarding entry-level doctoral degree completion tracks. The Commission proposes ending the doctoral completion track option. Entry-level doctoral degree completion tracks would no longer be an option for ACAHM-accredited programs after January 1, 2030. 

It is common sense that our profession should follow the same path that physical therapists and other professions have accomplished, accepting a professional doctorate degree as an entry-level requirement. Yes, it is well understood that the integrity of the entry-level doctoral degree should be strengthened. However, it should be done in a sensible and considerate way for the profession and the acupuncture colleges.

Currently, roughly half of the United States acupuncture colleges offer entry-level doctorate degrees, and another half do not. According to some acupuncture colleges’ feedback, it takes about ten years to institute and accredit the entry-level doctorate track. That means those colleges that do not have established entry-level doctorate programs will continue to enroll students in master’s degrees at minimum until 2034 while they are working on upbringing entry-level doctorate programs.  If the ACAHM eliminates the completion track in 2030, how will it affect colleges? Will they be losing students to other colleges because they were planning to take a completion track upon graduation, which will no longer be an option? It seems to be devastating politics for our colleges who already have financial hardship.

Also, this situation raises the question for those acupuncturists with master’s degrees who do not have the financial opportunity to accomplish the completion track before 2030 or those who graduate with master’s degrees past the 2030-year mark: what future perspective will they have? Will they be left behind with only a master’s degree, which will hinder employment options? Or will they be compelled to enroll in 4 years of an entry-level doctorate from the start? That does not make sense, period! Or will they be forced to pursue 1200 hours of mixed online/in-person advanced doctorate instead of 300 purely online entry-level doctorate for half the price for direct costs? Not to mention that subjects studied at the completion track and advanced doctorates are entirely different.

Would it make common sense to help ALL acupuncture colleges to offer entry-level doctorates first while gradually discontinuing offering a master's degree and only then contemplating discontinuation of the completion track? Especially since it is not a separate program; it is just a compilation of classes that differ master’s from a doctorate degree. Therefore, a slowdown in current enrollment into a completion tract cannot justify discontinuing the completion track because those classes are taught as a part of an entry-level doctorate anyway!

To conclude, will the elimination of the entry-level doctoral degree completion track hinge on the advancement of our master’s degree graduates, precluding them from employment in the future and defeating the success of the profession at large? The discontinuation of the completion track in 2030 seems to be severely premature. 

Should ACAHM organize a town hall for the profession to explain their thoughts about the proposal to end an entry-level doctorate completion track and discuss our concerns before making harsh decisions? 

What is your opinion? Tell it to the ACAHM at https://www.acahm.org/blog/nbspcall-for-public-comment-entry-level-doctoral-degree-completion-tracks. The deadline for public comments is October 24, 2024. Act NOW!