The Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association Ltd
The Australian Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Association Ltd (AACMA) is the leading national professional association of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners. AACMA represents the national benchmark standard in TCM education and practice which must be met before accreditation and membership can be obtained.
AACMA members are bound to a high standard of ethical and professional conduct through adherence to our national practitioner accreditation standards, Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.
AACMA practitioner members are accredited with the Australian Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner Accreditation Board, established by AACMA in 2003 with the support of the Commonwealth Complementary Therapies Funding Program.
A Modern Profession
In Australia, AACMA TCM practitioners are qualified primary contact health care professionals. Most practitioners operate in Private practice, however there are increasing numbers working from community health centres or in academic and/or clinical research.
Qualified practitioners are educated in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, diagnosis and assessment as well as ie Western bio-medical sciences. Clinical decision-making end patient management strategies are also influenced by contemporary Western approaches to health care, such as infection control practices and the known interactions of herbal medicines with pharmaceuticals or other therapeutic substances.
Some substances that were once part of traditional TCM usage, such herbs that are now on the endangered species list, are no longer used in contemporary professional TCM practice.