Holistic Medicine and Holistic Education: Radical Side Effects of Acupuncture Accreditation
Item
Title
Holistic Medicine and Holistic Education: Radical Side Effects of Acupuncture Accreditation
Description
EJOM (2007), Hougham, Paul.
Abstract
Since 1990 the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board (BAAB) has been accrediting licentiate and degree level acupuncture professional courses in Britain. Its success as a rigorous regulator has been celebrated by government and even noted by other healthcare professions, but its accreditation processes have also had beneficial educational effects. The work of the Board has been helping the acupuncture profession to move purposefully towards a sophisticated framework of educational practice that is marked by the same holistic world view as the practice of acupuncture itself. In the main acupuncture traditions, holism is the starting point for all theory and for all practice. In medical contexts, holism entails the integration and interpenetration of the life of the spirit with that of the mind and body, requiring always that the whole person be treated in sickness and in health. There is nothing irrational or anti-empirical about this holism, even though it takes practitioners into areas of reality and knowledge uncharted by mainstream medical science. This article tracks the central rhythms of the holistic education vision developed by the British Acupuncture Council, explains the role of its Accreditation Board, and suggests how the vision might speak to a wider audience.
Alternative Title
EJOM
Creator
Date
Date Created
2/26/2015
Language
English
Type
Journal Article
issn
1351-6647
issue
5
volume
5