In Memory of Al Loren Stone

With the untimely passing of Al Stone, LAc on May 24th, the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine has lost one of its most dedicated and revered pioneers. A teacher, practitioner and advocate responsible for introducing acupuncture to the masses in 1999 through the founding of acupuncture.com and gancao.net, Al's accomplishments and reputation for excellence will long be remembered, felt and appreciated. Over the years, Al dedicated a significant amount of time and energy towards building the AAAOM, particularly in the areas of web technologies and herbal medicine regulation. He continuously advocated for a strong web presence and technology staff. In honor of Al and his work, the AAAOM is founding the Stone Memorial Fund—its purpose being to raise money for a prominent and informative web presence for our field. More details will follow in the coming weeks. The AAAOM thanks and recognizes Al for his life's work, dedication, and persistence in developing our field and profession.

Read Recalling My Brother Al—1958 to 2013—and His Career in Chinese Medicine, written by Ken Stone.

Join AAAOM at 10^th World Congress of Chinese Medicine Educational Conference

We welcome and encourage your participation in joining the AAAOM and congress delegates from all over the world on September 21-22, 2013 by participating in our 2013 AAAOM educational conference to be held in conjunction with the 10th World Congress of Chinese Medicine. Earn 16 CEUs by attending this global educational and networking opportunity.

Key Educational Topics:

• Clinical practice and research on the theories of Chinese medicine
• Clinical practice and research on theories of Chinese pharmacology and acupuncture
• Methodology on scientific research and Chinese medicine education
• Research on legislation and legalization of Chinese medicine
• Register for the conference and/or the banquet
• RESERVE YOUR ROOM AT THE HYATT REGENCY SANTA CLARA

Student Registration:

• $100 for two days of classes and networking (does not include lunch or coffee breaks. Items can be purchased on-site)
• Saturday night banquet (optional) is an additional $95
• Register for the conference and/or the banquet
• RESERVE YOUR ROOM AT THE HYATT REGENCY SANTA CLARA

Professional Registration:

• $330 for two days of 16 CEU/PDAs, and networking. Price includes two lunches and four coffee breaks as well as all handouts.
• AAAOM members receive 50% registering for the conference and/or the banquet on the AAAOM site. 50% discount will not be applied via the WCCM site
• Saturday night banquet (optional) is an additional $95
• RESERVE YOUR ROOM AT THE HYATT REGENCY SANTA CLARA

Vendor Registration:

• Only $1500 for two days in the exhibition hall
• Reserve your booth to exhibit
• View exhibit hall

Acupuncture as an Essential Health Benefit (EHB)

The New York Times looks at Acupuncture's inclusion in California, Maryland, New Mexico and Washington. Alaska and Nevada are also likely to do so.

The AAAOM wants to see acupuncture covered by your insurance policy and underwent a letter writing campaign. Your efforts sent a strong voice to policymakers. We welcome additional letters to keep the momentum moving forward. If you would still like to write a letter expressing your desire for acupuncture being designated as an essential health benefit, you can do so by simply clicking HERE to open a pre-written email message right now.

• EHB Economic Evaluation in Acupuncture
• Essential Health Benefits letter sent to HHS
• Letters of Support received by AAAOM

The Supreme Court has ruled, ACA is constitutional.

But what does it mean for us? Our friends at CSOMA explain "acupuncture parity" which is good news for Californians, but with lessons for every state.

The Secretkeepers: Benefiting AOM for Veterans

Purchasers of The Secretkeepers will automatically be donating to the Veterans Fund, a charitable fund that provides Oriental medicine treatments to military veterans. Michael Taromina, author of The Secretkeepers, has long been an advocate for increasing veterans' access to, and coverage for, effective Oriental medicine treatments in the U.S. The Secretkeepers, set in Southeast Asia in the years 1972 and 1992, is a fictional novel about a father and a son. The action-filled chapters alternate between the U.S. and Vietnamese conflict and political and emotional reconciliation a generation later.

Synopsis: A young American capitalist finds himself on top of the world in communist Vietnam,but his dreams of riches and romance quickly descend into a nightmare when secrets from his father’s past come back to haunt him.

Mr. Taromina has directed that any royalties from The Secretkeepers go to this worthy cause. The first novel of longtime friend (and member) of AAAOM, Michael Taromina, has reached the online bookshelves. Paperback is currently available at Lulu. Keep up with all the happenings surrounding this book by liking The Secretkeepers on Facebook.

You can also mail donations to: Veterans Fund, c/o Michael Taromina, 714 Broadway, Suite Five, Paterson, NJ 07514.

The American Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) received valuable input and perspective that will be used as the basis of our ongoing efforts to represent the profession.

This survey, which was distributed to approximately 23,000 individuals with 1655 respondents, provided important information about sensitive topics facing our profession. Adequately defined items that received clear responses may continue to be used in future surveys. Inadequately defined questions that received unclear responses will be modified and may be investigated further in future surveys.

• AAAOM's Final recommendations on the FPD standards (second draft)
• AAAOM's Preliminary Report on the Annual Survey
• AAAOM's Guide to the First Professional Doctorate

Announce your JOB OPENING

The AAAOM Career Center is an online recruitment resource for the acupuncture profession. Job seekers can search for open positions.

Post your current opening in our career and volunteer center. Many AAAOM members are subscribed to new announcements and refer to the AAAOM for such resources.