What is the training for Chinese herbal medicine in the USA?
Chinese herbal medicine in the United States was long practiced in Asian immigrant communities, while acupuncture colleges have added herbal programs only for the past decade or so. A majority of colleges now offer herbal training with a minimum of 450 hours, which is prerequisite for taking the national certification exam in herbology given by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). While the NCCAOM acupuncture exam is standard requirement for licensing in most states, the herbal exam is only mandatory in a few. It is not required in Maine, therefore many practitioners may not have opted to take this exam, although they have the required training. Those who have passed the exam have earned the title Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM), Diplomate of Chinese Herbology of the NCCAOM. A number of acupuncture colleges offer an herbal track only as elective. Some older practitioners who studied acupuncture before herbal programs were introduced have taken short
