The Auditor
State of Hawai‘i

A Comparative Study of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Professional and Vocational Licenses

Report No. 05-14
December 2005

 

Foreword

Introduction

License Summaries

Accountant, Certified Public

Acupuncture

Chiropractor

Contractor

Electrician, Journeyman

Electrician, Supervising

Optometrist

Osteopathic Physician

Pharmacist

Pharmacy

Physician

Physician Assistant

Plumber, Journeyman

Plumber, Master

Podiatrist

Veterinarian

 

ACUPUNCTURE

Summary Overall Rank Education Examination Continuing Education License Fees Table

Summary

Hawai‘i’s acupuncture license requirements are slightly lower than the national median. It ranks in the top quintile in educational hours required, but in the bottom quintile in examination and continuing education.

Requirement

Hawai‘i

Category Rank

National Median

OVERALL RANK (quintile)

 4

 

 

Education

2175 hours (1515 didactic and 660 clinical)

1

1725 hours (1065 didactic and 660 clinical)

Examination

2 parts of the NCCAOM examination

5

4 parts of the NCCAOM examination

Fees

$405

3

$405

Continuing Education

None

5

12 hours per year; twelve states, including Hawai‘i, do not require continuing education.

Reciprocity or Endorsement

Yes

5

Yes

Notes on acupuncture ranking:

1 = most difficult, most requirements, highest fees.
5 = least difficult, fewest requirements, lowest fees.

Licensing:  Eleven states do not issue a separate acupuncture license. Some of those states define acupuncture as part of the practice of medicine or chiropractic and may require additional education, examination, or registration. We did not include the eleven states in this study.

Education:  Rank is based on the minimum hours required by a state. Some states that require National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) certification (which requires completion of an accredited program) or completion of an Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) accredited program may not specify the minimum number of hours or may specify fewer hours than required for ACAOM accreditation. We set the hours in those states at the ACAOM minimum of 1725 hours. The ACAOM currently requires 1905 hours for students entering a program after July 2004, however, students graduating in 2005 and 2006 fall under the lower requirement.

Examination: Rank is based on the number of parts of the NCCAOM examination required and whether the state has its own examination. The NCCAOM examination is required by all states, except California, and is in six parts. States require passing from two to six parts of the examination. For purposes of this study, the California state examination is considered to be equivalent to two parts of the NCCAOM examination.
Source:
NCCAOM State Licensure Information (www.nccaom.org/StateData.htm). 

Fees: Rank is based on the cost of an initial license, an annualized renewal fee, and the application or registration fee for the supervising physician. This reflects the cost of obtaining and renewing a license.

Continuing education: This is expressed as hours per year.  Hawai‘i is one of twelve states that do not require continuing education.

Reciprocity:  Hawai‘i is one of twenty-two states that provide some form of reciprocity or endorsement.