ACAOM Welcomes Comments on First-Professional Doctoral Standards

The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) established a Doctoral Task Force composed of representatives of the key national AOM organizations to develop proposed standards for accrediting first professional doctoral (“FPD”) programs.  The Task Force presented its first draft of the standards to the Commission for consideration, and the draft was subsequently subjected to the Commission’s public comment and hearing protocols, including an on-line standards survey.   

Following its review of the comments received on the first draft, the Commission adopted a resolution in February 2008 placing the development and piloting of accreditation standards for reviewing first professional doctoral (“FPD”) programs on hold pending evidence of consensus among the profession’s stakeholders for moving forward.  Based on comments received from a number of stakeholders in response to the Commission-adopted resolution, at its summer 2009 meeting ACAOM adopted a motion to continue the comment period for seeking information and consensus regarding the first professional doctorate until January 15, 2010. The Commission will then review all submitted comments and documentation to assess the degree of consensus respecting the FPD at its February 2010 meeting.  

Thus if ACAOM communities of interest wish to provide input on the question of whether to develop and pilot standards for FPD programs, written comments must be received at the Commission’s offices no later than January 15, 2010.  

For additional information, please go to the ACAOM website at http://www.acaom.org/PdfVersion/ACAOM%20Reconsiders%20Resolution%20on%20FPDx%2009.pdf.