January 31, 2002 - Sacramento - The California Acupuncture Board issued its annual report to the Legislature, stating that over one thousand examinations were given, six hundred new licenses issued, and a total of 7,592 current licensees. Additionally, the licensing examination performance standards were exceptionally high.




STATE OF CALIFORNIA - STATE AND CONSUMER SERVICES AGENCY                                                        GRAY DAVIS, Governor
ACUPUNCTURE BOARD
1424 Howe Avenue, Suite 37, Sacramento, CA 95825-3223
Telephone: (916) 263-2680 / CNET: (8) 435-2680 / FAX: (916) 263-2654
CA Relay Service TT/TDD (800) 735-2929 / DCA TDD (916) 322-1700
www.acupuncture.ca.gov

REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON STANDARDS, TEST,
AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
January 31, 2002

Pursuant to Business and Professions Code Section 4946, this report is being submitted to the
Legislature addressing the standards, test, and experience requirements relating to the practice
of acupuncture.

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE STANDARDS
There are three avenues for meeting the educational requirements to become licensed as an
acupuncturist in California. Business and Professions Code Section 4938 defines that the Board
shall issue a license to practice acupuncture to any person who makes an application and meets
the following requirements:
(a) Is at least 18 years of age.
(b) Furnishes satisfactory evidence of completion of one of the following:
(1) An educational and training program approved by the Board pursuant
to Section 4939.
(2) Satisfactory completion of a tutorial program in the practice of an
acupuncturist which is approved by the Board.
(3) In the case of an applicant who has completed education and training
outside the United States and Canada, documented educational training
and clinical experience which meets the standards established pursuant to
Sections 4939 and 4941.
(c) Passes a written examination administered by the Board that tests the
applicant's ability, competency, and knowledge in the practice of an
acupuncturist. The written examination shall be developed by the Office of
Examination Resources of the Department of Consumer Affairs.
(d) Is not subject to denial pursuant to Division 1.5 (commencing with Section
475).

Pursuant to the above, subsection (b)(1) involves graduation from an approved acupuncture
school or college with a specified minimum curriculum of 2,348 hours (1,548 didactic/theoretical
training and 800 hours supervised clinical training) as defined in Title 16, California Code of
Regulations Section 1399.436. Subsection (b)(2) involves completion of a tutorial program
consisting of 2,850 hours (2,250 hours clinical training and 600 hours theoretical/didactic
training) as defined in Title 16, California Code of Regulation Section 1399.425. Subsection
(b)(3) requires that foreign-trained applicants must meet the minimum curriculum requirements
and hours as defined in subsection (b)(1).

EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS
Upon completion of the educational requirements for licensure, applicants are eligible to apply
for the California Acupuncture Licensing Examination. Passage of this examination is
required in order to obtain a license in California. The written examination tests the applicant's
ability, competency, and knowledge in the practice of an acupuncturist. The Department of
Consumer Affairs Office of Examination Resources (OER) develops the written examination.
The licensing examination consists of 200 multiple choice questions, which is administered
twice yearly and adapted into three languages, English, Mandarin and Korean. The
examination is administered by Cooperative Personnel Services (CPS) of Sacramento.

LICENSING STATISTICS
The dates of the last four written licensing examinations were June 12, 2000, December 13,
2000, June 20, 2001 and January 23, 2002. For the purposes of this report statistical data will
be provided for the December 2000 and June 2001 examinations since those candidates who
passed the December 2000 examination would have applied for licensure in early 2001 and be
included in the year 2001statistics.

The Board administered the December 13, 2000 written examination to 585 candidates (i.e.,
317 English, 151 Mandarin and 114 Korean) of which 56 percent/327candidates passed. The
June 20, 2001 written examination was administered to 572 candidates (i.e., 279 English, 154
Mandarin and 139 Korean), of which 51 percent/295 candidates passed.

A total of 608 new acupuncture licenses were issued during the period of January 1, 2001 to
December 31, 2001. As of December 31, 2001 a total of 7,592 licenses have been issued
under Chapter 12, Business and Professions Code.

CONCLUSION - OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF EXAMINATION
The California Acupuncture Licensing Examination is performing at its highest level ever.
OER?s evaluation of the June 2001examination indicated that overall the June examination
was highly reliable (.94) with an acceptable level of difficulty (.71) and standard error of
measurement (5.57). These statistics indicated that the June 2001 examination was more
reliable than the December 2000, which had a reliability coefficient of .92. In addition, the
June 2001 had less error variance than the December 2000 examination, which had a standard
error of measurement index of 6.68.

Submitted By:
Marilyn Nielsen
Executive Officer