On Saturday, 31 May 2014, at 5:30pmCT the Tennessee Acupuncture Council (TAC) met at Scarritt-Bennett Center, Nashville, TN. There were 20 LAc and ADS in attendance. Judi Harrick and Jill Kelly facilitated the meeting. Current TAC president, Bret Moldenhauer, LAc, was regretfully unable to attend.
Dry needling was discussed. There is a request by the Physical Therapy Board that is waiting on the Tennessee Attorney General’s opinion regarding “dry needling”. As we have been advised by multiple state attorneys serving our license board, we must just wait for that opinion to present before any further action there.
Mention was made of Nurse Practitioner license act changing in 2013 to include the term “integrative medicine”. Note was made of some NP’s “practicing acupuncture” under that act.
Please note, our acupuncture license defines the practice. Anyone practicing acupuncture must have an acupuncture license through our Acupuncture Advisory Committee under the Board of Medical Examiners to legally practice. “Dry needling is the practice of acupuncture”. Anyone practicing outside their scope may be filed as a complaint to their governing board, i.e. NP to their board, PT to their board.
Request was made for volunteers to watchdog/oversee any legislation pertinent to acupuncture practice in Tennessee. Mention was made that patients/clients who are state senators, representatives, or lobbyists may be happy to be a vehicle of communication regarding bills or other topics of interest to TAC. Practitioners were encouraged to ask any acquaintances with active legislative participation to let them know as soon as possible of any bills or action relative to acupuncture practice. Also, please actively make and maintain connections with your own senators and representatives. Wayne Stephens, LAc, LMT, Christine Wooland, LAc, ND, and Christina Pisanello, LAc, DC, ADS volunteered to watchdog legislation. They were also willing to attend PT Board meetings in Nashville for “dry needling” or other pertinent updates since Board minutes are typically not posted publicly for months following any such meeting.
Current contact info was collected for all in attendance.
It was agreed to arrange regional heads to coordinate meetings in order to facilitate the reformation and progress of TAC. Judi Harrick, LAc, PhD will head the Western region. Christina Pisanello, LAc, DC, ADS will head the Middle region. Terry Jeanne, LAc will head the Eastern region. As long as there is no conflict with her state board service, Jill Kelly, LAc will head the South region. The goal is quarterly meetings with focus on establishing communication within our profession locally, nominations for officers (president, vice-president, and secretary/treasurer). Everyone is invited to attend any regional meeting. Thus, meetings are to be announced on the TAC website and emails from the TAC list serve. The next meetings should be scheduled in September, then December. Our goal is to have officers elected by the end of 2014. Any LAc or ADS may be nominated (or nominate themselves) including those previously or currently serving. A brief biography and supportive reasons should be submitted to your regional head. Regional heads will distribute their findings to Mary Helen Robert at acucenterinfo [at] gmail.com in a timely fashion. After all nominations are received, nominees information is to be submitted via the TAC list serve to all Tennessee LAc and ADS for voting with plans to have all positions filled by 1 January 2015.
David Eisen, LAc, OMD, founder and board member of NADA, expressed concern at the notion of regional meetings as he has seen in other states this method segregates and isolates, thus hindering overall progress. Please keep his comments in mind as one purpose in TAC efforts is to uphold a unified mutually beneficial organization for all LAc and ADS in Tennessee. Perhaps we will determine after all officer positions are filled that only statewide meetings serve us best. In the mean time, thank you to all those who took their time and effort to attend, to those behind the scenes who have helped make this happen, and to those who stepped up to help continue progress. Let’s move some qi.
To success,
Jill Kelly, LAc
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