Acupuncture FAQs

1) Is it possible to study part-time?

2) Will I also need to do any study at home?

3) Do I need to have a western science qualification to apply for the Acupuncture course?

4) What are your entry requirements for this course?

5) How early in the course will I start clinical experience?

6) I've heard about TCM and 5 elements. I want to be sure I'm making the best choice by studying at LCTA. What do you teach?

7) Many places offer courses in Acupuncture, with different accreditations. How do I choose between them?

8) I've never been a therapist before. Do you teach counselling skills?

More FAQs can be found under the Admissions section.

Q: Is it possible to study part-time?
A: The short answer to this is yes.
Our 3-year BSc (Hons) Acupuncture course is a full time course and you will be in College 2 days a week (either weekdays or weekends). Whether you choose to study at weekends or during the week, the course is still full-time. Your attendance (during term time) will be around 6 days per month. If this is too intensive, you can slow down the course and study it over 4 years as a part-time option. In this case your attendance would be around 4 days per month.

Q: Will I also need to do any study at home?
A: Yes.
For the full-time Acupuncture course, we recommend that you leave somewhere between 10 and 12 hours a week free for home study. For the part time Acupuncture course we recommend around 7-10 hours per week.

Q: Do I need to have a western science qualification to apply for the Acupuncture course?
A: No. Our Acupuncture course assumes no prior knowledge in the subject. If you do already have a science qualification then you may be eligible for exemption from some units on a course.

Q: What are the entry requirements?
A: Although, strictly speaking, our entry requirements for the Acupuncture course is Grade C or above in English GCSE and 240 points at 'A' level (or equivalent), we are much more interested in your life experiences and dedication to the subject. Regardless of your educational qualifications you are strongly encouraged to apply and will be considered on the basis of your work and life experience. Although the average age of our students is 35 we have qualified students well outside that age range.
Applicants may already have significant commitments to work or family and will need to be able to show that they have the practical resources and support to sustain them through the course.
We have a commitment to selecting our students on an equal opportunities basis: students are selected for their suitability as individuals, not for their membership of any particular group.

Q: How early in the course will I start clinical experience?
A: On our Acupuncture course, clinical experience begins as observation of experienced practitioners in a classroom setting, alongside a range of one-to-one clinical consultations. Clinical assistance in the Teaching Clinic is incorporated from the first semester of the course right up until the final year. On top of this, a large proportion of the final year consists of practice experience in the Teaching Clinic, where student practitioners treat patients under the supervision of our senior clinical supervisors. As students progress through the course they take increasing clinical responsibility, and throughout the final year they work in the Teaching Clinic and independently with their own patient case-load.
Clinical practice on all our courses is supervised by several different senior clinicians, each with their own individual approach to qi. In this way, students gain confidence with the rich variety and breadth of practice styles and may begin to form some preferences of their own.

Q: I've heard about TCM and 5 elements. I want to be sure I'm making the best choice by studying at LCTA. What do you teach?
A: People are often confused by these two terms. The terms TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and Five Elements come from popular understanding and tend to be misleading and simplistic when used on their own. TCM is what you may have heard as the more physical, mechanistic side of Chinese medicine. The Five Elements, on the other hand, are what some people describe as the best tool to use when treating emotionally based conditions.
Our view of this subject, however, is rather different. A better way to describe Chinese medicine, as it has traditionally been used in China, is to see it as made up of a range of tools, suitable for diagnosing and treating all sorts of different patients and different conditions. So, for example, the Four Levels or the Six Divisions look at how deeply into the body (to what “Level) a disease has penetrated. You can also look at whether a person’s Yin/Yang balance is upset, or whether they are showing imbalance in one or more of the Five Elements. Whichever tool you use, you would take into account your patient’s physical condition and their constitution, as well as their emotional responses.
This description highlights only a small number of ways of using Chinese medicine but, if you think of it as a toolbox, what is important is to be able to use all the tools in your toolbox skilfully. In its more authentic form, Chinese medicine uses many tools, as and when they are called for and without conscious separation. This, therefore, is how we teach them. This skill is an essential starting point (the core, if you like) if you want to go on and study more than one discipline in Chinese medicine, as a high proportion of our students do. Rest assured – at LCTA you will learn how to use all the tools in your toolbox, not just one or two, and you will be fully equipped to take your practice and your further study forward in whatever direction you chose.

Q: Many places offer courses in Acupuncture, with different accreditations. How do I choose between them?
A: If you want to train in acupuncture then it is important to choose a course that has been accredited by the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board (BAAB). BAAB is the largest, longest established and best recognised accreditation professional accreditation body for acupuncturists in UK, and is at the forefront of the talks with government over statutory regulation.

Q: I've never been a therapist before. Do you teach counselling skills?
A: On our Acupuncture course, there is a set of core subjects which are compulsory to all students who have not previously studied TCM. The core subjects include Practitioner Development and Patient Management, which break down as follows:

• A study of the therapeutic relationship, how it is developed, evaluated and used. This includes looking at and developing the skills of reflective practice, and examining the issues of patient management
• Development of skill in patient-practitioner rapport, using the Five Elements and other tools
• Determining a student's limits of competence, and studying the legal, financial and business considerations of practice
• Working with the issues surrounding setting up in practice, leading to each student formulating a business plan for their professional development in practice
• Reviewing ethical, boundary and other professional issues in practice, including keeping to a professional code of conduct
• Considering how to establish and maintain practitioner health in practice
• Exploring the issue of continuing professional development