Accredited Acupuncture Courses and Accredited Massage Therapy School

About the professional level qualifications needed for a career in acupuncture and oriental massage.

What accreditations will I get with the acupuncture course?

You will receive a BODYHARMONICS Diploma signed by Maria Mercati which is based on extensive, intensively supervised practical work and all the revelent theory to enable you to to diagnose and treat patients safely and successfully.

Who will 'accredit' this acupuncture diploma?

The most important thing for you to understand is that there are NO legally recognised non-medical acupuncture qualifications in the UK at the present time.
At present, there is no government legislation in the UK covering accreditation of Acupuncture courses, including the British Acupuncture Council Association (BAcC) which is a private enterprise setting its own standards for accrediting three year academic courses.
The Department of Health (DOH) is at present awaiting an acupuncture report from their working party, which started two years ago. DOH thinks that acupuncture might be regulated by 2012. The Health Professional Council (HPC) will be directly involved with the standards - ie Bodyharmonics education, ethics, conduct and performance of the members of UK Oriental Medicine.
The Health Professional Council (HPC) will recognise acupuncture members based on the "grandparent scheme" (ie practitioners already qualified and practising)

What allows you to practice professionally and safely?

You must have appropriate levels of professional indemnity insurance which includes being a member of UK Oriental Medicine with a BODYHARMONICS diploma. The same insurance company also insures acupuncturists from BAcA.

What is going to make prospective clients trust you to put needles into their body?

Through the BODYHARMONICS 's course, you will have enormous confidence to safely treat and to correctly diagnose all conditions that respond to acupuncture.
As you will have had so much insured clinical practice during the course from Day one of the Acupuncture module, you will have a very high success rate.

Students who wish to become professional Oriental Bodywork & Acupuncture therapists require great skill and knowledge that can only be acquired with the correct training. Graduates from the Bodyharmonics Centre are permitted to use the letters Diploma Tui Na (BODYHARMONICS) after their name and qualification.

UK Oriental Medicine - UKOM

Britain's only Professional Association for Qualified Practitioners in
Integrated Oriental Medicine

At present there is no government legislation in the UK covering Acupuncture. However, legislation is unlikely to come into effect for some time. When it does, those who are qualified acupuncturists on this voluntary register ( UKOM )will almost certainly be accepted.

The UKOM helps set standards of practice and training for acupuncture and massage therapy schools in order to create a new generation of quality professional awards in this field. Click link to find a practitioner on the UK Oriental Medicine Website

UKOM helps preserve and improve standards of practice and training to create a new generation of quality professional practitioners in Oriental medicine.

UKOM provides care and support for the professional needs of students and qualified practitioners in Tui Na Chinese massage, Acupuncture, Oriental herbal therapy, Medical Qigong, Chinese diet, Thai massage and Indonesian massage.

BODYHARMONICS DIPLOMAS are fully recognised by UKOM for professional liability insurance.

UKOM offers a comprehensive professional insurance scheme for all therapies which also includes insurance for students undertaking unpaid clinical training.

The BODYHARMONICS School is a member of EURO-TCM

EURO TCM considers the Bodyharmonics Tui Na courses the best training available in Europe. It has legal status and has been conceived to further the unification of educational programs and procedures for teaching, examination and accreditation of TCM in Europe.

TCM is defined as the Chinese way of doing Tui Na, Acupuncture, Chinese herbal Medicine, Therapeutic Qi Gong and Chinese Nutrition Therapy.

Maria Mercati is at present involved as a committee member in both ECO-TCM (European colleges of TCM) in helping to standardize Tui Na and Acupuncture.

All students from the BODYHARMONICS acupuncture and massage therapy school are automatically eligible to become members of EURO-TCM provided they are paid up members of the Integrated Oriental Medicine Register

Note: BODYHARMONICS reserves the right to alter the content and possibly the length of courses in accordance with changes in standards and regulations.

The World Federation of Chinese Medicine (WFCM)

Maria Mercati was invited to attend the establishment conference of WFCM in Beijing in September 2003 where she was elected as a council member for the United Kingdom. The objectives of the organisation are to promote understanding, unity and cooperation among academic groups of Chinese Medicine throughout the world, to improve the standard and protect Chinese Medicine to help gain access to mainstream medicine and to make contributions to the health of mankind.

BODYHARMONICS courses are also accredited by the International Guild of Professional Practitioners www.igpp.co.uk and affiliated to the Institute for Complimentary Medicine which supports the drive for national standards of training and qualification.

Our ACUPUNCTURE and oriental massage therapy school courses are recognised by the BRCP - British Register of Complementary Practitioners.

NOTE:
Prospective teachers must have practised the subject they wish to teach for a MINIMUM OF FIVE YEARS after qualifying with a Master Practitioner Diploma and have evidence of treating a large number of patients plus recognised teaching qualifications.

Maria Mercati was appointed by ITEC (International Therapy Examination Council) in 1997 for a five year period to write the original syllabuses and examination papers for Tui Na, Thai and Indonesian massage as a pilot scheme to establish standards for these bodywork treatments. The course materials, structure and exam papers are the copyright of the BODYHARMONICS Centre

ITEC courses based on these syllabuses and examinations have ONLY been available at the BODYHARMONICS acupuncture and massage therapy school. No teacher training has been given to anyone outside BODYHARMONICS to teach Maria Mercati’s syllabuses. Other ITEC affiliated colleges and schools do not offer Tui Na or Thai courses based on these syllabuses.