By Eric Brand

Recently a new profession for “Traditional Chinese Medicine Traumatologists” was proposed in California, but the bill was narrowly defeated last Tuesday.  The bill represents an interesting concept and an interesting controversy, and it was defeated after a highly coordinated effort from CSOMA and many other players in the Chinese medicine community.

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The traumatology bill SB628 would have created a new profession for TCM traumatologists, which has a number of positive sides.  However, it appears that the bill was very vague and difficult to accept by the Chinese medical community as a whole.  Unified opposition to bill SB628 came from CSOMA and many other organizations, including the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences, Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM), American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM), Association of Korean Asian Medicine and Acupuncture of California (AKAMAC), California Certified Acupuncturists Association (CCAA), Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM), Five Branches University, Japanese Acupuncture Association of California (JAAC), National Alliance of Korean Asian Medicine & Acupuncture of USA, National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), National Federation of Chinese TCM Organizations, National Guild of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, Nine Star University, Southern California University of Health Sciences, and United California Practitioners of Chinese Medicine (UCPCM).

Traumatology is an important discipline in Chinese medicine, and experts in traumatology often have a complex mixture of skills that encompasses disciplines such as tui na, acupuncture, external and internal herbal applications, and bone-setting.  Many TCM hospitals have traumatology (shang ke) departments and the field of traumatology is generally underdeveloped and underappreciated in the West.  Having more traumatology experts in California would help the development of the field and it would give people with expertise in Chinese medical traumatology a chance to earn a living even if they didn’t have a background sufficient to practice as a licensed acupuncturist.  Nonetheless, the bill was far too vague and unclear in purpose to merit the support of licensed professionals, and it lost by a narrow margin of 4 opposed, 4 supporting, and 1 abstaining.  The bill’s backer Senator Leland Yee has announced his intention to pursue the bill next year, which will surely result in similar opposition.

I haven’t been following the bill closely, but this blog has a few cogent quotes that sum up the argument:
“The California State Oriental Medical Association (CSOMA) was a driving force opposing bill SB628 in the California legislature. CSOMA asserted that TCM traumatology is ‘part of the broader field of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, a field already regulated by the California Acupuncture Board.’ According to California law, licensed acupuncturists may perform acupuncture and 'perform or prescribe the use of oriental massage, acupressure, breathing techniques, exercise, heat, cold, magnets, nutrition, diet, herbs, plant, animal, and mineral products, and dietary supplements to promote, maintain, and restore health....' The new traumatologist profession would have overlapped with the scope of practice of acupuncturists.”

Oddly, no certification exam was proposed to regulate the new profession, and all applicants would have been required to apply during the time period of January 1, 2012 to December 15, 2012, with no provisions for future applicants.  It seems bizarre that a profession would only be open to applicants for a single year; presumably this means that no future traumatologists would have access to the profession if they missed the boat the first year?  Furthermore, it seems that there was no proposed program accreditation, scope of practice, or continuing education requirement.  From the blog: “CSOMA notes that TCM traumatology would have been the only medical profession in California without educational standards, program accreditation, exams, or a scope of practice.”

To be honest, the whole thing seems slightly bizarre.  One cannot help but wonder what the agenda is regarding all these changes.  I’d love nothing more than to see the development of traditional Chinese medical traumatology in the West, but there must be a better way.