Thinking of becoming an acupuncturist? Watch this video to find out more as ntpages reporter Mel gets the lowdown from practitioner Tania Grasseschi.
Topics covered in this clip include:
- What qualification do I need?
- How long is a course?
- What qualities do I need?
- What results are possible with acupuncture?
Video Transcript
Melanie Alexander: I'm here with Tania. Who's an experienced acupuncturist. How are you, Tanya?
Tania Grasseschi: Well, thank you.
MA: Now acupuncture seems like a very rewarding career.
TG: Oh, it is.
MA: What would you suggest for people who want to get into it?
TG: You need to study a bachelor’s degree course, and there are a number of universities and colleges around Australia that offer these courses. The best way to find out which courses are accredited is to go to the AACMA website, which is acupuncture.org.edu.
MA: It's a Bachelor of Health Science. Is that right?
TG: That's correct. Yes.
MA: And how long does the course take?
TG: About four to five years.
MA: So that's a fair amount of time to dedicate yourself to studying acupuncture. What qualities would you say that somebody should have to do that course?
TG: You need to be very compassionate, be open minded and have an inquiring mind, and definitely dedication and hard work. There's a lot of study to do and study doesn't finish when you finish your degree, it only just begins when you finish your degree.
MA: And I guess with all your patients, you've seen some wonderful results.
TG: Oh, it's been inspiring to share in people's journeys of healing.
MA: What's the best thing about being an acupuncturist?
TG: I love the challenge of working with people, working with complicated problems that that doctors don't know how to deal with. People often come to us as a last resort. When Western medicine hasn't been able to help them and they come to us and Chinese medicine works for them. We see the results. We see them get better.
Interested in learning more? Watch the other video in this series: What is Acupuncture?
Originally published on Oct 19, 2011
