Disclosures: Brian Sunwoo, DO: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Background and/or Objectives: Within the field of medicine, there is a growing interest in the practice of complementary and alternative medicine. Acupuncture is often used in chronic pain treatment and starting in 2020, Medicare began reimbursing for acupuncture in treating chronic lower back pain. There is limited data on the overall value that practicing acupuncture has for physiatrists despite its prevalence of use among their patients. The objective of this study is to assess whether physicians that studied acupuncture during residency went on to use it in their practice and whether they found value in learning it.

Design: Survey, blinded

Setting: Academic

Participants: 23 residency alumni who participated in acupuncture licensing (certification course) during residency and obtained 100 hours of supervised clinical training in MSK acupuncture.

Interventions: Interventions: not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Main outcomes were whether respondents currently practice acupuncture. In addition, a 5 point scale was used to assess agreement with the following: Practitioner satisfaction, Patient satisfaction (rated by practitioner), Reimbursement satisfaction, Educational value while in residency, and Marketability for fellowship or workforce with the latter two asked of all respondents.

Results: 12 of 23 respondents reported practicing acupuncture in their current practice. Barriers for those who did not practice acupuncture included reimbursement barriers, lack of time, and fellowship programs that did not accommodate its use. Those who practice acupuncture were strongly satisfied with it as a tool in their practice, felt their patients were satisfied with acupuncture in their treatment, and believed that acupuncture was both valuable to learn in residency and a marketable skill when seeking employment and fellowship. They were neutral however with regards to satisfaction with reimbursements for acupuncture. Those who do not practice, also found value in learning acupuncture in residency, but were neutral in viewing it as a marketable skill.

Conclusions: Acupuncture may be a valuable tool for physiatry residents to learn during residency.

Level of Evidence: Level V

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/assessing-the-value-and-utility-of-obtaining-medical-acupuncture-license-during-physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation-residency/