What does an acupuncturist do?
Acupuncturist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real acupuncturist resumes:
- Specialize in the treatment of pain management, sports injury and rehabilitation.
- Administer full body and auricular acupuncture treatments, moxibustion, cupping, magnet therapy, Tui -na and TCM counseling.
- Record patients' case history details, conduct physical examinations, create individualize treatment plans and rehabilitative protocols for patients.
- Train OSHA & HIPPA practitioner.
- Maintain HIPAA compliant confidentiality standards at all times.
- Treat cancer patients for pain and chemotherapy side effects.
- Treat drug and alcohol addiction, pain syndromes, anxiety, depression and PTSD.
- Treat medical conditions using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, and tui na.
- Focus on women's health, pediatrics, digestive health, endocrinology, and weightloss.
- Diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions including PTSD, pain, fibromyalgia, and infertility.
- Incorporate adjunct modalities such as e-stim, gua sha, cupping (stationary & sliding), moxibustion into treatments.
- Follow HIPPA guidelines for privacy and confidentially.
- Diagnose and effectively treat up patients' weekly using traditional acupuncture and Chinese medicine methods in a thriving clinic.
- Cofound an acupuncture clinic for the treatment of low income people with HIV infection.
- Deliver superior care as sole acupuncturist in a holistic chiropractic office.
Acupuncturist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 44% of Acupuncturists are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Acupuncture Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Dexterity, and Empathy.
We break down the percentage of Acupuncturists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 44%
Work as an acupuncturist intern in Atlantic institute of Oriental medicine clinic, offer acupuncture and herbal therapy independently to patients.
- Patient Care, 8%
Worked cooperatively with providers and staff to provide integrated patient care.
- Acupuncture Services, 6%
Provide initial consultation & follow-up management for clients seeking acupuncture services.
- Physical Therapy, 5%
Integrated practice with Chiropractic Physicians, Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy.
- Rehabilitation, 4%
Worked in Acupuncture Rehabilitation Clinic.
- Integrative Medicine, 3%
Focus on chronic disease and refractory cases, utilizing integrative medicine
"patients," "patient care," and "acupuncture services" are among the most common skills that acupuncturists use at work. You can find even more acupuncturist responsibilities below, including:
Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an acupuncturist to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "chiropractors must pay attention when diagnosing and treating patients to avoid mistakes that could harm them." Acupuncturists often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "record patients' case history details, conduct physical examinations, create individualized treatment plans and rehabilitative protocols for patients. "
Dexterity. Many acupuncturist duties rely on dexterity. "chiropractors must have good coordination when performing manual adjustments to a patient's spine and other joints.," so an acupuncturist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways acupuncturist responsibilities rely on dexterity: "learned hands-on chiropractic treatment of patients. "
Empathy. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of acupuncturists is empathy. This skill is critical to many everyday acupuncturist duties, as "chiropractors often care for people who are in pain." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "generalized understanding of heavy metal toxicity and the use of iv chelation. "
The three companies that hire the most acupuncturists are:
- OneSpaWorld27 acupuncturists jobs
- Cano Health6 acupuncturists jobs
- Kohler Co.4 acupuncturists jobs
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Compare different acupuncturists
Acupuncturist vs. Traditional chinese medicine practitioner
A chiropractor is a healthcare professional who provides care and relief to patients with neuromusculoskeletal problems by re-aligning the spine and adjusting other joints. Your duties typically include working with patients on their lifestyle, guiding them on nutrition, exercise, and sleeping habits, and evaluating patients' condition based on their medical history and symptoms. Additionally, you will be responsible for examining the spine and posture, running tests and taking X-rays, and using massage, heat, and cold therapy to treat patients.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an acupuncturist are more likely to require skills like "patients," "patient care," "acupuncture services," and "physical therapy." On the other hand, a job as a traditional chinese medicine practitioner requires skills like "treatment plan development," "irrigation lines," "patients treatment," and "patient safety." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Traditional chinese medicine practitioners tend to reach similar levels of education than acupuncturists. In fact, traditional chinese medicine practitioners are 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Acupuncturist vs. Auricular detoxification specialist
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that acupuncturist responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "patient care," "acupuncture services," and "physical therapy." But an auricular detoxification specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "vital signs," "client intake," "detox," and "behavioral issues."
In general, auricular detoxification specialists achieve lower levels of education than acupuncturists. They're 23.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Acupuncturist vs. Chiropractor
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from acupuncturist resumes include skills like "acupuncture services," "physical therapy," "blood pressure," and "chronic pain," whereas a chiropractor is more likely to list skills in "medical histories," "spine," "manual adjustments," and "musculoskeletal system. "
Chiropractors make a very good living in the professional industry with an average annual salary of $64,134. On the other hand, acupuncturists are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $86,974.chiropractors typically earn lower educational levels compared to acupuncturists. Specifically, they're 46.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 38.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Acupuncturist vs. Licensed acupuncturist
Even though a few skill sets overlap between acupuncturists and licensed acupuncturists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an acupuncturist might have more use for skills like "acupuncture services," "physical therapy," "rehabilitation," and "blood pressure." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of licensed acupuncturists require skills like "treatment options," "tcm," "acupressure," and "substance abuse. "
The non profits industry tends to pay the highest salaries for licensed acupuncturists, with average annual pay of $71,737. Comparatively, the highest acupuncturist annual salary comes from the health care industry.The average resume of licensed acupuncturists showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to acupuncturists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 3.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 3.1%.Types of acupuncturist
Updated January 8, 2025
