：I REALLY want to go to Oriental Mecdical/Acupuncture school. What can I do now to prepare? Advice needed!?

I'm one of the skeptics DanC wants you to ignore. Fair enough, but he said his piece,and I'll say mine.

Your story is a bit suspicious as you claim to have seen a new doctor basically every 3 weeks for a year. I find that unlikely. If true, it sounds like you never gave any of them a chance to actually work you up an try to diagnose your symptoms before you moved on to another. Also RSD doesn't just happen out of the blue...it is a complication of an injury, and you make no mention of an injury. Raynaud's Phenomenon is an annoyance, but not a serious or life threatening condition.

Both RSD and Raynauds' are not well understood, but the natural history is symptoms tend to wax and wane over time. There is no evidence that acupuncture has shown any benefit in either condition...I challenge you to find a quality published study. Your subjective experience is simply that...without comparison to a control, or comparison with other treatments, one can't say whether your symptoms weren't just going to get better anyway, whether or not you underwent acupuncture.

Acupuncture is one of the best studied of all the Alternative treatments. There have literally been thousands of studies published in the last 40-50 years. The result? At best...AT BEST...acupuncture may have some effectiveness in the treatment of mild pain or nausea (both of which are highly subjective conditions, and both very susceptible to placebos) If there is some actual effect from acupuncture...doubtful, but possible...it has nothing to do with Eastern mysticism, qi, chakras and magical life energy.

If you really think you are interested in Alternative rather than Conventional science based medicine, you really need to investigate both sides of the issue, not just read puff pieces from the faithful believers. There have been several good reviews of altmed published in the last couple years. You owe it to yourself to read some of them.

Here's a quick link about acupuncture, from my namesake, the original Skepdoc, Harriet Hall from the excellent Science Based Medicine blog

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=252

Also you should read:

"Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine" by E Barker Baussel. He was a researcher at the NIH who has investigated acupuncture extensively and helped develop many of the standard protocols. It is actually very difficult to get a properly blinded study in acupuncture, as even if patients don't know if they are getting a sham treatment, the acupuncturist still knows.

"Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial" by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. Dr. Ernst was the first professor of Alternative Medicine at Cambridge University. He was an MD and homeopath who became very disillusioned with the entire CAM field when he actually started studying the evidence.

EDIT: When acupuncture is thought to "work" it is because of the placebo effect. But that doesn't mean it's "all in your head" The placebo effect is a well known and investigated physiological response, that among other things, causes endorphins to be released from the brain. Sticking sharp needles into people happens to be a very efficient way of activating the placebo response. It is NOT more effective than standard therapy and it is NOT what Alty's claim happens when acupuncture "works"

There is NO EVIDENCE AT ALL that acupuncture (or TCM in general) has any effect on ANY disease process, including cancer. Western or scientific medicine doesn't claim to have all the answers, but it does have the only proven method to attempt to find the answers. Falling back to mysticism and magic is not an answer, but a sign of desperation.

You've given a few extra details and it sounds like you do have two fairly rare and poorly understood conditions, though I still suspect there's much more to your story than you have let on. I also note even after all the delays, it was still a "western" doctor who diagnosed you...not an Alty....and you have accepted the diagnosis.

Did you get your backpack all packed up? If you did, yay! Haha. Maybe if you're really bored and want to do something, get a label machine and label EVERYTHING! Your coloured pencils, binder, crayons, everything. Do you have your first day of school outfit ready? If you do, let's get your first WEEK of school outfits done now! :) How 'bout if you bring your lunch on the first day, start thinking about what you want to bring. Because I'm pretty sure if you bring smelly tuna to school on the first day, no one is going to want to sit with you. So start thinking, but don't make it of course. Haha ;) Now, do you have your "make-up" look done (if you wear make-up that is). If so start doing it, because it's going to be hard rushing it. Natural shades are best, because older people, aka teachers, I'm pretty sure don't like heavy hot pink make-up. Do you have your accessories ready? Bracelets, necklaces, bangles, earrings, rings! They all are essential. :) This year, a couple week before school, I'm going to practice my handwriting because every year when we came back, my writing was probably like my 6 year old cousin. ;) If you've done ALL of this. I'm sure for a that you you're VERY ready for school. Whoo hoo! :)

Start here:

http://www.ccaom.org/

Be sure the school you will be attending has a strong Western science base in addition to the traditional curriculum. Current trends require you to be able to communicate and cooperate with Western MDs, and you can't do that if you can't speak to them in their own language.

Speak to the registrar at the colleges you are thinking of attending. What is their average pass rate for the board exams? Do they have continuing education? Is there a variety of clinical experiences to be had or will you be following only a few select clinicians?

Look at more than one college and find the right fit.

Keep track of all your communication and records for application--registrars are notorious for losing paperwork or forgetting what they told you was acceptable even the previous week.

Ignore the half-dozen skeptics who are about to answer "Don't bother, its a scam anyway." Your own experiences belie that notion.

Keep your enthusiasm--its hard work but worth it!

Good luck!

Oriental Medicine is a very broad term--there are several branches of Oriental medicine--the question is-(1) in which branch are you interested? (2) do you want to do only in USA--or are you willing to go and bear the expenses in going there- to the West/South/South East Asian countries to get a reasonably well recognised Degree--

(1) Ayurveda--& or Yoga(3000-4000 years ancient)-one can chose a Bachelor-Master or Ph.D --In India or Nepal or Sri Lanka--Mauritius-in many countries Government/University Grants Commission(UCG)/respective Medical Councils' recognised degrees.English medium of instruction--Approximately it may cost U.S.$1500 per annum including Hostel & Food-4.5 year course and one year internship.(total about US $ 7000-8000).Foreign students may get Government help.There are a mushroom of un-reconised,cheap and easy courses also.

(2)--Amchi(Buddhist medicine)--Tibet-or Leh/Ladhak in Kashmir (but terrorist fear may be there)-about the degrees one has to find out.

(3) Chinese medicine/Acupuncture/Acupressure/Moxabuction China or Mangolia--one has to find details.

(4) Unani(ancient from the period of Avesta or even earlier):- In all Middle East-Arabian and Muslim countries--India,Pakistan,Bangala Desh,Malaysia etc-.in India the course is Government-UCG-Medical council recognised--other countries I do not know.

pacific college of oriental medicine in san diego NY or chicago

i am no expert but i am under current care of a graduate from pacific and he basically saved me from my condition. i hear great things about it, so maybe you should look into their programs