Acupuncture.

(1) Existing law, the Acupuncture Licensure Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of acupuncture by the Acupuncture Board, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes the board, with the approval of the Director of Consumer Affairs, to employ personnel necessary to administer the Acupuncture Licensure Act, including an executive officer who is exempt from civil service. Existing law repeals the provisions establishing the board and authority for it to employ personnel on January 1, 2015. This bill would remove the repeal date with respect to the board's authority to employ personnel. The bill would also extend the operation of the board and the board's authority to appoint an executive officer exempt from civil service until January 1, 2017. (2) Existing law requires the board to establish standards for the approval of schools and colleges offering education and training in the practice of an acupuncturist, as specified. Existing law requires a school or college approved by the board, within 3 years of board approval, to receive full institutional approval to operate from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education or comparable approval by a governmental authority outside of the state, as applicable. Existing law requires the board to issue a license to practice acupuncture to a person who files an application, pays a fee, and among other requirements, completes an educational and training program approved by the board. This bill would delete the requirement that schools and colleges offering education and training in the practice of an acupuncturist obtain those approvals within 3 years of board approval. Commencing January 1, 2017, the bill would eliminate the requirement that the board approve those schools and colleges offering education and training in the practice of an acupuncturist and would instead define an "approved educational and training program," for purposes of licensure as an acupuncturist, as a school or college that: (A) offers curriculum that has been submitted to and approved by the board and includes at least 3,000 hours of which at least 2,050 hours are didactic and laboratory training, and at least 950 hours are supervised clinical instruction; (B) is approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education or is the appropriate out-of-state governmental educational authority; and (C) is accredited or granted candidacy status by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, or has submitted a letter of intent to pursue accreditation to that commission, as specified. This bill would require the board, within 30 days of receiving curriculum submitted by a school or college pursuant to these provisions, to review the curriculum, determine whether the curriculum satisfies the board's requirements, and notify the school or college, the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education of whether the board has approved the curriculum. The bill would authorize the board to review and evaluate the educational training and clinical experience of a school or college that has submitted a letter of intent to pursue accreditation to, or was granted candidacy status by, the commission, but was subsequently denied candidacy status or accreditation, respectively, by the commission, to determine whether to waive the requirement that an applicant who attended that program complete an approved educational and training program. This bill would also require the board to establish standards for the approval of educational training and clinical experience received outside the United States and Canada, and would make related conforming changes.