For all those who want to peruse their studies in the field of medicine, acupuncture is really a really serious business. As per the acupuncture studies, 20 needles are carefully inserted into the patient’s skin which triggers a sensation and brings back the balance in our body. It is performed in a clean environment, and takes around an hour to complete one sitting.
Acupuncturists identify certain points in the human body to stimulate the pain centers after the diagnosis. As a maintenance therapy, acupuncturists also advise about diet alterations, herbal medication or herbal medicines to their patients after performing an acupuncture therapy.
Considered as one of the highest paid medicine job in the USA, the practice of acupuncture was started around 5000 years ago by the Chinese. Although it is a part of alternative medicine, it has helped patients to overcome some serious diseases like joint pain, chronic diseases- etc.The financial rewards of these practices vary widely with experience, entrepreneurial ability, location and a host of other factors. According to the median pay scale in the USA, the average salary ranges from $37, 000 to $1, 70, 00 per month (approximately). If you seriously want to pursue your career as an acupuncturist, then a host of opportunities and high salaries - are waiting for you. Listed below are some of the facts related to the salary structure of an acupuncturist:
• Educational Qualification:
A bachelor's degree in a health care or alternative medicine related subject is especially helpful for a career as an acupuncturist. Various universities offer masters and certificate courses in acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Other important qualifications in this field are customer service skills, communication, dexterity and physical stamina. If you have to practice acupuncture -the USA then you must bear a license or permit to practice. On an average, a doctor practicing acupuncture earns around $76, 000. Currently, there are 49,000 practicing acupuncturist in the United States of America. This number is expected to increase by 10% in coming years.
• Professional experience:
During the start of your professional career, you might face some problems as it takes time to establish goodwill and credibility among clients. With more experience, more clients, consulting charges are bound to increase. Most of the acupuncture specialists work with health care professionals such as chiropractors while some work in the private sector or alone. On an average, an acupuncturist treats around one to four patients in a day, at about $75 a session. Initial consultation fees are expected to be more. Once established, an acupuncturist may treat 30-40 clients a week. Choosing acupuncture as a career option can be really challenging as it offers really less salary in the initial years of the profession.
• Entrepreneurial activity:
Some of the specialty hospitals include acupuncture service in Children and Orthopaedic wings. In specialty hospitals, chiropractors earn relatively higher salaries, in the range of $81,760 which include acupuncture services. - As an acupuncturist, you may also want to share an office with other practitioners and Naturopathic doctors, which will help increase your net profit, as it lowers your rental expense. If you want, you can practice acupuncture on a part time basis. Working hours of an acupuncturist can include unsocial hours, e.g. weekends and evenings, to visit clients.
• Location where your offering services :
This is one of the major factors on the basis of which most of doctors salary varies. An acupuncturist can earn as low as $49,000 in Hawaii & Utah while on the other hand they can earn anything between $80,000- $84,000 in California. Talking about the eastern part of USA, Washington DC and Louisiana the salaries were $90,000 and $65,000 respectively, as an example. If you’re an acupuncture doctor practicing in New York or Marine, then you can earn an average income of $ 91,000 or $ 65,000 respectively. In the Midwest part of the USA, you would make about $83,000 in Illinois and $56,000 in South Dakota. The average salary in Alabama is $102,000, in Arkansas is $84,000, Connecticut is $92,000, Florida is $92,000, Hawaii is $77,000, Idaho is $79,000, Nevada is $90,000, New York is $111,000, South Carolina is $84,000, Texas is $90,000, Washington is $84,000, and Wisconsin is $77,000.
Ultimately, how much an acupuncturist earns depends to a large extent on the practitioner.
Therefore, learning basic business and marketing principles is essential to having a successful career as an acupuncturist.
