Courses in anatomy & physiology, pathology, basic pharmacology, physical assessment, and at least 1365 hours of acupuncture-specific training, including 705 hours of acupuncture specific didactic material and 660 hours of supervised clinical training.  In most states including Georgia, acupuncturists are required to pass a national competency exam. In Georgia, acupuncturists with less than one year of post graduate experience must complete an additional one year of supervised practice under a licensed acupuncturist before becoming fully licensed to practice. Acupuncturists also have continuing education requirements to satisfy in order to maintain their acupuncture license. Recently the Georgia Physical Therapy Board has proposed further reducing this training which is already too low to insure public safety allowing PT’s to begin the practice of dry needling acupuncture with only 20 hours ( one 3-day weekend) http://sos.ga.gov/admin/files/Notice_of_Intent_490_9_05.pdf