The SSOMA Diploma in Acupuncture Course
Dr Keown trains people to be acupuncturists through the School of Scientific Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture.
History of the School
The School of Scientific Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture (SSOMA) was founded in 2015 by Dr Dan Keown to create faster and better training in acupuncture for doctors. In 2019 it created a new course - the SSOMA Foundation Course in Acupuncture - for laypeople and opened its doors to the first students.
The central aim of the school was that theory teaching was made online in the form of videos so that time in the clinic can be almost exclusively spent on teaching clinical skills and seeing patients. As well as this the main form of diagnosis and learning is using channel palpation, a skill that Dr Dan Keown learnt from Wang Ju-Yi in China.
About the Foundation Course
The SSOMA practical course is a one year course to teach you acupuncture. The aim of this course is to ensure that you have the foundations to start a career in acupuncture. These foundations are:
An empathic concern to help alleviate patients distress.
An understanding of the principles of qi and channels.
An appreciation of the principles of the Six Divisions (Liu Jing) and their relevance to acupuncture practice
An ability to palpate the channels and use findings to guide treatment
An ability to needle safely and effectively: painless needling with good deqi.
A method to evaluate why treatments succeed and fail - and a process for moving forwards.
An understanding of the principles of starting a clinical practice.
Students are expected to do around 1 hour of study per day every day. The course needs to be understood as a steady walk that generates strong momentum rather than a sprint. Students’ study is directed through the course handbook. Study can take the form of reading, written work, channel palpation or writing up case reports.
The understanding is that at the end of the course you will be ready to start a career in acupuncture. Acupuncture is an art practiced on a bedrock of science. The Foundation Course aims to give you the bedrock but it is expected that the artistry will take the rest of your career to perfect. Even the late, great, Dr Wang Ju-Yi was still learning new techniques in his seventies.
Every month students are required to attend a clinic day. Currently these take place every Friday in Tunbridge Wells, and depending on availability students are encouraged to attend more regularly if they can.
On the first day in clinic students will be taught the most important clinical skill - channel palpation. Channel palpation is a diagnostic technique that allows practitioners to get accurate information about the state of the persons channels and organs. Channel palpation is the key practice within the SSOMA Foundation Course. As well as this students are then encouraged to needle themselves, before needling other students.
The expectation is that by about the fourth month students will start to see their own patients in a supported and safe manner.
Curriculum
The SSOMA curriculum is unique in that it builds on the work of Dr Dan Keown’s two books - The Spark in the Machine and The Uncharted Body. These works show how the Chinese medicinal view of the body can be easily understood using Western principles. As a result of this work it naturally subsumes Western anatomy and physiology within it. The result is a curriculum that is streamlined, efficient and much quicker and easier to learn than traditional acupuncture courses.
As well as this Dr Keown’s unique way of teaching the points through the application of channel palpation means that students quickly and competently learn the channels and points without needing to memorise the underlying anatomy.
A streamlined and efficient curriculum is important for a number of reasons but most importantly it frees up time for students to concentrate on the important part of becoming an acupuncturist - the complexity of patients.
The SSOMA curriculum builds from a foundation of understanding qi and the channels.
What Makes the SSOMA Course Different?
The SSOMA course is focused on one thing and one thing only - getting you to see and successfully treat patients as quickly as possible. Seeing patients is what will turn the theory into reality and let you become a great acupuncturist.
In order to do this the course eschews the conventional way of teaching points based on learning anatomy and instead teaches them through channel palpation. This means that students quickly and competently learn not only where the points are but also the art and science of channel palpation. In Dr Keown’s experience this is the single most useful diagnostic tool available to an acupuncturist.
Location
The school currently runs at Botanica, in Rusthall near Tunbridge Wells.
Plans are underway to be based in The Acupuncture Hospital when it opens in Tunbridge Wells.
Fees
The course fees are £8 800.
This includes:
Minimum 100 hours of patient-facing clinical time.
Lifetime access to the online SSOMA course.
The Uncharted Body soft and hardback copies.
Access to student members-area.
Student course book.
Diploma in Acupuncture from SSOMA on successful completion of course.
Fees can be paid in instalments with an initial deposit of £4400 to secure a place.
Entry Requirements
No medical background is necessary but students should have a strong interest in the human body, a curious mind and a willingness to help others.
Prospective students are interviewed via phone. They are welcome to visit the clinic beforehand.
Students must complete and pass an entrance exam.
The entrance exam takes the form of a ‘medical IQ’ exam and a theory exam. The purpose of the exam is to ensure that students have a good aptitude for the course.
The theory exam is based entirely on the information found in the following three pages. An example page of the Medical IQ exam is found after these.
To request further information or to apply for the course please fill out the form below.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What qualification do I get on completing the course?
On completing the course you receive the Diploma in Acupuncture from The School of Scientific Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture. This qualification enables you to become an Associate of SSOMA.
Can I get insurance when I complete the course?
Whilst on the course in the clinic you are insured under SSOMA. Once qualified you can get insurance from Balens.
When do I start to practice acupuncture in clinic?
The school aims to get you practicing acupuncture, within the safe confines of the clinic, as quickly as possible. To this end the skills that students are expected to have acquired are competent channel palpation and point location of the transport points of arms and legs. Dedicated students have had no problem acquiring these skills within three months of practice and it is possible that it could be done faster.
What size are the tutorial groups in clinic?
The clinic is all about seeing patients and getting them better. As such tutorial groups have to be small. As a general rule there are no more than five students in the clinic at any time and these could be seeing up to three patients between them. At times you may be the only student with Dr Keown!
What is the difference between online school and the Foundation Course?
The online school is for qualified acupuncturists or laypeople interested in learning more about the theory. It does not allow you to practice acupuncture in the U.K..
In order to practice acupuncture, successfully, there are a different set of skills that need to be learnt. These have to be practiced on a patient in a safe and supported environment. As such this is more intensive and takes longer. As well as this, graduates from the Foundation Course are expected to show that they have competency in the overall practice of acupuncture that is beyond what most other courses require.