Needle over acupuncture course

Yakub Qureshi

January 21, 2009

| Submit Comments | Comments (18) | Previous | Next

AXED Acupuncture course

A UNIVERSITY has scrapped a course in acupuncture and aromatherapy branded `anti-science' by critics.

Salford University said the three-year degree in traditional Chinese medicine didn't fit with the `strategic direction' bosses want to adopt.

The move is part of wider cuts which will see 150 teaching and support staff jobs axed.

The university was one of only three institutions in England to run a full-time homeopathic course and had come under attack from doctors who said the subject flew in the face of scientific research.

Two years ago respected pharmacy professor David Colquhoun attacked Salford University for running the complementary medicine course which, he said, relied on `magical and superstitious beliefs' and `anti-science'.

But students and staff have launched a campaign, denying their course is a `Mickey Mouse' degree. They say scientific opinion is still split over the effectiveness of traditional treatments.

First-year student Gary Leese, who is organising a petition, said: "Why did the university launch the course if they didn't think it was good enough?

"We learn about anatomy, pharmacy, and history. All our teachers are very experienced in their field. We think the university is mad to cut this, when it is a profitable course and there is great interest in it."

About 70 students are currently enrolled on the degree.

Although no new students will be admitted, existing ones will be allowed to finish their degrees, with the course winding up in 2011. Some teaching staff will continue to run short courses, but the majority will lose their jobs.

A university spokesman said: "We plan to run out the undergraduate programme in traditional Chinese medicine for financial and strategic reasons.

"Two full time equivalent roles from the course and complementary and alternative medicine will be removed under voluntary agreements.

"However, the Faculty of Health and Social Care continues to maintain a complete commitment to students and it will be some years before the courses cease to exist."

The university is making job cuts in a bid to make £13m savings to invest in new buildings, including a site at MediaCity.

| Submit Comments | Comments (18) | Previous | Next

Showing comments 1 to 18 and replies | View All

gladys rowbotham, Manchester (21/01/2009 at 06:13)

Some common sense at last!

Ian (21/01/2009 at 09:49)

The people on the course should be happy - less competition for jobs.

thaitanium (21/01/2009 at 10:09)

I hear all about this complementary medicine, aroma therapy, homeopathy, try this one, advanced reflexology, chrystal healing and page after page of this. Allow me to tell you what I saw in Mexico many years ago, cancer patients from the USA who were told their condition was untreatable went south of the border for "treatment", drowning men clutching at straws comes to mind, when they ran out of money they were shipped home to die.
The question I would put to all these nutters who believe in this nonsense is why do none of these so called clinics, not one have an A&E department, look good don't you think after a road accident with multiple injuries to have some nitwit waving a cheap chrystal over the victim at least it wouldn't hurt as much as reflexology.

Pippa, Manchester (21/01/2009 at 12:51)

Nobody has mention the success of acupuncture in treating various animal illnesses. Animals cannot be persuaded as to the efficacy of a treatment and therefore it would seem that this is proof that those little needles do indeed work. However, I would htink this is more of a cost cutting excercise on a course that isn't as popular as others. I hope.

Frostee, Oldham (21/01/2009 at 15:27)

You make a good point about animals Pippa. I was once sceptical about such things but a friend had a badly disabled dog treated with acupuncture (several sessions) and it certainly worked, giving the dog a few more years of healthier life. There is no way an animal could believe their treatment (faith etc) would work like a human.

This is just cost cutting.

thaitanium (21/01/2009 at 16:22)

OK for all the anecdotal stuff it still boils down to a simple sentence as in
"Prove it" for the simple reason you can't. Until then I for one will stick to proper medicine.

Dave Lee Travis (21/01/2009 at 19:19)

I had a job once putting the spikes on the beds that magicians use in their shows but I got made redundant.

They blamed cutbacks.

hodie, wiltshire (21/01/2009 at 19:26)

These therapies are supposed to be complimentary and not instead of.Of course their efficacy should be fully investigated,using the scientific method. Some, like acupuncture, have been used for centuries and are optional addititons to vet. college courses.Others appear to be pure quackery. Good scientififc research should be able to sort out the two. Until it does I am loathe to see NHS funds being used.

clelly, Australia (22/01/2009 at 09:28)

This is so sad Both are great modalities and as a Medical and Homeopathic Practitioner I know my remedies are just great in most emergencies and often the treatment of choice in chronic illness. Surely the aim should be to treat effectively ,to empower the client and to reduce the cost of health care while at the same time improving it. Homeopathy and acupucture meet those criterion though I must say I personally prefer Homeopathy.

Sorry-I-don't-like-nicknames, Taiwan (22/01/2009 at 12:24)

Chinese medicine does not claim to be based on scientific principles.
Why can't it be classed among the humanities, like theology?

Vintage Style (22/01/2009 at 22:51)

First of all I feel sorry for David Colquhoun, what it seems to me is that he just wants people to believe western treatment is the best. I honestly believe acupuncture is amazing and I can be an exmaple. I have been having neck and shoulders pain I first went to see my GP and he gave me some tablets for 3 months, and result? no improvement at all. It was so suffering and I decided to try acupuncture, this chinese doctor is very professional he treated me with acupuncture with massage and the pain gone after about 5 sessions. I mean so what if its not scientific, there are many scientific research showing that taking too many tablets will harm the body anyway!It is not saying that acupuncture is something new, but something which has been there for hundreds of years with people's times of investigations. And again so what if its not scientific, there are lots of research out there using mice as testers which is not ethical at all.I know there are some illnesses which cannot be explained in western medical terms but can be explained in chinese medicine. I believe that we should appreciate what people in the past have contributed to us and to the societies, as long as the treatments are helping people. I feel sorry that the university is going to stop the course which stop people from exploring their knowledges but I guess there will be more universities thinking of opening this kind of course.

Arnicaqueen, South East (23/01/2009 at 17:00)

This is such a shame. My father at the age of 87 was written off by the doctors as incurable with advanced scleraderma and in need of 24 hour nursing care as he couldn't swallow properly or feed himself or walk unaided. Three lots of homeopathy and a few months later he was no longer bed-ridden but up and about digging the garden.

With regards to homeopathy being available in A&E departments, fortunately people have discovered for themselves the power of Arnica in these situations as it speeds the healing in any trauma. Scrapping this course is very short-sighted and a great pity.

Ms.Phobia, Salford (25/01/2009 at 16:33)

I am disgusted to find out that the only course I want to do has been cancelled for the most stupid of reasons. I could have forced myself to accept it if it was because there werent enough people apply, but after reading this article I am outraged. I now have to change my entire career because I can't study the course I want. I am heartbroken.

Moime Lee (27/01/2009 at 19:12)

As a first year student I was very happy to be on such an innovative course. I thought the government was encouraging proper qualifications (like a BA Hons) in acupuncture and traditional chinese medicine. Heart broken to hear that this course is going to be cut. Why has this course been promoted for 9 years and now it is being unfairly critisised - a lot of students are de-motivated that the University is taking this approach.

Ann Lewis (29/01/2009 at 01:14)

thaitanium,
21/01/2009 at 10: dismisses the treatment at an alternative clinic in Mexico and their treatment of cancer patients. This is the Oasis of Hope run by Dr Contreras who treated Donald Factor, make-up millionaire Max Factor's son who had been written off by orthodox medicine as as good as dead. Eleven years later Donald Factor is alive and well and seemingly 'in remission' as his doctor puts it.

Many people are refused treatment in US hospitals if they cannot pay their medical bills. The treatment they receive at Oasis of Hope is often cheaper and more effective that treatment available to US citizens at home.

How short sighted of Salford University to axe these courses, when thousands of us are voting with our feet and using more and more complementary medicines to treat illnesses and often with great success.

Ann Lewis

Erica Withnell (21/09/2009 at 16:07)

I am gob-smacked! How can this course be conveyed as "anti-science" when NICE have just accepted the use of acupuncture for low back pain - it doesn't make sense. They is so much evidence that acupuncture works, (as opposed to at lot of other practices used in the medical field). I certainly has helped me when "Western" alternatives have been naff.
Erica,
Physiotherapist and Shiatsu Practitioner

Monica Martin (29/12/2009 at 19:25)

I feel shocked by this decision. I graduated at Salford and I am currently practising acupuncture in Spain. There is no discussion with the fact that acupuncture results are very difficult to measure according to double-blinded studies, yet my everyday reality is that people are getting better after treatment. I'd be jobless otherwise! If the scientific-based model is not enough to explain why these people are getting better we shouldn't exclude the possibility that the problem might lie on the scientific model itself.

David Colquhoun (02/09/2010 at 08:50)

Since I am quoted in this article, perhaps I should make my position clear. It has been shown clearly, again and again, that 'real' acupuncture has effects no different from sham acupuncture. That means that all the stuff about meridians and 'qi' that witll be taught on this course is simply mumbo jumbo.

It is true that a non-blind comparison between acupuncture and no acupuncture shows an advantage for acupuncture (whether it is real or sham), but this effect is barely large enough to have much clinical significance.

All the evidence suggests that acupuncture is little more than a theatrical placebo. It is a disgrace that a BSc degree should be offered on such a flimsy basis. Professir John Brooks, vice-chancellor of MMU, is, in my opinion, bringing his university into disrepute, and that is generally considered to be a serious offence. As a physics graduate, he should know better.

It is mildly amusing that Monica Martin's comment says that if you can't get scientific evidence for acupuncture then it is science that is at fault (while sending the comment via the internet, a handy product of science). Well, if it isn't science, why is a university offering a bachelor of science degree in it?

()

Report

News