Medical doctors are able to become licensed acupuncturists by taking 250 hours of classes on point location, meridians, and needle insertion. They are only licensed to perform acupuncture. They approach acupuncture from a point perspective: your Western medical diagnosis says you have diabetes and these particular points are good for diabetes. Oriental Medical Practitioners have to have a previous bachelor’s degree and then complete a four year masters including three years of clinical work. They are licensed for acupuncture as well as herbal prescription. They approach acupuncture from the Oriental Medical diagnosis: by using the diagnostic means, they come up with their diagnosis, which then leads them to treatment options. Acupuncture points that an Oriental Medical Practitioner might use will probably be vastly different than that of a Western medical practitioner. The goal of the Oriental Medical Practitioner is to treat the underlying condition, not the stated condition. And from an Eastern perspective there could be several reasons that a person ends up with a symptom such as diabetes: kidney yin deficiency or dry-heat in stomach and intestines.