Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Board Exam Fees are Expensive
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Be Aware of the Acupuncture Board Exam Fees
This is a heads up for all you acupuncture students out there. Once you graduate from four years of studying Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, you aren’t done. Depending on where you plan to practice, you either need to pass the California Acupuncture License Exam or the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine’s (NCCAOM) Oriental Medicine Certification. Unless you are absolutely certain you won’t ever practice in California, it is strongly recommended that you take the California Boards. These exams aren’t cheap and you want to make sure you have money set aside to pay for them. Here’s the break down in costs:
California Acupuncture License Exam (CALE)
Application Fee: $75 — One time fee.
Examination Fee: $550 — Per exam. Try not to fail.
Certification: $325 (prorated based on max 2 years) — Once you pass, this is what you pay to get your license.
CALE Initial Total: $950
NCCAOM Oriental Medicine Certification
You will need to take 4 exam modules: Foundations of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture with Point Location, Biomedicine, and Chinese Herbology.
Oriental Medicine Application Fee: $550 — One time fee.
Foundations of Oriental Medicine Module Exam: $300 — Per exam.
Acupuncture with Point Location Module Exam: $300 — Per exam.
Biomedicine Module Exam: $200 — Per exam.
Chinese Herbology Module Exam: $300 — Per exam.
NCCAOM Initial Total: $1650
Grand Total for CALE and NCCAOM: $2600
This total assumes that you only have to take everything once. If you have to take one or more of these exams multiple times, it’s going to get painful quick. The last thing you want to do is graduate but can’t practice because you can’t afford to pay for the exams. If you have to travel to Sacramento to take the California Boards, factor in travel and hotel expenses. Good news is that they will be having exams in the Southern California area in the near future.
