Applications for our acupuncture course starting in September 2026 are now open! Please join us on one of our upcoming open events to find out more - click here to book your place. If you already have a degree, you can apply for another student loan to study on our four-year (part-time) BSc in Acupuncture. If you live in London or the North West, you can now complete your clinic days in our teaching clinics in York, London or Northwich - saving travel time and money.

Biomedical Healthcare Practitioners

female acupuncture student working on the foot of a young female client

As the growing evidence (including the NICE recommendation for primary chronic pain) brings acupuncture more and more into the public domain, increasing numbers of biomedical healthcare professionals are choosing to study Chinese medicine acupuncture at the NCA.

In recent years we have trained:

  • General Practitioners
  • Physiotherapists
  • Nurses
  • Midwives
  • Paramedics
  • Osteopaths
  • Chiropractors

three acupuncture students sitting at a desk in a classroom

Biomedical healthcare practitioners are either adding acupuncture to their discipline (popular with physiotherapists), or looking for a change in career working in a more holistic way (popular with nurses). The desire to create more flexibility and control over working lives is another common theme with our biomedical practitioners.

On our BSc in Acupuncture what we ARE teaching you is how to become a traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture practitioner. What we are NOT teaching you is subjects you have already learned like anatomy and physiology (Biomedicine for Acupuncturists) and how to engage with patients (Being and Becoming) as you are exempt from these modules.

The majority of biomedical healthcare practitioners choose to study on our Four Year (part-time) course as:

  • You are eligible for student funding for this pathway
  • You can fit study with work and other commitments
  • You can choose weekend or weekday study – whatever fits

 

dark haired female acupuncture student in white clinic uniform

The Student Take

Hannah He

"I am a GP based in London and I like the holistic approach of looking after people from cradle to grave. Acupuncture is a bit of a family tradition as my mum is acupuncturist who graduated from the NCA about 15 years ago. Growing up I saw her treating people with all sorts of conditions, some of which are quite difficult to be treated with conventional medicine, which opened my eyes to the possibilities of traditional Chinese medicine. As a biomedical healthcare practitioner I am exempt from taking the Year 2 Biomedicine module. As I have already covered this subject in my medical degree I was very grateful for this exemption and made Year 2 a lot more easier. Learning bodywork has been particularly helpful as I see a lot of patients with musculoskeletal conditions in my practice, and this area was not well covered when I studied to be a doctor. I am still not sure where this journey will take me however, I am currently exploring working as a doctor in an IVF centre - using both my medical and acupuncture skills."

 

Hear from Hannah as she talks about her journey

Read more about why biomedical healthcare practitioners have chosen to study acupuncture

If you are a healthcare practitioner and want to find out if adding acupuncture could be a good career move for you, please get in touch.

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If you have any questions about our courses please don't hesitate to contact us. Visit the Contact page to get in touch with our Enquiry and Admissions Desk or call us on 0333 996 2726 (ext. 2).