Acupuncturists

Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Critical Thinking
Social Perceptiveness
Service Orientation
Speaking
Judgment and Decision Making
Reading Comprehension
Monitoring

Key knowledge

Customer and Personal Service
Medicine and Dentistry
Psychology
Biology
English Language
Administrative
Therapy and Counseling
Administration and Management

What the work involves

Formulate herbal preparations to treat conditions considering herbal properties, such as taste, toxicity, effects of preparation, contraindications, and incompatibilities.
Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.
Dispense herbal formulas and inform patients of dosages and frequencies, treatment duration, possible side effects, and drug interactions.
Consider Western medical procedures in health assessment, health care team communication, and care referrals.
Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Realistic.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Master's Degree (67.9% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (44.8%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (27.6%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Acupuncturists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 68% of occupations compared	72% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 66% of occupations compared	48% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	Very low	Lower on teamwork than 98% of occupations compared	22% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all”
Freedom to make decisions	Very high	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared	90% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom”
Time pressure	Very low	Lower on time pressure than 93% of occupations compared	31% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Conflict situations	Very low	Lower on conflict situations than 83% of occupations compared	34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Moderate	Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 58% of occupations compared	54% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Consequence of error	High	Higher on consequence of error than 64% of occupations compared	36% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: very low
Conflict situations: very low
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
Consequence of error: high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions