Brain-dump for the Foundations and Acupuncture with Points exams, and what I have

heard from others regarding the Biomed exam (taking it in a few weeks).

Best Test-Prep Materials:

From others who have passed info on to me from their experience, these sources are useful.
I’ve listed the corresponding exams next to each. Biomed is in Blue ink. Foundations and
Acu/Points are in Purple. The first two (in black) are what Kelly really preferred.

Handbook of Oriental Medicine by Hyunbae Kim: Approx $80 but out of print for another
5 months. All 3 exams. The Gold Standard for passing the NCCAOM exams. This book is
full of charts that concisely point out what information must be memorized for each exam
and makes it easier to find the keywords, key points, etcetera instead of spending weeks
figuring out those things on one’s own. This book is easily worth the cost!!

qpuncture.com Q-TestPrep software test question bank: $199 for a year’s subscription. The
test bank covers all 3 exams, but does not cover the Points portion of the Acu/Points exam.
Deadman’s DVD or tcmtests.com should be used to practice point identification for the
Points portion of that exam. I didn’t hear about this in time to use it personally, but Kelly
swore it got her through Foundations and Acu/Points when other things had not.

Foundations of Chinese Medicine by Giovanni Maciocia: $75-150. Foundations exam and

Acupuncture with Points exam. Maciocia is the source for most of the TCM diagnosis and
treatment methods on these exams.

Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion (“CAM”) by Cheng Xinnong: $30-100. Foundations

exam and Acupuncture with Points exam. CAM is the second-most cited reference for
Foundations and is oft-cited in questions for Acupuncture and Points exam.

TCMTests.com test prep subscription: prices vary by length of subscription and exam.
Useful for Foundations exam and Acupuncture and Points exam, not so useful for Biomed
exam.

Myra Jane’s notes: Excellent prep notes for Biomed exam

Dr. Cai’s notes: Excellent prep notes for Biomed exam

Don Wetzel’s notes: Helpful prep notes for Foundations. I did not use them for
Acupuncture and Points exam (I used the Handbook of Oriental Medicine book, Maciocia
and CAM texts, Deadman DVD test feature, and tcmtests.com test subscription instead)

Foundations Exam:

Key words for Foundations (these are not complete, but give you an idea):
Insomnia, poor memory, anxiety, pale tongue, thin tongue: think Blood def.
Red tongue, red spots on tongue, dark urine, bitter taste, mouth ulcers: think Fire Blazing.
Night sweats: think Yin def
Loose stools: think Sp
Poor appetite, lump in throat that won’t cough up or swallow down, acute pain: think
stagnation/stasis
Flatulence and abdominal distension: think SI
Palpitations: think He
Blurred vision: think Li
Tinnitus: think Ki
Low back pain: think Ki def
Choppy pulse: think Blood def
Wiry pulse: think Li
Slippery pulse: think phlegm, damp. Pregn, or food retention
Knotted pulse: think Cold + He Yang def
Hasty: think Fire
Red tip tongue: think He
Yellow tongue coat: think Heat
Sticky tongue coat: think phlegm
No tongue coat: think yin deficiency

Know your pulses and what patterns they confirm.

Know your tongues and what patterns they confirm.
On the treatment patterns questions, look for your key words (make sure you account for
all the symptoms given), and then confirm your choice of pattern with the tongue and pulse
information. If you don’t get a solid confirmation of your pattern, then go back and look at
the other symptoms again, because 9/10 times you’ve missed a key word!!

Acupuncture and Points Exam:

A big thanks to Kelly Connor for cluing me into the Handbook of Oriental Medicine. I
studied really hard (3-6 hours per day *every* day for 5 weeks, including Christmas Day)
before taking the Acupuncture and Points exam. There is such a breadth of information on
that particular exam that it is difficult to cover everything in such a short amount of time.
The day before the exam, I reviewed for 6 hours and still did not go over all the disparate
topics that could be on the exam. What I can tell you is this:

40% of the exam is treatment and point prescriptions: It is essential to understand how to
pick out key words to identify specific Maciocia patterns in the treatment type of exam
questions, and then to be able to identify which point prescription Maciocia dictates for
that pattern. There are certain things that TCM tends to go for (certain points they use to
release heat, treat damp, characteristics of particular shu antiques points, etc). You don’t
have to memorize every point Rx for every pattern, but you do need to have a good handle
on how to treat heat, damp-heat, cold-damp, and phlegm and what points TCMers tend to
choose over the points we tend to choose in clinic.

5-10% of the exam is point identification: I felt that my Deadman’s DVD test options
prepped me as well as the tcmtests.com points tests. Others may not agree. The main thing
on the exam is that they will give a picture with two points (the same point, but a TCM
location and a 5-Element location) – always identify based upon the TCM location if you
don’t know the 5-Element location.

5-10% of the exam is cupping/moxa/gua sha/plum blossom/uv therapy/electro: Know the

cupping, moxa, gua sha, electro acu, and another 5-10% of the exam is scalp acu and ear
acu that is in either the CAM book, the test bank of tcmtests, or test bank of
qpuncture.com. You need to know contraindications of cupping/moxa/gua sha/plum
blossom/uv therapy/electro, and you need to know regions for scalp and ear acu. There will
be several questions on each. Since this is about 10-20 questions of the 100, worth paying
attention.

I worked out an easy strategy for the Korean 4-needle technique that made it easy. I’ll put
that into another page here.

It is not essential to know the Chart #14 “Common Points” from our first year charts, but a
day or two before the exam, I decided that I needed every last percentage point I could
get!! So I became familiar with it again. I did that so that I could easily work out the
Korean 4-Needle txs. Also, it is helpful on perhaps 5 questions to know which shu antique
category of point a specific point is. I found that, if I had a treatment Rx down to two
possible answers, I could figure it out based upon the general property of the difference
between the two answers (one point releases heat while another doesn’t – were there heat
signs in the symptoms?). For example, ying-spring points are used to clear heat from the
meridian/organ. See the next page of TCM Five Shu Points Theory and Applications for
the yellow highlighted info. I found this on the web and saved it to a page for my own use
because I couldn’t find it in Maciocia in as concise a format.

Know your TCM Needling Techniques, reinforcing versus reducing (which are very
different from what Brian taught us for CCM!) These are easily laid out in the Handbook
of Oriental Medicine. Know that you tend to pinch the skin on the face and you tend to
spread it out with the fingers on the abdomen. I got a question specifically on that, and so
did Kelly.

Know how to treat foruncles and carbuncles, including how to needle.

Know how to treat minor blister (cover and leave alone)from moxa versus larger blister
(drain it and bandage to keep clean)
Lumbar stiffness and pain, and lateral leg pain and spasm = use Yang Qiao Mai to tx

Know what is beneath points and your needling contraindications. I will scan in and
forward some diagrams from Stacy Hewitt that were really helpful to me.

Know your Mu and Shu points. They will make many of the point Rxs make more sense.

Know your extra points and what they treat:

Yuyao good for dull HA or blurred vision
Adrenal ear point is best for shock
Yaotongxue is for acute lumbar sprain
Zigong is for uterine, reproductive issues
Shiqizhuixia good for chronic back pain
Dingchuan good for acute asthma

I crapped out by the time I got to the legal and ethics questions, so just took the
tcmtests.com tests in those areas a few times and hoped that the questions I would get
would overlap those questions enough that I could give an educated guess. I think I got
enough of the gist of those questions that I limped my way through them successfully.

5-10% on Divergent channels, mostly where they originate, emerge, what organs they
connect to, and any organs they wrap around. Here are the basics. Put these on flash cards
so that they become diagrams in your brain. Notice that Fire and Earth all connect to
themselves plus He, for Wood only yang connects to He, Ki doesn’t connect to anything,
and Metal and MF only connect to themselves:

Fire Divergent: originates: emerges: connects to:

SI shoulder joint abdomen SI, He

He axillary fossa face SI

Earth Divergent: originates: emerges: co09[‘

nnects to:
St thigh eye St, Sp, He

Sp thigh tongue St, Sp, He

Wood Divergent:
GB thigh eye GB, Li, He

Li foot eye GB, Li

Water Divergent:
Bl popliteal fossa neck Bl, Ki, He

Ki popliteal fossa neck none

Metal Divergent:
LI hand supraclavicular fossa LI, Lu

Lu axilla clavicle LI, Lu

Ministerial Fire Divergent:

SJ (TB, TE) vertex chest SJ, XB
XB (P, PC) 3 cun below axilla ear SJ, XB

Know “Setting the Mountain on Fire” and “Penetrating Heaven’s Coolness” and why they
are each used. Also know whether the needle is withdrawn quickly or slowly.
Setting the Mountain on Fire is used to bring heat (for deficiency and cold patterns)
Needle to 0.5 cun depth and thrust 9x
Needle to 1.0 cun depth and thrust 9x
Needle to 1.5 cun depth and thrust 9x
Withdraw needle rapidly and close hole (think “keep the heat in”)
Penetrating Heaven’s Coolness is used to release heat (for excess and for heat patterns)
Needle to 1.5 cun depth and thrust 6x
Needle to 1.0 cun depth and thrust 6x
Needle to 0.5 cun depth and thrust 6x
Withdraw needle slowly, leave hole open (think “continues to release excess heat”)

Know what Wei syndrome is and how to treat it

Know how to treat Li yin and yang and Ki yin and yang patterns without obvious points,
i.e. Ki def w/o Ki 6

There are some 2-point combinations that are used to treat certain symptoms over and over.
Know them. They include:
He 6 and Ki 7 = excessive sweating
P6 and Ren 17 = chest pain
Bl 17 + Sp 6 + Sp 4 = congealed blood (key word is dark stools)
Ki 3 and Bl 58 = excess yang rising due to deficient yin below (HA or similar with a Ki
deficiency underneath)
GB 26 = leucorrhea
Sp 9 and Sp 6 = main points for resolving damp
Lu 6 and Bl 13 = Seasonal allergies that become acute asthma
GB 37 and GB 41 = either stops lactation

Know the points contraindicated during pregnancy

Know how to use moxa and what to burn it on to treat male sexual issues
TCM Five Shu Points Theory and Applications
 The Yin Shu Stream Points are also the Yuan Source points, so they carry a role in
tonifying the Yin organs which may or may not be related to their role as Shu
Stream points in treating heaviness of the body.
o Jing-well Points
o Where the Qi of the Channel emerges and begins moving towards the trunk
of the body
o Located on the tips of the fingers and toes
o Actions & Effects
o Restores consciousness
o Clears Heat & Stagnation from the opposite end of the channel
o Calms the Spirit (Shen)
o Treats fullness below the Heart
o Ying-spring Points
o Where the Qi of the Channel trickles
o Located just proximal to the Jing-well points
o Actions & Effects
o Clears heat from the meridian/organ
o Effect on the opposite end of the channel (less than Jing-well)
o Clears Heat over the entire course of the channel (Jing-well works on the
distal end)
o Shu-stream Points
o Where the Qi of the Channel begins to pour
o Located at or near the joints of the extremities (i.e. ankles & wrists)
o On the Yin Channels Shu-stream points are identical to the Yuan-source
points (important for tonifying and regulating their pertaining organs)
o Actions & Effects
o Heaviness a/or pain of the joints
o Combine with the Ying-spring Points to treat the Yin organs
o Yang Shu-stream Points useful for channel stagnation
o Ling Shu ch. 44 states that they are useful for diseases which come and go
o Jing-river Points
o Where the Qi of the Channel begins to flow more heavily
o Located on the forearm and lower leg
o Actions & Effects
o Cough, Fever & Chills - External pathogenic factors
o Disorders of the local tissues (muscles, tendons, bones, joints)
o Diseases manifesting in the voice
o He-sea Points
o Where the Qi of the Channel enters a deeper level to communicate with its
pertaining organ
o Located at or near the elbows and knees
o Actions & Effects
o Counterflow Qi, diarrhea, skin diseases (mainly hot)
o Issues with the Yang Organs and Channels
o Treats the Fu (hollow organs)
Korean 4-Needle Technique

My system for the Korean 4-Needle technique was simpler than I found elsewhere, and is
taken from the Handbook of Oriental Medicine. I found it easier to think in terms of
Mother, Son, Grandmother than in terms of Controlling element, etc.

Here are the key things to remember:

For Excess, you sedate first. For Deficiency, you tonify first.

Excess:
Sedate the Son of the Element Affected S SEA
Sedate the Son’s Horary point S Horary
Tonify the Grandmother of the Element Affected GrEA i.e. GrEAt
Tonify the Grandmother’s Horary point Gr Horary

So, in Excess of Liver (recognize it is the Yin element of Wood phase)

Sedate SEA = Sedate the Fire point on the Liver channel - Li 2
Sedate the Son’s Horary = Sedate Fire point on Yin Fire channel (Heart) - He 8
Tonify Gr EA = Tonify the Metal point on the Liver channel + Li 4
Tonify Gr Horary = Tonify Metal point on the Yin Metal channel (Lu) +Lu 8

Deficiency:
Tonify the Mother of the Element Affected T MEA
Tonify the Mother’s Horary point T Horary
Sedate the Grandmother of the Affected Element Gr EA i.e. GrEAt
Sedate the Grandmother’s Horary point Gr Horary

So, in Deficiency of SI (recognize it is the Yang element of Fire phase)

Tonify MEA = Tonify the Wood point on the SI channel +SI 3
Tonify Mother’s Horary = Tonify Wood point on Yang Wood channel (GB) + GB 41
Sedate Gr EA = Tonify the Water point on the SI channel - SI 2
Sedate Gr Horary = Sedate the Water point on the Yang Water channel (Bl)- Bl 66

Work this through assembly-line style about 4 times, and it will become very systematic.
No memorization beyond knowing the shu-antiques and knowing that yang channels start
with metal at the jing-well and yin channels start with wood at the jing-well. This made it
less like a math story problem for me.

Best of luck!
Christine