In response to a 2009 inquiry by the Maryland Acupuncture Board, the Attorney General of Maryland declared in 2010 that the Board of Physical Therapy Examiners would need to develop regulations for dry needling. Eight years (!) later on October 1, 2018, the dry needling regulations went into effect.
You can check out the regulations at the website of the Maryland Board of Physical Therapy Examiners.
All dry needling courses offered by Myopain Seminars have been approved by the APTA of Maryland.
Dry Needling Sponsored Courses | APTA of Maryland
Although Myopain Seminars dry needling courses include more theoretical education than most other course providers, according to the new dry needling regulations, students who have completed the Myopain Seminars dry needling DN-1, DN-2, and DN-3 courses do not have enough theoretical hours to continue dry needling in their practices.
The Board requires “in person […] face-to-face session; or in real time through electronic means that allow for simultaneous interaction between the instructor and the participants.”
In response, Myopain Seminars offers live theoretical webinars “in real time through electronic means that allow for simultaneous interaction between the instructor and the participants.”
Each webinar has been approved for 4 hours. Saturday webinars usually start at 9 am; Monday webinars typically start at 6 pm. In addition to attending the DN-1, DN-2, and DN-3 courses, students need to complete at least 2 out of the 4 available webinars. Students are free to attend any webinar.
Employees from Pivot Physical Therapy should check with their employer for detailed information.
Members of the APTA of MD are eligible to receive a discount to attend the webinars.
As an alternative, physical therapists could consider attending any of the advanced level dry needling courses, such as the Fu Subcutaneous Needling – US Version course, the Mastery & Update of DN course, or the Dry Needling Dissection course.
If you have taken DN courses from another course provider, we invite you to attend the Myopain Seminars DN-1 course at a 50% discount!
The new regulations require the completion of 40 hours of theory and 40 hours of practical instruction before a PT is allowed to use DN in clinical practice. This makes Maryland the most rigorous state in the country and likely in the entire world! To the best of our knowledge, no other jurisdiction in the world requires this many hours for a physical therapist to use DN.
- The Board requires that the 40 hours of theoretical education must be done either “in person at a face-to-face session; or in real time through electronic means that allow for simultaneous interaction between the instructor and the participants.”
- According to the new regulations, a physical therapist is not allowed to use DN at all until the completion of 80 hours of education. Jan Dommerholt, President of Myopain Seminars, has expressed to the Board that by not allowing a PT to use DN after the first course for muscles that were taught in the course, the Board may inadvertently have increased the potential of risk of injury. Many PTs take 2-3 years before they can complete 80 hours of continuing education in DN, which means that what a PT learned in the first course is no longer fresh in memory by the time that PT attends the final course. After 23 years of teaching DN courses all over the world, we have learned that allowing PTs to use DN immediately after the first DN course makes for safer DN practice.
- According to the new regulations, “a physical therapist shall have practiced physical therapy for at least 2 years before performing dry needling in the State.” We would like to emphasize that it is permitted to attend DN courses during the two-year period since graduating from PT school. Note: A physical therapist does not have to have practiced solely in Maryland, just has to have at least two years of experience as a physical therapist prior to registering as a Dry Needler.
Myopain Seminars dry needling courses have been approved by the Maryland Board of Physical Therapy Examiners since 1997.
