Frequently Asked Questions

The American Physical Therapy Association states that Dry Needling is within the scope of practice for a Physical Therapist. Several other health professions cite that dry needling is within their specific scope of practice as well. There are specific US State rules and regulations that do not permit the practice of dry needling. Therefore, it is your responsibility to know, understand and practice within the specific rules and regulations of your State jurisdiction and professional license.

Upon Completion of the Foundation Course and Advanced Courses you will receive a certificate of completion for each course that shows course contact hours (27 per course), dates and location. To become certified you must achieve a score of 80% or better on the written and practical examinations in both the Foundation and Advanced courses. After successfull completion you are considered Certified in Integrative Dry Needling (CIDN) through Dr. Ma’s Integrative Dry Needling Institute, LLC.

We have accredited continuing education hours (CEU Approvals ) in the states IDN has taught courses. Our courses are approved for 27 hours by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy through ProCert, which is the accrediting body for 30 states. We are also approved to provide CEUs in most of the other states and have applied for those individually. Not all states accredit CEU’s for dry needling. See Scope of Practice for more information.

You must be a licensed healthcare professional in good standing (PT, MD, DO, DC, ATC or NP) that has extensive anatomy training and the ability to puncture the skin (within your scope of practice) to attend an IDN Course. There may also be additional requirements from your individual state in order to attend an IDN course and / or practice dry needling. These requirements vary from profession to profession and from state to state. Contacting your state licensure board is the best way to obtain current guidelines and regulations. See Scope of Practice for more State related information on Physical Therapy. Please note: Other professions ( ex. PTA, OTA, LMT, Reiki practitioners, body work therapists) are not eligible to attend IDN dry needling courses.

We require each participant to read our pre-course manual that is designed to provide background information, theory and references to prepare them for the course. We are the only provider of dry needling training that has published 3 dry needling textbooks.

Participants must attend the Foundation Course (Neurologic Dry Needling for Pain Management & Sports Rehabilitation) regardless of prior experience or training to qualify to attend the Advanced Course.

You must be a licensed healthcare professional in good standing (PT, PTA, LMT, OT, OTA, MD, DO, DC, ATC or NP) that has anatomy training and the ability to treat with manual therapy or massage therapy (within your scope of practice) to attend an NRT Course.

Other professions ( ex. Strength Coaches, Personal Trainers, Reiki practitioners, body work therapists) are not currently eligible to attend NRT courses.

We require each participant to read our NRT pre-course manual that is designed to provide background information, theory and references to prepare them for the course.

IDN provides professional dry needling training courses across the U.S. Please refer to our current course listing to find a location near you. You could also host a course right in your own facility. Hosting is a great way to bring IDN directly to you and receive free spots for you and your staff. If you would like more info on the requirements and benefits please inquire by completing a Dry Needling Course – Hosting Request form.

The short answer is yes. Most states have not set a minimum number of training hours required prior to administering dry needling treatments. Therefore you can begin to practice dry needling after completing our Foundation course. With that said, in the states of GA, LA, VA, and UT you are required to have 50+ hours of hands-on training before you are permitted to treat patients with dry needling. In these states you will be required to attend both the Foundation and Advanced courses before you can clinically treat with dry needling. We recommend that you always check with your individual state licensure board to find out their specific requirements. Only those participants that complete the entire 3 day training are eligible to receive the full 27 CEU’s, no partial credit will be provided.

The IDN courses are different because we do not instruct how to treat particular groups of muscles on the first course then instruct how to treat the remaining muscles on subsequent courses. We provide a foundation upon which a clinician can use to treat most neuromuscular conditions and / or dysfunction anywhere in the body. The IDN model is based on the peripheral nervous system mapping allowing the clinicians to appreciate symptoms not only at a local level but also as part of a larger system. We treat the human body as an integrated structure functioning as a whole, not as individual parts or isolated symptoms.

The quality and cost of supplies are always a consideration. In the course we discuss needle type, quality and use in detail. There are many reputable suppliers of needling supplies as well as others that are not. One recommended supplier is PT United. A box of needles can range from $3 (which we do not recommend) to upwards of $17+. A good quality needle can be purchased somewhere in the middle ($10), we use Seirin needles in our courses. You will also need a sharps container, gloves, alcohol swabs, and something (we use a rolling cart) to carry the needling supplies between patients. We also use and train you to use Electrical Nerve Stimulation and do recommend the purchase of a stimulation unit and recommend the ES130 unit.

If you need to cancel your course registration two weeks or more before the start of the course, your registration fee will be refunded minus a 6% administrative fee. OR you can transfer your registration to another course at no additional fee as long as the other course is within a 6-month time frame from the date of the original course for which you registered.

No refunds will be provided if the cancellation is within 2 weeks of the course date. OR you can transfer your registration to another course at no additional fee as long as the other course is within a 6-month time frame from the date of the original course for which you registered. Transfers are limited to 1 transfer per registration.

No refunds or transfers will be issued for ‘no shows’ at the course, nor for cancellation any time after the course start date.
No refunds or transfers will be issued if a participant begins the course and is not able to complete it for any reason.
IDN nor host facility are responsible for any reimbursement of expenses the participant may have incurred.

Dr. Ma’s Dry Needling Institute reserves the right to cancel the course for circumstances beyond its control. In the unlikely event that this should occur, your tuition fee will be returned in full; however, Dr. Ma’s Dry Needling Institute will not be responsible for nonrefundable airline tickets, hotel reservations, or any other travel or personal expenses incurred by the registrant. Dr. Ma’s Dry Needling Institute will make every attempt to contact you as soon as possible in the event a course must be canceled.