Workshop: The Dance of Diagnosis and Treatment in Acupuncture: Utilizing Tools from Manual Medicine

Course Instructors:

Daniel Bensky D.O. and Jay Sandweiss D.O.

Workshop Dates:

Friday: October 2, 2026 5:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday: October 3, 2026 9:00am – 6:00pm (Registration at 8:30am)
Sunday: October 4, 2026 8:00am - 4:00pm

Pending approval, attendees will be able to receive up to 20 hours of CA acupuncture Cat 1 CEU credits, provider #975. CA CEUs count 1:1 for NCCAOM PDAs Pending approval, MDs and DOs will receive 18 Cat 1 credit hours

Location:

Dominican University
Edgehill Mansion - First Floor - Garden Room
50 Acacia Ave.
San Rafael, CA 94901

Flights:

SFO, Oakland and Santa Rosa Airports - All about 45 minutes away

Lodging:

Embassy Suites (Hilton):  https://hilton.com/en/hotels/sforfes-embassy-suites-san-rafael-marin-county/

AC Hotel (Marriott): https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/sfoar-ac-hotel-san-rafael-downtown/overview/

Marin Lodge: http://marinlodge.com/
(this is a little less corporate but very close to venue with high customer rating)

Intended Audience:

Licensed Health Professionals including: Licensed Acupuncturists, Osteopathic Physicians, Medical Doctors, and any other health professionals licensed to perform acupuncture treatment

Course Description:

As the esteemed clinician (and mentor of Dr. Sandweiss) George Goodheart, D.C. has said, "Diagnose what is needed; provide what is needed, and observe the results." In this workshop Dr. Sandweiss and Bensky will share approaches that do just that for acupuncture focused practices. Including precise muscle testing as developed with Applied Kinesiology, the use of Counterstrain and Myofascial release applied to acupuncture points, and tools from Engaging Vitality such as Qi Signal Assessment and Channel Listening. These techniques can be used in a wide variety of circumstances and are particularly helpful for subacute or chronic issues, particularly of the musculoskeletal structure.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES:

• Learn how to think about acupuncture treatment as a "call and response" process with a recurrent back and forth between diagnosis, treatment, and result.
• Learn specific mental and physical techniques derived from manual medicine to aid with this process, including muscle testing, qi signal assessment, and listening to the channels.
• Have a good sense of how these specific techniques will be of use in your own practice.

**All the above Learning Objectives are intended to enhance the diagnostic and treatment skills of health professionals whose licenses allow them to practice acupuncture.

INSTRUCTORS: Jay Sandweiss D.O. & Dan Bensky D. O. 

Course Outline: The Dance of Diagnosis and Treatment in Acupuncture: Utilizing
Tools from Manual Medicine (2.5 day outline created for October 2-4, 2026 course)

DAY 1 (Friday, October 2, 2026) - 5-8pm

5 - 6pm: Course Introduction & Overview  (Lecture)
"Provide an overview and foundation for the course, including a brief discussion and elaboration on:

1. Goodheart's adage;
2. Applied Kinesiology and acupuncture;
3. OMT to treat/pretreat acupuncture points;
4. Engaging Vitality premises;
5. Basic skills that will be worked on during the course."

6 - 6:30pm: Introduction to Qi Signal Assessment & the Three Burners (Lecture)
Introduce students to Qi Signal Assessment and use of QSA to assess the three burners.  

6:30 - 7pm: Practice Set: Qi Signal Assessment & the Three Burners (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in small groups to practice feeling QSA over the three burners. 

7 - 8pm: Introduction to Applied Kinesiology Approach to Acupuncture (Lecture)
Introduce students to applied kinesiology and its approach to acupuncture, including how to appropriately test muscles and integrate findings into the acupuncture treatment.

DAY 2 (Saturday, October 3, 2026) - 9am - 6pm

9 - 9:30am: Discussion/Q&A (Group Discussion)
 During this discussion we will invite students to share questions or insights related to content learned on day 1.

9:30 - 10am: Practice Set: Basic Muscle Testing in Applied Kinesiology (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in pairs to practice basic muscle testing on one another. 

10 - 10:30am: First Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Lecture)
"Introduce students to the first set of muscles (listed below) and their relation to specific acupuncture channels. The lecture will include a demonstration of how to test each individual muscle.

1. SUPRASPINATUS=CONCEPTION VESSEL
2. TERES MAJOR=GOVERNING VESSEL
3. DELTOID/ANTERIOR SERRATUS=LUNG
4. TENSOR FASCIA LATA= LARGE INTESTINE

10:30 - 11:00am: Practice Set: First Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in pairs to practice muscle testing for group 1 muscles and evaluate effects on the QSA.

11 - 11:30am: Second Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Lecture)
 "Introduce students to the second set of muscles (listed below) and their relation to specific acupuncture channels. The lecture will include a demonstration of how to test each individual muscle.

1. PECTORALIS MAJOR CLAVICULAR= STOMACH
2. LATISSIMUS DORSI=PANCREAS
3. SUBSCAPULARIS=HEART
4. QUADRICEPS=SMALL INTESTINE

11:30 - 12:00pm: Practice Set: Second Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in pairs to practice muscle testing for group 2 muscles and evaluate effects on the QSA.

12 - 12:30pm: Introduction to Local Listening & Transient Opening (Lecture)
Introduce students to the Engaging Vitality techniques of Local Listening and Transient Opening. The Lecture will include a description and demonstration of each. 

12:30 - 1pm: Practice Set: Local Listening & Transient Opening (Supervised Practice)
​​Students will work in pairs to practice Local Listening and Transient Opening.

1 - 2 pm: LUNCH

2 - 2:30 pm: Third Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Lecture)
Introduce students to the third set of muscles (listed below) and their relation to specific acupuncture channels. The lecture will include a demonstration of how to test each individual muscle.

1. PERONEUS TERTIUS=BLADDER
2. PSOAS= KIDNEY
3. GLUTEUS MEDIUS=PERICARDIUM
4. TERES MINOR=TRIPLE BURNER
5.  

2:30 - 3pm: Practice Set: Third Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in pairs to practice muscle testing for group 3 muscles and evaluate effects on QSA and Local Listening.

3 - 3:30pm: Introduction to Channel Listening & tōng/bu tōng and Shape of Qi needling(Lecture)
Introduce students to the EV technique of channel listening, including distinguishing channel from non-channel and assessing whether a channel is tōng (open and connected) or not along with a brief introduction to an EV approach to needling

3:30 - 4pm: Practice Set: Channel Listening & tōng/bu tōng (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in pairs to practice channel listening, including finding channels and assessing tōng vs. bu tōng.

4 - 4:30pm: Fourth Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Lecture)
Introduce students to the fourth set of muscles (listed below) and their relation to specific acupuncture channels. The lecture will include a demonstration of how to test each individual muscle.

1. POPLITEUS= GALLBLADDER
2. PECTORALIS MAJOR STERNAL= LIVER

4:30 - 5pm: Practice Set: Fourth Group of Muscle-Meridian Relationships (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in pairs to practice muscle testing for group 4 muscles and evaluate effects on QSA and Channel Listening.

5 - 6 pm: Practice Set: Putting things together 1 (Supervised Practice)
Students will work in groups of three to practice all the techniques covered so far in class together.)

DAY 3 (Sunday, October 4, 2026) 8am - 4pm

8 - 8:30 am: Discussion/Q&A (Group Discussion)
 During this discussion we will invite students to share questions or insights related to content learned on day 1.

8:30 - 9am: Practice Set: Testing RONG Muscle Sequence & Kinesiology Movements
Students will work in pairs to practice manual muscle tests corresponding to the RONG cycle muscles. 

9:30 - 10am: Review of MU Points, SHU Points, and Pulse Points with Muscle Testing (Lecture)
Review MU, SHU and Pulse point location and demonstrate the corresponding muscle tests for these points.

10 - 11am: Practice Set: MU Points, SHU Pints, Pulse Points with Muscle Testing, QSA, and Channel Listening (Practice Set)
Students will work in pairs to practice muscle testing for the MU, SHU and Pulse points and see how those tests affect the  QSA and Channel Listening

11 - 12pm: Special Applications of Muscle Testing for TMJ, Cranial, Emotional Stress & Visual Disorders (Lecture)
Introduce & demonstrate special applications of muscle testing to screen for TMJ, cranial, emotional stress, and visual disorders

12:00 - 1pm: Lunch

1-1:30pm: EV Point-Finding Techniques (Lecture)
Introduce and demonstrate the EV point-finding techniques using QSA, Channel listening and local palpation, along with understanding which responses indicate that point localization was effective.

1:30 - 2pm: Practice Set: Revisit Global Listening, QSA of Three Burners, Local Listening, Channel Listening (Practice Set)
Students will work in pairs to practice all EV techniques learned thus far in order to identify active points. 

2 - 2:30pm: Special Applications of Muscle Testing for TMJ, Cranial, Emotional Stress & Visual Disorders (Lecture)
Introduce & demonstrate special applications of muscle testing to screen for TMJ, cranial, emotional stress, and visual disorders

2:30 - 3pm: Osteopathic Manipulation Techniques for Releasing Acupuncture Points & Channels (Lecture)
Introduce & demonstrate the application of several osteopathic manipulation techniques for releasing specific acupuncture points and their associated channels.

3 - 3:45pm: Practice Set: Evaluating Osteopathic Manipulation Techniques with EV (Practice Set)
Students will work in pairs to practice the application of osteopathic manipulation techniques for releasing specific acupuncture points and their associated channels, after which they will revisit GL,QSA of the Three Burners, LL, and Channel Listening to see if the "active points" identified previously are still present.

3:45 - 4pm: Wrap Up (Q&A)
Wrap up the course and answer questions related to content learned and integration of content into the clinic flow right away. 

Registration and Pricing:

Note: When you fill out the registration form online, you will be redirected to a new page to make a payment via Square. You must make the payment to complete your registration. Please call Dr. Sandweiss's office at 734-995-1880 with any questions.

$1000 USD: If registered on or before August 15, 2026.
$1250 USD: If registered on or after August 16, 2026.

Course Objectives:

• Learn how to think about acupuncture treatment as a “call and response” process with a recurrent back and forth between diagnosis, treatment, and result.
• Learn specific mental and physical techniques derived from manual medicine to aid with this process, including muscle testing, qi signal assessment, and listening to the channels.
• Have a good sense of how these specific techniques will be of use in your own practice. 

**All the above Learning Objectives are intended to enhance the diagnostic and treatment skills of health professionals whose licenses allow them to practice acupuncture.

• Understand the fundamental principles of diagnosis and multiple techniques used to perform osteopathic manipulative treatment that directly influence acupuncture points and channels.
• Appreciate the role of manual muscle testing to diagnose dysfunctions of the neuromusculoskeletal system that cause patients’ conditions and complaints
• Practice these manual tests for all regions presented in the course
• Practice a series of palpation techniques that specifically identify where the patient needs treatment
• Learn a variety of nutritional pearls that correlate synergistically with patient conditions and manual treatment protocols presented during this course

Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation

The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the Maine Medical Association (MMA) Council on Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation to provide continuing medical education for physicians.  UNE COM has requested that the AOA Council on Continuing Medical Education approve this program for a maximum of 17.5 hours of AOA Category 1-A CME credits.  Approval is currently pending. 

UNE COM designates this educational activity for a maximum of 17.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM 

UNE COM designates 17.5 University of New England contact hours for non-physicians.  Contact hours may be submitted by non-physician, non-PA health professionals for continuing education credits.  

Physicians and other attendees should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.  The University, upon receipt of this completed and signed form, will submit the osteopathic credits to the AOA.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Committee for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) and Daniel Bensky, DO and Yehudah Jay Sandweiss, DO.   UNE COM is accredited by the Maine Medical Association Council on Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

 

Hope to see you in California October, 2026! Register now as class spaces are limited.