Level 1 Introductory Dry Needling Course

Wanting to add Dry Needling to your Clinical Kit? Have you noticed your hands ache after a day of soft tissue work? Hypermobile thumbs perhaps? Or do you want to better understand how dry needling & acupuncture interact with manual therapy?

All great questions. All have been asked by the 1000s of manual therapists that have previously attended our Level 1 - Dry Needling Course, the first part of our Clinical Dry Needling Program. 

This dry needling course is designed to provide you with a comprehensive introduction to the necessary theory and clinical practice. It is suited to clinicians with limited or no experience and covers minimum requirements for professional indemnity insurance. Practitioners must stay within their scope of practice after completion of their training.

Our Dry Needling Course Structure

The Level 1 -  Dry Needling Introductory Course consists of three components;

• Online Theory (work at your own pace, time & location) via AAP Education Academy
• FREE Wet Lab Anatomy Workshop (2 hour exclusive) @ UWA 6 - 8.00pm
• 1.5 days practical workshop (Fri 5.00 - 8.00pm and Saturday 8.00 - 5.00pm)

Dry Needling Course Participation Compulsory Requirements

• Due to the presumed anatomy knowledge, advanced palpation skills and structure of these courses, our minimal education standard is a degree course or higher in an area of the medical health sciences; physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, myotherapy, medicine, podiatry or occupational therapy
• You are required to have current registration with your national professional body (e.g AHPRA, MAA)
• You are required to have public indemnity insurance as per your professional bodies minimum standard
• For these reasons, graduates of human movements, exercise physiology, nursing, remedial & therapeutic massage are ineligible to apply and AAP Education recommends you seek a course focused on simple dry needling techniques

"I really appreciated;

1. Surface anatomy review
2. Doug - very approachable + non-threatening
3. eManual - very detailed + easy to read
4. Regular breaks - great for someone that is 20 weeks pregnant"

Beth Vellios  - Physiotherapist

"Doug I found the;

• case study presentations
• demos and the low ratio of students to presenter 
• plantar fascia discussion
• wet lab anatomy workshop
• course manual and online video technique library all very helpful.

This dry needing course goes beyond just needling skills and pushes your ability to clinically reason. It encourages thinking outside the box and to question what is already 'given knowledge'. It's been a pleasure being in your course the past 4 days."

Tisha Bohne - Physiotherapist

Text Recommendations

Click here for our recommendations of books to assist your study.

Continuing Professional Development

An AAP Accredited course: 24 hours National AHPRA Registration CPD requirements (Includes F2F practical, Living Anatomy Wet Lab, pre-reading and online study modules)

What Sets AAP Education Apart from the Crowd?

YOU RECEIVE A FREE 2 HOUR ANATOMY WET LAB WORKSHOP. Unique amongst all dry needling courses in Australia, is the opportunity to enjoy with clinical director, Dr Doug Cary, a guided tour of the upper limb, lower limb and spinal structures in relation to dry needling. Revisit the core skill of anatomical tissue identification but from a clinical perspective. This 2 hour clinically focused session at the UWA's premiere anatomy lab, has practitioners repeatably coming back and back to hone their anatomy skills.

YOU RISK NOTHING! Attend an AAP Education course and if you are not absolutely convinced that it will improve how you treat your clients, we will provide you with a complete refund. Try doing that with one of our competitors. We are the only ones who give a 30 day, 100% No Risk Satisfaction Guarantee. Why? Because we are sure the course content quality and clinical insights you receive, guarantee you exceptional value for your money. P.S. No one in since 1995 has ever asked for a refund from us. Ever!

LIFETIME SUPPORT. Why go through the same pitfalls? Why reinvent the wheel? Your dry needling skills will develop through a series of progressively challenging courses, from Level 1 Introductory to Level 4 Master Needling. Along the way you learn in a supportive environment, combining theory practical, case studies and clinical reasoning. Even when not at a course and you have access to the course director for answers, receive fortnightly ezines packed with clinical information and have access to a large online Resources Library with webinars, documents, and research papers. Why? Learning shouldn’t be threatening! We want your learning to be clinically relevant and fun. We offer the only progressive, COMPLETE dry needling program with LIFETIME support.

EXPERTISE. You will benefit from a presenter who has achieved specialisation in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, with 30 years full-time clinical experience, teaching dry needling since 1995 and a research doctorate at Curtin University. He also provides forensic consultation in dry needling and physiotherapy for AHPRA and other legal authorities.

BONUS LEARNING TOOLS. Most people don’t recall everything. For this reason, you have access to the online technique video library (Value $100) of all the techniques demonstrated during your course. Isn’t that a great resource? In addition you receive a  BONUS study pack (Value $60) that contains needles plus several other essential tools to enhance your learning.

COMPLETE LEARNING MATERIALS. From the moment you enrol, you are learning. You receive access to online theory modules, anatomy quizzes and online articles. All to maximise your on the day learning. A Living Anatomy Wet Laboratory workshop is included, to enable important review of anatomy ‘in the flesh’. No competitor provides access to anatomy workshops with a dry needling emphasis. Before the course, you receive an Emanual, full text (no power point handouts) (Value $85). You can sit back, take notes, absorb information and review references later. It all makes your learning easy. For your PD portfolio, we provide individualised Course Competency & Completion Certificates (Value $35). No extra charge.

TIME CREATION. I find when using dry needling to treat clients, it creates 3-4 EXTRA minutes every client if I am treating pain, trigger points or muscle spasm. Over a day of 15-20 clients, this is an extra hour, which I choose to spend providing more comprehensive client education and home exercise development. In this way, dry needling improves client outcomes through short-term pain relief and long-term functional improvements.

"The level of specificity and detail in the course was outstanding. The online theory and manual were very easy to navigate and a great resource to refer back to during the practical component of the course. Doug is extremely approachable, knowledgeable and really encourages you to think about pathology, three-dimensional anatomy and use your clinical reasoning when using dry needling. Overall, a fantastic course that I would highly recommend to other clinicians." 

Jas Angelev - Physiotherapist

Rural & Remote Professional Development Support

See Rural Workforce Support Agencies for details in your state or territory.