You graduate with your acupuncture or massage therapy degree and are ready to take on the world. You are skilled and enthusiastic to make a name (and some money) for yourself in a career that helps people to feel great. But how do you put your education into practice? What steps do you need to take now that you’re out of school and in the workforce? How do you get clients in the door (and keep them coming back)? Pacific College is here to help you flourish even after you leave our campus. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Set up your website. Think of your website as the first sign that you’re opening shop. It should be created before you ever open your doors. A website will lend you credibility. A prospective patient browsing your website has the opportunity to get a feel for who you are before they even meet you in person. The quality of your website can make the difference between a “just looking” patient and a getting an appointment. Having a website provides you with the space that a brochure, business card, or a newspaper ad cannot. When people are shopping for a practitioner online, the more information they can access about you and how you practice, the better. We’ve talked about this a bit before here, in our article “12 Reasons You Need a Website”   The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) provides free websites for diplomats at http://www.nccaomdiplomates.com/

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NEW YORK, NY (March 11, 2013) – Pacific College of Oriental Medicine massage students will soon have the unique opportunity to work alongside dancers of the Joffrey Ballet School, as part of their hands-on clinical experience, beginning March 2013. Massage interns will practice their orthopedic and sports massage techniques by treating professional faculty and student dancers of the Ballet and Contemporary programs, preparing them for rehearsals, performances, and assisting in injury recovery. New York Campus Director Malcolm Youngren, along with Pacific College and Joffrey Ballet School Faculty Member Kerrie Flynn, LMT have teamed up to create what they hope will be a long-lasting partnership that will benefit both institutions. “This opportunity is unique to Pacific College and will allow those students who are interested in working with athletes and dancers an opportunity to sharpen their Sport and Medical Massage skills,” Mr. Youngren said. Not only will massage students gain the technical training required for moving forward in their massage therapy career, they will gain real world experience, that only comes from being “in the field”. Ms. Kerrie Flynn currently works with Joffrey Ballet School dancers as well as massage students and knows that there’s more to an injured dancer’s healing process than just the physical healing.   “Massage students will work with dancers one-on-one, to gain the confidence, compassion, and skill to support them through their healing process,” Ms. Flynn said.  For more information about this new partnership with the Joffrey Ballet School, contact Malcolm Youngren at: MYoungren@pacificcollege.edu. About the Joffrey Ballet School The Joffrey Ballet School, located in New York City’s Greenwich Village, was founded in 1953 by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino to develop and train professional dancers. In more than fifty years of existence, the Joffrey Ballet School has remained on the forefront of American dance education. Graduates of the School have gone on to dance for major classical ballet companies, as well as for numerous modern and contemporary companies, both in the United States and abroad. The Ballet Trainee and Jazz and Contemporary Programs have dance students from all over the world. For more information visit: www.JoffreyBalletSchool.com.

We’ve talked before (see Here and Here) about how important social media is for recent grads who are building their practice. But are you taking full advantage of all that Twitter has to offer you? Getting your voice heard in the Twittersphere is important, but so is listening (Er…reading). There are some fantastic acupuncture-based blogs, news sources, and practitioners tweeting every day that you can learn from.

Check out who we think is worth a follow:

With over 25 years of experience and campuses in San Diego, New York, and Chicago, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) has a wide reach within the burgeoning industry of East Asian and integrative medicine. Pacific College works closely with leaders in holistic health, and many of its faculty members are renowned. The annual Pacific Symposium is one example of how PCOM coordinates with voices in the field. Pacific Symposium is produced by Pacific College annually and is one of the largest Oriental medicine conferences, where practitioners and speakers from around the globe share their wisdom and exchange thoughts.  

With such an extensive network of experts in the field, we thought it was high time we provided a comprehensive list of our faculty and alumni who have contributed to the OM literary canon. Check out our PCOM Book List! Find titles from members of our global family on all aspects of East Asian medicine and holistic health.

Introduction by: Stacy Gomes, Ed.D., with special interview by: Christine Dionese, LAc, featuring the founder of Acupuncture Ambassadors

 The increasing interest in grassroots global healthcare organizations has grown over the years. Pacific College students, faculty, and alumni continue to search out opportunities to serve others during their class term breaks. Opportunities abound among volunteer organizations, many of which are listed on the Center for Integrated Care (CIC).

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a unique perspective on high blood pressure. In TCM, it is believed that the body desires balance. A healthy body is our natural state and any illness or health issue is attributed to something in the body being out of balance. Chinese medicine strives to bring each patient back into balance in order to achieve health. High blood pressure can be deadly if not managed, but a more positive outlook is that high blood pressure is a warning sign that something in a person’s lifestyle needs to change.

 In a recent Morbidity and Mortality Report from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), it’s cited that nearly 1 in 3 Americans suffer from high blood pressure—and more than half don’t have it under control. Perhaps what’s more surprising is that most people with uncontrolled blood pressure are aware of it but their status remains the same. The CDC reported that the majority of people who were studied with high blood pressure (HBP) had actually seen their doctor twice over the past year, yet their condition remained unmanaged.

In 2008, Pacific College entered into a partnership with Quad Partners. This has sparked a lot of interest, as well as questions from Pacific’s holistic health community. To answer some of these questions, we sat down with Pacific College President Jack Miller and Quad Partners General Partner Daniel Neuwirth to explore the result of the partnership to date, and what’s in store for the future.

First off: Who is Quad Partners?

Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, was classified as a Category 2 storm at its peak intensity when it hit the East Coast of the United States in late October 2012. Over the course of one week, Sandy devastated portions of the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S, also impacting Southeastern and Midwestern states and Eastern Canada. Sandy’s winds spanned 1,100 miles, and this hurricane is estimated to be the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane on record, behind Hurricane Katrina. Sandy was deadly, and 253 people lost their lives. Due to the severe and widespread damage of the storm, combined with its unusual composition, it has been termed “Superstorm Sandy”.

The Pacific College of Oriental Medicine New York campus was in Sandy’s path. Due to loss of power and damage in the surrounding area, the campus was closed for a week. This caused a great deal of stress for students, staff, and faculty who not only had to make up for lost work and class time—but who were already experiencing the complete upheaval of the storm. Much of the tri-state area came to a standstill as power was out and public transportation came to a halt due to flooded subway tunnels, damaged equipment, etc.  A good number of students, staff, and faculty lost their homes or suffered significant damage, and some lost friends or family members as well.  Many community members became ill as the temperature dropped and power remained out in some areas for close to three weeks.

Student Loan Debt Relief – It’s Possible and Here’s How!

Experience the debt relief that other Oriental medicine students and alumni just like you have discovered. Cliff Duester, Libra Financial’s advisor, has worked one-on-one with Pacific College of Oriental Medicine students in a wide array of debt situations. No matter what your student loan debt is, Duester specializes in tailoring a relief plan to fit your needs.