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Acupuncture and Traditional Oriental Medicine Programs – Year by Year

The first academic year –
The fundamentals of all aspects of traditional Oriental medicine are introduced in the first academic year and prepare the student for the clinical assistantship experience. Treatment, diagnosis, and prescription are introduced and practiced from the beginning of the program. As students sharpen their mental and physical diagnostic skills, Tai Ji and Qi Gong benefit their health and sensitivity. Students learn Tui Na, the Chinese equivalent of physical therapy, along with many powerful, non-invasive acupuncture techniques such as moxibustion and cupping. The first academic and clinical phase of the program prepares the student for the Associate Intern experience.

The second academic year –
As an Associate Intern in the second year of the program, the student works as part of a medical team comprising other assistants, interns, and Licensed Acupuncturists. In off-site internships, the team may be expanded to include medical students, medical doctors, nurse practitioners, athletic trainers, physical therapists, and counselors, depending on the facility. Clinical Assistantship consists of almost 400 hours of training and provides the student with the opportunity to assist Senior Interns and private practitioners by performing orthopedic evaluations, charting herb formulas, and performing moxibustion, cupping, massage, other non-invasive acupuncture techniques, and closely supervised needling. The clinical experience prepares the student for the responsibility of accepting their own patients as a Senior Intern in the third phase of the program.

The second year’s classroom experience leads to a more in-depth understanding of the practice of acupuncture, Oriental medicine and biomedicine. Advanced needling techniques and advanced herbal prescriptions and modifications are practiced. The Oriental Medicine 4 course begins an innovative seven-course series on integrative medicine and the differentiation and treatment of disease. The student is introduced to and required to apply the principles of self-directed learning and life-long learning skills that will be necessary in private practice. The case-based learning curriculum emphasizes the integration and application of Chinese medicine, biomedicine and research skills to support clinical reasoning.

The third and fourth academic years –
In the third and fourth years, much classroom time is spent discussing clinical cases. Medical understanding deepens and the student embodies and assimilates the fine points of their art. Over two years of study and practice are challenged and refined by treating real patients in Clinical Internship. Intern activities include the formulation of diagnosis, treatment plan, and prognosis, and the implementation of treatment for a wide variety of individual patients. Students are guided to develop and maintain the highest standards of professionalism and responsibility for patients until such standards become habits. The Clinical Internship program allows an student Intern to participate in at least 350 patient visits. With 950 hours of training in the college’s clinic, as well as internships at local clinics & hospitals, students develop acupuncture techniques, evaluation and diagnosis skills, professional conduct, and confidence in practice.