Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Have you ever wondered what unique job opportunities there are for acupuncturists?

Here are 3 examples of unusual environments where you can excel in your practice:

Travel the World on a Cruise Ship: Acupuncture at Sea with Karas Smith

After graduating from PCOM in May 2014 with her Master’s in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Karas Smith set out to work as an acupuncturist on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. “You must be up for an adventure and willing to test your skills as an acupuncturist. It’s definitely a great confidence builder. You really get to know yourself and what you’re capable of.

Parts of the process were easy; the actual practice itself was easy and I felt super prepared. There was more difficulty on the business side. There’s a high demand on you, as the sole acupuncturist, to make the business work. You, and you alone, need to learn very quickly how to deal with managers and supervisors, patient retention, marketing, and everything else. The experience provided a nice overall picture of running a business. You only see patients for a week and then they’re gone. You hope that you can inspire them enough to continue the process after they leave, but each week, it was like starting a new practice all over again.”

Serve the Underserved Worldwide: The Himalaya Project

When Mark Sobralske graduated from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, Chicago and went to Kathmandu to volunteer in an integrative medical clinic, he anticipated gaining acupuncture and herbal medicine experience, deepening his Buddhist meditation practice, and certainly finding a little adventure. Mark didn’t anticipate founding a Tibetan medicine school for youths in the remote Nepali mountainous region of Dolpo. When you mix medicine, mountains, and meditation, many things may happen: what is anticipated, and what is unanticipated.

After volunteering for three months at the Shechen Clinic and Hospice in Kathmandu, Mark accepted an invitation from his friend Lhakpa Dondrup to visit his “hometown” in the mountainous and remote region of Dolpo in western Nepal. Before embarking on the trip, Mark met with Amchi Namgyal Rinpoche, who told him of his improbable dream to create a Tibetan medicine school in Dho-tarap Valley. Dhotarap Valley lies in the heart of the Dolpo region of western Nepal, adjacent to the Tibetan border. Tibetan pastoralists have inhabited this valley since the 8th century.  Here, everything, every breath, is infused with Tibetan Buddhist culture.

Start Your Own Business: Dylan Jawahir and Battle Balm

Dylan graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, proud of his accomplishments, but after several years and more than one job change, he realized that he wasn’t happy where he was; his creative faculties were withering away, unused. He quit his engineering life and enrolled here at PCOM. His new life was less predictable, but far more satisfying, and now he gets to use both sides of his brain to help people using natural healthcare solutions. Today, Dylan is the creator of the all-natural Battle Balm, a topical pain reliever specifically designed for contact sports.

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