New developments in the acupuncture field and how they will affect our students were topics covered at AIMC Berkeley’s Community Tea July 12, 2017. About two dozen students attended to share how they would like to shape the curriculum, particularly the herbal program, and learn relevant news.

Nishanga Bliss, Academic Chair at AIMC Berkeley, said the school needs to create integrative medical practitioners who can speak with pharmacists around the world.

Herbal Pharmacy Manager Jordan Wheeler, concurred: “If you tell someone that this herb calms the shen, they’re going to look at you like you have a plant growing out of your head.”

Wheeler said he is attending a symposium at UCLA’s Center for East West Medicine where many Oriental Medicine schools will convene to look at ways …

Among the multiple study abroad opportunities at AIMC Berkeley, the Japan trip that took place mid-April 2017 appeared to have exceeded student expectations. Aside from depth of practice in traditional Japanese technique, the trip was defined by a satisfying immersion into Japanese culture provided by the instructors and the community of Shikoku Medical College.

On the very first day, prior to beginning the five-day intensive course, an assembly of the president, faculty, and students of the college warmly welcomed our AIMC visiting class. In his welcoming statement, the president informed us we had missed the blooming of cherry blossom trees, but as we quickly learned, this would not detract from our experience of the beautiful harmony and subtlety that characterizes Japanese culture.

In the same day, the …

Study Abroad: China 2018

We will start out in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin. In Beijing we will explore some of the most amazing cultural sites in China. In Tianjin we will observe Chinese medicine practiced in an integrated model in a hospital setting at The First Teaching Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Southern China

In Southern China we will meet Dr. Eric Brand, author of “A Clinician’s Guide to Granule Extracts.” Eric will give us a tour of Chinese medicine universities, traditional herbal markets and a botanical garden that specializes in Chinese medicinal herbs.

Guilin & Yangshou

The Guilin and Yangshuo visit will allow you to see the greener, more natural side of China, dotted by limestone karsts and terraced rice fields. As you will discover, China …

The weekend of May 27-May 28 about 25 students from AIMC Berkeley and other Bay Area Traditional Chinese Medicine schools and licensed acupuncturists turned out at AIMC Berkeley to learn from an expert in moxibustion, Jinju Mizutani. In his class “Mizutani’s Japanese Moxibustion Seminar: Gynecological Disorders” students had the opportunity to learn hands-on with individual coaching from the teacher.

“After practicing 15 years, this is one of the better CEUs I’ve done,” said Dennis Von Elgg, LAc, and both an instructor at AIMC Berkeley and a practitioner of the professional clinic. “It’s extremely applicable to a majority of our patients who are experiencing adrenal imbalances”.

A little bit about Mizutani: Born and raised in Japan, Mizutani is a graduate of Japan Central Acupuncture College in Tokyo from …

Senior AIMC Berkeley Student Carleen Cotter taught a hands-on Salve Making Workshop on Saturday, June 10th.

More than 15 AIMC Berkeley students and a clinical supervisor came to learn the art of medicine making. At the end of the class, everyone got to take away their own salve made with three yellow herbs—Philodendron root, rhubarb root and skullcap flower. The project was funded through AIMC Berkeley’s student council and the student activities fee.

“Carleen’s salve making class was hands-on and fun!” said Joyce Kwok, L.Ac, PT, an AIMC Berkeley Clinical Supervisor. “I learned great techniques and infromation that I’ll add to my practice.”

Students ground the herbs in the AIMC Berkeley pharmacy and cooked and strained them to make a flowery essence. At one point after squeezing the …

Graduation is such a special day for all those who have given the last many years of their lives to studying Asian medicine. A sweet celebration of all the triumphs over the challenges, the many hours of dedication to the medicine, the deep bonds between peers, mentors and the web of support that all students need to make it through the gauntlet of graduate school.

Many came out to commemorate the accomplishment at this year’s graduation ceremony at the Grandview Pavilion in Alameda on Sunday, June 4, 2017. The ceremony told the story of what it is like to conquer the masters’ program, the love story with the medicine and the growth that is necessary to step into the role of practitioner. As needed with any …

“Never discount your treatments”

“Give them the agenda for the treatment”

“Never say we’re going to needle you. Always use the word acupuncture”

“You want to be a fountain of free advice”

Essentials For Practice Success: What You Need to Learn Before You Leave Acupuncture School”.

Alyssa described her own rocky start as an acupuncturist but now has a successful practice in Santa Monica, charging $180 for the initial appointment and then $120 per hour. She said she wants to share what she has learned since starting her business in 2011.

About 17 AIMC Berkeley students, alumni and staff were on hand to learn from Alyssa. They peppered her with questions about insurance billing. They asked whether she publicizes her rates on her website. Another student asked what to do when …

Last August, exactly one week after taking the California Licensing Exam (CALE) in Sacramento, I was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer, secondary to a cancer that started somewhere below my diaphragm. It was a shock to get that diagnosis.

I was so excited to begin my new career as an acupuncturist after being a poor college student for four years. It’s been an incredible journey – incredibly painful and at the same time incredibly healing. I first debated whether or not to go to the emergency room for a pain in my right rib cage. It turned out to be a pleural effusion – the emergency room doctors and nurses thought it was strange that I wanted to take a picture of the fluid they drained …

Chief Strategist at UCSF Benioff Integrative Hospital. Nurse. Doula, Mental Health Researcher/Yoga Teacher, Veterinarian Acupuncturist Assistant These are the diverse positions held by our Summer 2017 students. Now they share a new title: Student of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Here is what our new students say about what made them take this important step in their lives—embarking on the path to become acupuncturists: “Oriental medicine, herbs and acupuncture have healed me more than all other health modalities combined,” said Hali Hanson.

Rahanna Frykberg sees firsthand the benefits of acupuncture at her job at the Holistic Veterinary Care in Oakland: “Time and again I witness the healing, regenerative, rebalancing powers of acupuncture in combination with herbal medicine and the true transformative magic of integrative medicine.”

Yaminah Abdur-Rahim comes from a …

Two semesters ago, UC Berkeley Junior Daiwei Liu was carrying a full course load, working 15 hours a week in Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman’s lab studying Huntington’s Disease and kick-starting a brand new student-initiated class “Traditional Chinese Medicine 101: Know more about your body and yourself”.

Liu organized the class through the De-Cal program at UC Berkeley which lets students innovate their own courses. Liu wanted to share the power of Traditional Chinese Medicine with other students. It was such an exchange of ideas that philosophy professor Joseph Tussman sought to foster through the Democratic Education at Cal program (DeCal), which he founded in 1965.

Nishanga Bliss, Dsc, LAc, demonstrates Qigong at a Winter 2017 De-Cal at UC Berkeley.

Liu’s class joins a wide ranging lineup of De-Cal …