Category: Community News

Head to our beaches this summer and you face a stark reminder of today’s plastics crisis as you squish through the sand, increasingly composed of microplastic. As the fossil fuel industry faces growing public pressure, it is turning toward using petroleum to produce ever-more plastic instead of fuel.

Plastic and Your Health

From a Chinese medicine perspective, the jing (deep energy reserve) of the planet is being tapped and either burned, creating either excess heat/yang and warming the atmosphere, or made into plastic and chemical compounds, which can be seen as pathological yin or phlegm. Chinese medical wisdom teaches that “phlegm is the mother of a hundred diseases.”

A growing body of research links chemicals produced in …

In the wake of recent news of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court ruling that protected the constitutional right to abortion, we at AIMC Berkeley are processing this historic decision, and committing to action. This decision means that abortion rights in many states have been or will be quickly be rolled back, with many “trigger laws” being enacted to take immediate effect to further ban abortion rights and access.

AIMC Berkeley stands firmly in the belief that abortions are a critical form of health and medical care, ensuring that people of all identities deserve to make their own decisions about their bodies. This belief is rooted in traditional East Asian medicine, where the patient is the …

On Sunday, May 22, 2022, the AIMC community came together on Ohlone Land at the Berkeley Marina to celebrate the graduation of candidates of the Masters in Science and Doctor of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine. It was a joyous occasion, honoring the accomplishments of AIMC students, and their new chapters as practitioners. Faculty spoke, families applauded their graduates, our graduates took the Acupuncturist’s Oath, and the celebration also included a Taiko drumming performance by Emeryville Taiko. The summer season is prime for joy, warmth, and connection, and this event captured all of these aspects!

The day was particularly poignant as it was the first Graduation Ceremony AIMC has held after cancelling in 2020 due to COVID-19. It was a touching reunion of many classes …

AIMC Berkeley wishes President Emeritus Yasuo Tanaka well in his retirement & has begun the search for a new President for the College.

While we celebrate Black Acupuncturists & local Black innovators, activists, creators, entrepreneurs, scholars, teachers, caregivers, and community members year round, we’re excited to share some opportunities for our community to celebrate Black History Month this year. You can use the links in this article to educate yourself about the radical Black history of Acupuncture, find Black Acupuncturists near you, and support local Black owned businesses.

Read this interactive zine to be more informed about discrimination & racism in healthcare. Learn how the Black Panther Party and other activists fought for public health initiatives in the 1960’s and 1970’s and what that has to do with the history of Acupuncture in the U.S.

Students, Supervisors, Teachers, Administrators, Friends, Families & pups all gathered in mid-October for a fun day of BBQing and friendly competition.

A Day of Fun

One day in October of 2021, we founded a new AIMC Tradition: The Annual Community BBQ & Intern Olympics. Students, friends, family, and all of our staff & faculty members were invited to join us for a day of fun, food, and friendly competition in Tilden Regional Park.

The Intern Olympics

The Intern Olympics started with an opening Wuji posture ceremony, followed by balloon needling, blind herb taste testing, point location bingo, and a Jeopardy grand finale. Spirits and excitement were high as our competitors stood to win a consortium of herbal goodies, CBD products, some amazing Shen Nong t-shirts, fancy acupuncture …

Here at Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College, we are proud supporters of the work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. We have a lot of respect for the land we are on, which was once home to the Ohlone people.

Current Policies on Campus

Per CDHP guidance, as a healthcare facility, we will continue to require temperature checks and masking of vaccinated & unvaccinated patients and practitioners visiting our in-person clinic and inside our building generally. We don’t anticipate making any major changes to this policy before the start of the fall semester (see “Fall 2021 Policy” below).

Library Re-Opening
Message from the Library sent 6/21/2021

The AIMC Library is cautiously reopening on a limited basis. Le Jiang will be staffing the Library on Wednesday mornings from 9 AM to 12:30 PM starting June 23rd. We may add more hours in the weeks ahead, depending on staffing availability and demand.

There is a pass system to limit capacity for the time being and those passes are found outside …

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” -Maya Angelou

Strategic Plan & Goals

As an institution, we have come together to further incorporate Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI) efforts into our long-term vision and goals. AIMC Berkeley supports the following vision:

To serve as a center for the promotion of health and wellness and care of the community through education, outreach, and patient care with focus on diverse patient populations including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and low-income individuals
To serve as a center for international collaboration in the development of acupuncture and integrative medicine

The third goal of our strategic plan, designed to help us meet our Mission & Vision, is to “promote institutional & community diversity by serving all members of …