Category: Events

With the recent shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, we honor those whose lives have been lost, and are holding in our hearts all those who are grieving among the AAPI community. This time of year is supposed to be a time of celebration. While this year’s celebrations are clouded with trauma and grief, we can look to the Water Rabbit for hope.

Rabbits in the Chinese Zodiac

Each year, according to the Chinese zodiac calendar cycle, a heavenly stem, one of the five elements, is paired with an earthly branch, one of the 12 zodiac animals. This year is the Gui Mao, or Water Rabbit year. Gui represents water, while Mao represents rabbit. Both of these hold significance, and can offer insights into 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 …

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 …

Disparities in Healthcare

Of the many things brought to light during the Covid pandemic, U.S. healthcare disparities are among the most disheartening. The virus has made visible the vast inequities that plague our healthcare system, as well as the many other contributing factors that manifest in poor health outcomes that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and Latino populations.

Racial and ethnic disparities in the healthcare setting gives rise to serious moral and ethical dilemmas – healthcare is simply not available equally to all segments of the population in the United States.

According to CDC data, Indigenous Americans have suffered the highest death rates from the pandemic with 1 out of every 390 people (total population) dying from Covid. One in 555 Black Americans have died, and 1 in 665 …

We’ve loved hosting virtual events & sharing the wisdom of East Asian & Integrative Medicine on our social media & on our blog.

What do you want to learn from us next?

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We’ll miss the usual fun and camaraderie in the student lounge around Lunar New Year. We’ve got a few suggestions to help everyone get in the spirit and welcome the year of the Metal Ox.

With the recent rise in violence against Asian Americans and the state of the economy, it is more important than ever that we stand up in support of our local Asian communities. Be sure to support local restaurants & businesses in Oakland and San Francisco’s Chinatowns.

Here are some of our free virtual event suggestions:

Wednesday February 10th, 6:45-8:45pm

History of SF Chinatown

Join the Chinese Historical Society of America for a tour of San Francisco’s Neon Chinatown.

Thursday-Saturday February 11th-13th, Various Times

Culture & Dance

Watch the Nai-Ni …

AIMC’s Japanese Foundations

Since its founding in 1990 by the Meiji School of Oriental Medicine in Japan & its alumni, AIMC has always had a close relationship with Japanese styles of acupuncture & herbal therapy. Our Board Chair, Dr. Goto, is the president of our sister college, GOTO College of Medical Arts & Sciences in Tokyo. In addition to offering Japanese acupuncture electives & clinical supervision to our Master’s students, we have a continuing education Japanese Medicine certificate program that has been forged in relationship with some of the great teachers of Japanese Medicine in the U.S. and abroad. We regularly bring Japanese teachers to the U.S. for seminars, and we hope to reschedule our

AIMC students got to experience an in-depth look at growing and harvesting traditional Chinese herbs during a visit to Peg Schafer’s Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm.

A class of twenty completed the Medical Qi Gong certification program led by Suzannah Stason LAc, CMQ this past summer. The program included six modules spanning over the length of a year. With the momentum of the resounding success of this graduating class, the program is being offered again, beginning with module one on September 16-17, 2017.

The practice of Medical Qi Gong is one of the original branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In the West, we often think of just acupuncture but when we look at Traditional Chinese medicine as a whole system, we see the many aspects that it addresses from the internal medicine that herbal formulas provides, the qi cultivation and regulation that qi gong provides and the balancing aspects of acupuncture.

Medical qi …

Teishin is a unique Japanese contact needling technique. Our students were able to learn more at this AIMC workshop with Funamizu Sensei. Check out other upcoming events and workshops on our calendar.