INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE AT AIMC BERKELEY

At AIMC Berkeley, we are creating a new way of integrating the healing traditions of the East with modern scientific research and medical practice to serve the needs and demands of U.S. consumers. Informed patients in the U.S. desire an explanation of procedures and want to be partners in their own healing. This requires us to teach our students to become fluent in a common language that bridges Eastern and Western philosophies.

The physicians we train are prepared to enter a dynamic workforce which integrates multiple medical paradigms for a truly holistic approach to health and healing. They are able to interface with allopathic and naturopathic doctors, order and read lab tests, start thriving private practices and clinics and find work in hospitals, community clinics, nonprofits, corporations and many other venues.

AIMC Berkeley was founded by Japanese acupuncturists and continues its relationship with those founding members and its sister school in Tokyo. Because of the school’s special relationship with Japan, the college also integrates the imprint of Japanese culture on the medicine. Our teaching is informed by Japan in two major ways. One distinction is the school’s evolving use of scientific and evidence-based diagnostics such as those used in Japan. Secondly, we teach the gentle techniques and distinct diagnostic methods that hail from Japan. These include meridian therapy and Hara diagnosis.

Moreover, our faculty is from all over the world— Japan, China, France and the entire U.S. This creates an international culture at our college and benefits our students, exposing them to a variety of perspectives on treatment. The diverse community of Berkeley and the Bay Area comes to get treated at our college clinic, providing our students a truly multicultural educational experience.

Other ways our focus on integrative medicine is expressed:

• A consistent track record in providing top-rate Western medical instruction
• An evolving integration between curriculum taught in Western medicine classes with Eastern medicine classes
• Integrative medicine off-site clinical settings at UC Berkeley Sports Medicine Department and the West Berkeley Lifelong Family Practice as well as unique opportunities to perform acupuncture on Western Medical practitioners at one of the nation’s top integrative hospitals: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.
• International trips to France, China and Japan, where students have the opportunity to see how acupuncture is being practiced alongside Western healthcare. In China, we study at the country’s largest TCM hospital as well as an integrative cancer clinic. In France, we learn from Raphael Nogier, a medical doctor who uses Western medical devices and research to authenticate the efficacy of ear acupuncture.