August 2001
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EAST
MEETS WEST
American Academy of
Acupuncture and
Oriental Medicine Offers Authentic TCM Curriculum
CHANGZHEN GONG, PHD
ARE YOU LOOKING for a career change?
Are you exploring a professional path in acupuncture and Oriental medicine? Do you
know there are a variety of curriculums in acupuncture and Oriental medicine? This
article shares with you the curriculum construction of the Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine Program at the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM)
and explains why we construct such a curriculum.
The AAAOM curriculum is based on an evolving medical system of knowledge developed
over several millennia. Three key components—the holistic foundation, pattern differentiation,
and clinical effectivenes—occupy the core of the curriculum. Zang-Fu and meridian
functions in theory; pattern differentiation in diagnosis; and the integrated approach
of acupuncture, herbs, and diet based on pattern differentiation in the treatment
of symptoms and diseases are consistently constructed in the curriculum. Accumulated
knowledge from the classics of Chinese medicine including Yellow Emperor’s Classic
of Medicine, Classic of Difficult Issues, Treatise on Febrile Diseases, and Classic
of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, is integrated with modern TCM and modern Western
medicine in the curriculum as well.
Advantages of Eastern, Western approaches
Conventional Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine take different approaches
to health and diseases. Each medicine develops its advantage in some areas, such
as chronic diseases and syndromes; functional and emotional disorders; pain conditions;
gynecological, neurological, muscular, and gastrointestinal problems for traditional
Chinese medicine; trauma, acute conditions, and catastrophic problems for conventional
Western medicine. An integrated approach is applied to the common clinical conditions.
The curriculum of the acupuncture and Oriental medicine program at the AAAOM reflects
these fundamental issues. The approach to internal medicine in the curriculum at
AAAOM sufficiently incorporates these subtle considerations. For example, traditional
symptom-based approaches to disorders such as cough, palpitations, constipation,
insomnia, vomiting, and pain are covered in TCM internal medicine. Modern disease-based
approaches to health conditions such as multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, carpal
tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis are covered in courses in Neurological Disorders
in Chinese Medicine and Musculoskeletal Disorders in Chinese Medicine.
The curriculum choice at AAAOM is also based on our surveys and interviews with numerous
acupuncture practitioners and Oriental medicine graduates. All these practitioners
and graduates with different backgrounds and from different schools unanimously agree
they would choose a school with a TCM-based curriculum if they were given a choice
now. The leading and successful practitioners and authors in the United States all
follow a TCM style combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. AAAOM
students are trained proficiently in pattern differentiation. To determine when an
herb, a food or an acupuncture point is appropriate for a patient, recognition of
the right pattern from the patient’s constitutions, main complaints, general body
conditions, and tongue and pulse is fundamental. If there is not a substantial understanding
of differentiating patterns, the acupuncturist will become, simply, a needlist, and
the true and holistic meaning of traditional Chinese medicine will be lost. And acupuncture
and Oriental medicine profession, as a unique and independent one, cannot be differentiated
from others with 200-hour training with limited point location and needling technique.
The well-constructed curriculum at AAAOM is to train holistic TCM practitioners,
not just mechanical needlists.
The test of time
Traditional Chinese medical curriculum has stood the test of time around the
world, not only in China, but in Korea, Japan, Europe, and in the United States.
TCM is the trunk of the tree compared with other “offshoot” styles of acupuncture
such as Vietnamese acupuncture, French energetics, and five element acupuncture,
to name a few. A complete medical system versus a single therapy is a good comparison
to TCM based curriculum versus an offshoot style of acupuncture. Third year student
at AAAOM, Jill Neukam, shared her experience with other students, saying, “AAAOM
is great. You get a traditionally based education in Chinese medicine. The doctors
and professors are extremely knowledgeable in both Eastern and Western medicine.
They are wells of knowledge for common, everyday health concerns, and for very complex
and difficult conditions.”
It is a mistake to view traditional Chinese medicine as just an optional alternative
to a few health problems. The system of traditional Chinese medicine, its institutional
establishment and educational structures are parallel with and equivalent to modern
Western medicine. Both systems cover the whole range of health problems. Each system
has its own advantages. The clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine is
5,000 years old. The educational establishment of traditional Chinese medicine is
1,500 years old. It is a model that is equal to, as well as complementary to, conventional
Western medicine. The curriculum at AAAOM follows the thousand years’ evolving tradition.
At AAAOM, any significant new development of acupuncture and traditional Chinese
medicine is incorporated into the professional training through seminars and workshops.
The full potential of traditional Chinese medicine to our healthcare system can only
be delivered by taking Chinese medicine as a medical system, not just a single therapy.
American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, with its awarded best faculty,
rich library resources, and powerful website www.aaaom.org, is completely committed
to bring this most developed and well-established curriculum to the future American
practitioners.
To request information from the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
(AAAOM), please call 612-379-3865 or see the website: www.aaaom.org. Please refer
to the advertisement on the back page.
Changzhen Gong, PhD, MS, is the president of American Academy of Acupuncture and
Oriental Medicine and executive director of TCM Health Center. Dr. Gong came to the
United States with a Fulbright Scholarship. He is the author of many articles for
the public on traditional Chinese medicine. He can be reached at 612-379-3865.
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2001 Twin Cities WELLNESS newspaper.
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