Location:

Santa Monica, United States

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Doctorate

Specialty:

Medical Specialties

Program Overview

Program Description:

Emperor’s College four-year master's program is one of the most comprehensive in the nation, consisting of 3,210 instructional hours or 224 didactic units and 970 hours of clinic training. Program at a Glance: Year 1 – 2 The curriculum opens with the ABC’s of acupuncture, Oriental medicine and bio medicine. You will be introduced to theories and philosophies such as qi, yin and yang, constitutional make ups, zang fu (internal medicine), acupuncture points and meridians, tongue and pulse diagnosis and Chinese herbal medicine, including lab time in the herbal dispensary. You will also start an extensive study of Western medicine, beginning with biology, chemistry, biochemistry, medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, western nutrition and pathophysiology. To prepare you for your clinical training, you will begin a 9 month study of acupuncture points and techniques as well as 150 hours of immersion into the clinical setting in observation theater and rounds. We encourage you to start a daily tai chi and/or qi gong practice at the onset of your studies so you can begin to experience the value of these therapies early on. As such many students enroll in at least one of the two required tai chi and qi gong classes within their first two years. Emperor’s offers three of the four internationally-recognized styles of tai chi for students to choose from: Yang, Chen and Sun. To conclude the first half of the program, students sit for a comprehensive Pre-Clinical or Mid Curriculum exam which tests their comprehension of the first two years of coursework and successful completion gains them access to their clinical training. Year 3 – 4 In the second half of the program, students focus on integrating and synthesizing the information they learned in their first two years. Classes take a more clinical approach and students spend approximately 5-15 hours a week applying their clinical skills while treating patients under the supervision of an instructor in Emperor’s Community Acupuncture Clinic and various externship sites. Student interns are able to choose which clinical faculty they work with based on the faculty member’s medical specialty. Emperor’s boasts a wide array of highly trained specialists, many of whom are also MDs, in areas such as auricular acupuncture, blood disorders, cardiology, dermatology, gerontology, internal medicine, mental health, orthopedics, pediatrics and woman’s health, to name a few. Because of the high patient volume at Emperor’s College Acupuncture Clinic, all interns treat their own patients affording real-life experience of what it is like to be a private practitioner. At externship sites such as Roy & Patricia Disney Cancer Cener, UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center and Venice Family Clinic’s Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center where integrative medicine is the focus, interns work alongside MDs, nurses and chiropractic interns in patient treatment and round-table presentations. Students also begin preparing for their board exams and entering the professional world with review seminars, practice management and marketing classes. One of the unique attributes of Emperor’s College is its broad range of elective classes, a feature not common to most acupuncture schools. Throughout the curriculum, students at Emperor’s College are encouraged to select elective classes in specialties that most interest them such as nutrition, advanced herbal medicine, Korean acupuncture, Japanese acupuncture, five element theory, classical Chinese medicine, acupressure, shiatsu, meditation, advanced tai chi, advanced qi gong or even a weekend-long team building retreat at Big Bear Mountain.

Additional Program Information

Accreditation:

The Master of Traditional Oriental Medicine (MTOM) program at Emperor's College is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) which is the accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for the approval of programs preparing acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioners. The Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) program at Emperor’s College is a candidate for accreditation with the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) which is the accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for the approval of programs preparing acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioners. Note: ACAOM is not currently recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for its accreditation or candidacy reviews with respect to doctoral programs in the field.

Requirements:

AA/AS required. BA/BS preferred. Graduate school entrance exams are not required.

International Requirements:

International applicants must submit a comprehensive course-by-course evaluation of all previous coursework by an academic credential evaluation service that is a member of NACES. Applicants from non-English speaking countries are required to demonstrate competency in English language skills necessary by taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. Emperor’s College TOEFL score requirements are 79/80 on the internet based test (iBT), 550 on the paper based test or 213 on the computerized test. Emperor’s College TOEFL code is 8409.