Doctor of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

China Externship

Many acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM) programs in the United States offer students a trip to China. Bastyr University offers AOM students something more: a monthlong for-credit externship in China that uniquely prepares practitioners to work in integrative settings, with high patient volumes, and with people who have serious and unusual illnesses.

About the Externship

Students in Bastyr's graduate and post-graduate AOM programs can spend a month or more in the late spring or early fall studying abroad and learning traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at two of China's most prestigious schools, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine or the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Designed as an externship, the trip is organized to maximize students' hands-on clinical training by putting them in both outpatient and inpatient settings in teaching hospitals. In a typical day, students might shadow Chinese teaching physicians as they make rounds, check tongues and pulses, perform tests if needed, make herb/medication changes, and sometimes recommend or administer acupuncture treatments.

Value for Students

The common cold, a sore back, a stroke, cancer — in China every medical condition falls under the TCM practitioner's purview. This cultural difference means TCM physicians in China see triple the daily patient load typical for practitioners in America. For students on the externship, it means exposure to conditions and situations they probably won't encounter during clinical training in the United States.

“Clinical training in the University’s main clinic, its many specialty offsite clinics and the China externship brings the theory to life and help each student understand how to apply these principles to effectively treat disease and alleviate suffering,” says Richard (Kyo) Mitchell, DAOM, LAc, a faculty member in Bastyr's School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Integration Benefits U.S. Patients

Clinical training in China offers another advantage: The teaching physicians are trained in both Western and Eastern medicine. These doctors model an integrative approach to treatment, often prescribing X-rays and laboratory tests alongside TCM treatments, which acupuncturists in America cannot do.

Bastyr students spend years learning to be 'gatekeepers' — identifying when treatment is appropriate, but also when Western interventions are needed. During the the externship, students witness an extremely integrative approach.

Nicolette Behne, a recent DAOM graduate who took the trip in May 2010, says the idea of integrating Eastern and Western medicine "really hit home during the externship," and she came home with many ideas on how to integrate in her private practice.

"It's about combining TCM and Western medicine in the best way possible to help people live longer with an improved quality of life," she says, noting that in China oncology patients can receive "Western" or "herbal" chemotherapy one day and then, on a non-chemo day, take support herbs that help with the side effects. "This allows patients to continue their chemo regimen. TCM and Western medicine can work together the same way here in the U.S."

The Future of AOM in the U.S.

Not only do externship students see a more integrative model of care in China, but they are afforded a glimpse into how TCM could evolve as a health care model in the United States. As TCM becomes more familiar to the general population and as its benefits become more widely recognized, practitioners must learn how to operate in integrative settings and work within a greater scope of practice. 

“Our students are educated in traditional Chinese medical theory and western science," Dr. Mitchell says. "These two complementary perspectives deepen the students’ understanding of health and medicine beyond what can be understood from a single model perspective.”

Prerequisites - DAOM

Minimum prerequisites for the Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) degree are a master's degree in acupuncture or acupuncture and Oriental medicine or a certificate of acupuncture with 10 years of documented clinical experience. Prospective students with certificates of acupuncture should contact the admissions office for specialized assistance. Applicants with AOM master's degrees must have graduated from an ACAOM-candidate or -accredited program and have a formalized academic training in Chinese herbs.

If applicants do not have a Chinese herb background, then they must complete the Certificate in Chinese Herbal Medicine (CCHM) as a prerequisite. Students may begin their doctoral studies if the classroom portion of the certificate has been completed. The clinical portion of the CCHM may be done concurrently with the DAOM program

Applicants to the doctoral program need to either have completed or be in the process of completing the following coursework:

Doctoral applicants must have a background in the basic sciences that is comparable to what Bastyr University requires at the master's level. Upon review of past course work, applicants may be asked to take a higher level science course or complete a competency exam. The minimum GPA for any past college level education is a 2.50.

DAOM Program Summary

Bridging Eastern and Western healing traditions, Bastyr University offers the only regionally and professionally accredited Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) program of its kind in the United States. 

The acupuncture and Oriental medicine clinical doctorate was developed to address the current trend of increased collaboration between acupuncturists, physicians and other health care providers. Frequently, the collaboration occurs within a specialty area, and the Bastyr DAOM program focuses on oncology and advanced pain management. These two areas of focus provide excellent opportunities to gain the treatment skills needed for working in integrative settings while learning advanced clinical skills that will directly improve clinical practice.

This program of study recognizes the strengths that traditional Chinese medicine contributes to improving the quality of life for both cancer patients and those struggling with chronic pain. The curriculum goes beyond the basic diagnostic and therapeutic approaches obtained at the AOM master's level and provides students with an opportunity to develop advanced clinical skills within a rigorous theoretical framework. The rich academic resources of the university are fully utilized within the DAOM program as students work with highly experienced faculty in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), basic sciences and western clinical medicine.

In addition, students develop skills in clinical research and clinical teaching, as well as advanced study in the Chinese medical classics. Course work includes Chinese medical classics, advanced acupuncture techniques, Chinese herbs and therapeutics classes. Basic science classes focus on providing students with a foundation in advanced anatomy, the pathology of cancer and pain, and pharmacological approaches for management of both these conditions. The program of study also includes nutrition and counseling courses and requires a capstone research project. 

Doctoral Program Mission Statement 

The mission of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine degree program at Bastyr University is to train qualified practitioners in an integrated clinical approach to oncology and advanced pain management. This is accomplished through:

• rigorous training in advanced concepts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and biomedical theory and
• an emphasis on training practitioners to be able to work in collaborative clinical settings. The program is committed to producing graduates who are prepared for lifelong learning in the field.