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Five Branches University Launches New Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (DTCM) Program

Starting in Spring 2016, students entering Five Branches University to become Licensed Acupuncturists and Herbalists will earn the Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine degree. Students will also be granted the Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine degree in order to sit for the National and State Certification and Licensing exams.

With this development, the profession of Traditional Chinese Medicine joins other healthcare professions with an entry-level first professional doctorate degree — such as MD’s, DC’s, and ND’s.

This development integrates the Institute of Medicine core competencies for all 21st century health professions and will hopefully bring TCM practices to be acceptable by Medicare, the federal health care insurance for people over 65 years of age.

For entering students, the Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine programs requires three to four years of study and three years of undergraduate study.

The University continues to offer the postgraduate Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine that is for Licensed Practitioners.  This is a two-year program offered once a month in 4-day weekend modules and focused on advanced clinical practice, specializations, pedagogy, research and integrative medicine.

We congratulate the profession for attaining this new standard, the Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, for students entering this growing profession.

TCM for Pediatrics

When children get sick, not only the children suffer from it but the parents also. With traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), how can parents help their sick children. We are please to have Dr. Lucy Hu to give us some TCM tips on pediatrics. There is a different set of measure when making a TCM diagnosis for children. Children’s blood and Qi is not fully developed yet, so they get blood and qi deficiency easily and get sick. In addition, their channel or the heart vessel is not developed yet, so it may also cause some problems with channel or blood vessel and make them sick. If children get sick, their syndromes change quickly. A TCM practitioner’s job is to follow the children’s conditions, in order to make correct diagnosis and treatment plan.

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TCM for Weight Control

Obesity has became a serious issue nowadays. In the United States, actually 65% of the adults and 15% of the children actually are overweight, and obese. And diabetes, this disease actually already increased 70% in 30 years old in the past 10 years. And this may be the first generation in which our children, they die 10 years younger than their parents. So, this, you can see that it’s actually a very serious problem that exists globally, not only in United States, the United States actually influences the whole world. In the webinar, Dr. Chi will explain to us how Traditional Chinese Medicine can actually offer a solution to this issue.

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Traditional Chinese Medicine Foundation

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, by looking, listening, questioning & feeling the pulse with 8 differential diagnosis, a TCM practitioner can identify the conditions of a patient. A patient’s tongue is usually what practitioners look at when they do the diagnosis.
A person, particularly if it’s a new patient, walk into the clinic treatment room. We start asking them, “Okay, now go ahead telling us what brought you here.” And the person started to talk about his or her own situation, right. And then, we interrupt them, asking questions here and there, trying to rebuild the patient’s condition, according to the signs and symptoms the patients tell us. And then, finally when we can catch a break, we say, “Now, let me look at your tongue. Let me feel your pulse.” And that’s when we start to see a lot of puzzled faces. Okay, the patient listens to us. They follow our instructions. They stick their tongues out, and then they’re wondering, “What’s up with my tongue? Why is that so important? What do you see in my tongue?”

Hi, welcome to the class. My name is Florence Chen. I’m a faculty member of Five Branches University. I am very honored to be invited to give you guys a brief talk about traditional Chinese medicine. Out of all possible topics of Chinese foundations that I can choose from, I pick tongue diagnosis. Why? Because this is what we do in the clinic.

25:46 S4: Alright, here. Let’s try to recreate a clinic situation. A person, particularly if it’s a new patient, walk into the clinic treatment room. We start asking them, “Okay, now go ahead telling us what brought you here.” And the person started to talk about his or her own situation, right. And then, we interrupt them, asking questions here and there, trying to rebuild the patient’s condition, according to the signs and symptoms the patients tell us. And then, finally when we can catch a break, we say, “Now, let me look at your tongue. Let me feel your pulse.” And that’s when we start to see a lot of puzzled faces. Okay, the patient listens to us. They follow our instructions.

26:38 S4: They stick their tongues out, and then they’re wondering, “What’s up with my tongue? Why is that so important? What do you see in my tongue?” Out of all the body parts, body organs, why are Chinese medicine doctors so interested in your tongue? Okay. Since you are thinking of applying to an acupuncture college. I guess you have some ideas of Chinese medicine already or at least you think you know. Okay. So I guess you know it’s all about qi. Qi, Q-I. All the character here. Qi, what is qi? Qi is the energy. Qi is the life force. Qi is also the air you breathe in. We can talk days and days about qi, and we can never fully, completely finish the whole concept of it. Qi is the most fundamental principle of Chinese medicine.

27:49 S4: And then, if you’re more sophisticated in Chinese medicine knowledge, you know the five elements, too. You know the wood, the fire, the earth, the metal, and the water. And you know they’re associated to our organs and meridians, and you know we have to keep in balance. That’s what Chinese medicine is about. Everything is about being balanced. However, you eat well, you exercise, you even do Qigong or yoga to cultivate your qi but you still get sick. I mean, that’s life. Everybody still gets sick from time to time. Why? Well, of course, it’s imbalanced. But then, what if you do, when your body is imbalanced? So, that’s one of the points I’m trying to make today. It’s important we know about our body.

28:47 S4: It’s important we take good care of our body. But when it’s imbalanced or when you get ill, when you get sick, you go to a doctor, you go to an acupuncturist. And then, there has to be some way for the doctor, the acupuncturist, to make a connection of what they see on your body through the knowledge they have in their acupuncturist schools. And that’s what going on in our TCM clinic. The way to connect the Chinese medicine theory to your real life acupuncture clinic experience is by doing a set of diagnostic skills or techniques. To fully understand the patient’s condition and then make a correct diagnosis and have correct treatment principle following that.

29:45 S4: In Chinese medicine, we call it four diagnostic methods. Here it is. Okay. Inspection, observation, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation and palpation. Those are just fancy terms. Basically, that means watch. Seeing things and smelling, listening, asking questions and feeling, touching the patient. Let’s go from the very bottom up. Palpation, say if a patient comes in with knee problems, of course you know to touch the knee. You know to manipulate. You know to do physical exam, trying to figure out what is going on with the knee. Right? And then there is another important one. It’s called pulse diagnosis. I think you have seen the acupuncturist doing that. The acupuncturist… Let’s go back to this one.

30:51 S4: Rest the hand onto your wrist, trying to figure out all the things going on with all the meridians and all the body organs you have. And then interrogation, asking questions, asking about the signs and symptoms, asking the patients also the accompanying family members or friends because sometimes we are so objective. When we think we know our body very well, a lot of times we are giving out the wrong information. So it is very important to make your own observation, asking the patients important questions and also asking the ones who are accompanying the patient. And then, smelling and listening. What do you listen? You want to listening to the wheezing, the breathing.

31:44 S4: You want to listen to the voice and you want to smell any abnormal smell. For example, I think many of you know, rotten apple smell is associated with diabetic patient. Right? So, sometimes you can find out what’s wrong with the patient or what is going on with the patient’s condition by listening and smelling them, with the abnormal voices and abnormal odors. And then finally, inspection, observation. When a patient walks in, you don’t see the whole patient as a whole. The vitality of a patient, the color, the complexion, the whole physical appearance. And then if they are limping, if they are leaning to one side. And also, you want to inspect the particular regions of the body.

32:42 S4: Sometimes if they come in with a particular complaint, like back pain, you want to inspect the back. Right? You may also want to go down the whole nerve system to know which one is triggering the pain. And also, you want to see the patient from one side of the body, trying to understand the other side of the body. For example, tongue diagnosis. This will be our example today. From the tongue, the body of your tongue, the coating of your tongue, your Chinese medicine doctor will be able to know a lot about your body condition. Alright. Now, let’s take a look of what do we see. Okay. So, for example here, today we are going to talk about a tongue. What do acupuncturists see on your tongue?

33:40 S4: We’ll have to go on to another really important Chinese medicine diagnostic principle. That will be the eight differential diagnosis. What does that mean? That means we look into four sets of concepts. Here they are. Is that yin or yang? Is that exterior or interior? Is that cold or is that hot? Is that deficient or excess? The four sets of concept is named eight differential diagnosis in Chinese medicine. No matter how good you become in the future, no matter how famous you are, later on in the future whenever you see a patient, you always want to reflect back to those eight differential diagnosis. Whoever you see, you want to ask yourself “Is this yin or yang? Is this an external invasion or the problem comes from inside? Is that cold?

34:47 S4: Is that hot?”, and then you want to know if it’s too much or is that not enough? Still you’ll be like “Uh, yeah, I understand, but what does that mean?”. Now, let’s start from looking at people’s tongue. Here, this is the first picture we have. I have two case studies for you guys today. Let’s one, look at a picture. Tell me about the eight principles. Let’s start from an easy one. Is that hot or cold? Think about it. Of course, at this time now, you don’t have much knowledge about Chinese medicine fundamentals, but look at this tongue. Compared to a normal tongue you’ll be thinking of. This one, the tongue body itself is red, right? So, it represent hot. So yes, it is hot. And how do I know? Okay. Let me tell you the story.

35:51 S4: I was preparing for this slideshow and then I was going around in school asking everybody to stick out their tongue, let me take a photo. And then I grabbed this guy. I’m like, “Okay, let me take a picture of your tongue,” and he went, “No, no, no, no, no, it’s ugly.” But even though it was ugly, even though he said no, no, no, no, no, but then he stuck his tongue out. And then I look at that, I’m like, “Wow! That’s a lot of damp heat.” And then he was like smiling embarrassedly. He said, “Yeah, I had an acute stomach flu. I had diarrhea for more than 20 times yesterday. I couldn’t even sleep at all last night.” That’s a real story, happening in our school, okay.

36:34 S4: So, of course, I knew the situation later. But even before he told me the whole story, I knew that already. Why? Because I know what to look at his tongue. When I saw the red tongue body, I knew there was heat. When I saw the yellow sticky fur, I know there was dampness and heat. And also the prickles. You don’t know what I’m talking about, but when there are red dots on the tongue, those also indicate excessive heat. So, if you look at a person, look at a situation, look at a tongue, and then you reflect back to eight differential diagnosis, you can know a lot of things about your patient, without him telling you a thing.

37:25 S4: That’s one interesting example. And then, after you prepare yourself for this ugly tongue photo, which he said so, let’s take a look at this one. What do you think, and what do you see? Alright, I can give you the answer right away, that’s spleen deficiency with dampness. They’ll be like, “What deficient? What dampness?” Don’t worry about that. Those are the terms that you will be learning in the next four years, once you enroll in the acupuncture program. You have all the times to know about your spleen, your liver qi, your kidney in and your heart-fire. At this point, don’t worry about it. Let’s just look at a tongue, trying to go back to see if that’s yin or yang, if it’s hot or cold, if it’s exterior or interior, and if it’s deficient or excess.

38:29 S4: Okay. Here, the abnormality you can see will be the teeth mark, the whole age of teeth marks. Actually you’ll see a lot of patients with teeth marks on the side. I took photos of many of our students with teeth marks. This one is the most obvious one, it’s circulating the whole tongue, you see a lot of fluid retention. So, that will be a deficiency sign. Why? The fluid retention is caused by the not functioning so well spleen. So, even though you will see the accumulation of body fluid, which is what you don’t want, but it’s caused by your spleen is not working well enough. And how do I know, is the deficient condition rather than excess, because of the paleness of the tongue, it’s more deficient in excess.

39:32 S4: All right, so, we took a look of two persons tongues already, and I believe, by now you think maybe you’re starting to get it. Okay. And then, let me show you what acupuncturists try to see under a tongue. Here is what you do. After today’s seminar, I encourage you to look into a mirror, stick your tongue out, look at your own tongue. And what you want to see, you want to see your tongue body, and you want to see your tongue coating. From tongue body, you want to see your tongue color, see what color is that. Is it light red? Is it pale, almost white? Is it crimson red, like dark red? Or its blue-purple. When its blue-purple you know you have a lot of stagnation. And also you want to see the form of the tongue.

40:34 S4: Is that tough? Is that tender? Is that enlarged? Is that has teeth marks, as we just saw earlier? Do you see spots on the tongue, like the first patient we have? You see like red spots, right. And if you see any cracks on the tongue. Also, you want to see the mobility of your tongue. Is that trembling? Is that deviated? Is that protruding? Sometimes you’ll see very narrow tongue; sometimes you’ll see very large tongue; sometimes, especially for post stroke patient, you will see the tongue slide to one side. They all tell you a lot of stories. On top of that, we also see tongue coating; sometimes we also call that tongue fur, actually because it’s a easier shorter word.

41:26 S4: Most of your acupuncturists will say, “Ah, thin white fur.” Fur refers to your tongue coating. And that’s one of the more interesting topic that doesn’t really associate with your standard conventional medicine so well. Usually your dentist will want you to scrape your tongue, because you consider your tongue fur, tongue coating as something dirty, something accumulate bacteria, which is true, because your tongue coating is created by your stomach qi. The process of your digestive system will create the tongue coating, so you’ll want to have some coating but not so much. When you have too much coating, that will indicate some problem.

42:16 S4: So, an ideal coating will be thin, will be even but then when it’s thick, when it’s yellow or when it’s even black or look like burnt, it will tell you something too. So, on the tongue coating, you also want to see the quality of your tongue coating. Is that too thick? Is that too thin? Is that too dry? Is that too moist or does that look like curt? Does that look like exfoliated? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.” And also, you want to see the color of the coating. Is there more white? Is there more yellow? Or its so gray it looks like black. And then, after that, after today’s seminar, look at your tongue. I hope some of you will write down a discreet thing: Pale, red, thin, white, fur, hopefully, at least one of you will do so. Why? This is a normal tongue. At the end of the seminar, I want to show you something normal so you have something to compare to.

43:27 S4: Normal tongue or close to normal tongue looks like this. The color itself is pale pink, not too red, not too pale and it has to be slightly moist. It has to be shiny enough to represent good qi, right? The size should be normal. The thickness should be normal. The shape should be normal. You should not see teeth marks on the side. You should not see deviation and you should not see a deep central crack. And then, as for a coating, that’s a beautiful coating. It’s thin white fur, meaning it’s not too thick, it’s not too thin. You can still see the true color of your tongue through the coating. That is an ideal, normal tongue coating. All right. So, look at this one. Compare your own tongue, what do you see? It’s interesting, right? Okay, thank you so much and we look forward to seeing you next time in our seminar. Thank you.

44:32 S2: Well, you probably know more about tongues than you ever thought you would and when you are in school you learn even more and I will tell you, having looked at lots of tongues, nobody’s is the same. So, ask everybody that you meet to stick out their tongue and you’ll see what I mean. Thank you very much for joining us today. We’re here to answer questions. So please if you have any questions type ’em in. Also, we have an open house in September, September 26th, which is a Saturday, from 2:00 to 4:00 here at the San Jose campus. And we’d love to have you join us. It’s a great opportunity to see an acupuncture demonstration, to see a Tai Chi demonstration, hear more about the program. You meet some of the professors.

45:21 S2: You meet students, which, I think is really important because you actually get to talk to students that are in the programs so that you get an idea of really what they think, rather than just talking to administrators. So, it really is a great opportunity to find out more about our school and we’d love to have you join us. Also, we are all available in our offices, so if you’d like to come in, take a tour of the school, sit down and talk about your very specific situation, we’re happy to do that. Just email or give us a call and we can set up an appointment sometime in the future. So, thank you once again for joining us, and please, if you have any questions type ’em in and I hope to see you in the future. Thanks.

An introduction to Five Branches University and Admissions Information.

00:00 Speaker 1: Hello, everyone. It’s 11:00 AM. Welcome to our Five Branches University’s very first webinar. I’m gonna quickly go over the schedule for today. Our first speaker is our Admissions Officer, Nancy Burns. She’ll be going over how to apply to our school. After that we’ll have a quick overview of our financial aid, with our Financial Aid Officer, Rose Stadler. She’ll go over the basics on how to apply for financial aid. After her introduction to Financial Aid, we’ll be accepting questions, which we’ll answer after the short 20 to 30-minute lecture from Dr. Florence Chen, who’ll be speaking about some basics on diagnosis that Chinese medicine doctors use. Thank you again for joining us for our first webinar. I hope you enjoy your time with us.

00:49 Speaker 2: Good morning. I’m Nancy Burns. I’m the Associate Director of Admissions at the San Jose campus of Five Branches University and, welcome, today, I’m gonna talk a little bit about the admissions process. First, we are over 30 years old, so we’ve been around a long time. Our Santa Cruz campus was our original campus and that’s the campus I graduated from. Nine years ago we opened our second campus in San Jose, California. So, we have options for everybody. If you love the beach, we’ve got the beach. If you love an urban community, we’ve got that for you, too. We’re a great school. We have a wonderful worldwide reputation, and we offer both a master’s degree, a doctoral degree, and a PhD.

01:40 S2: So, we’ve have programs in English, Chinese, and Korean, so there’s a lot of options. Our Santa Cruz campus is our master’s English program there, and the San Jose campus has the three languages and the doctoral program. We are offering, this Fall, our new enhanced master’s program. Up to this point, we have been a two-semester program. We are now going to the trimester program. So, it’s a nine-trimester, three-year program. The hours on it are 3,372 hours. So, just a little bit about how to find the information on our website, which is www.fivebranches.edu. On the landing page, you go down to Masters in Traditional Medicine, and click on the MTCM program… Which isn’t opening for me. Oh, there we go. Okay.

02:53 S2: And, it has all the information you need to know about the program, the different things that we teach. And then, we’ll go down to the… Well, where is it? Hmm. Okay. Programs, Masters… Okay. So, we go down to the… On the left hand side ‘Admissions’, and that will give us the basic information. You can find your application there. So, applying to Five Branches. It’ll talk all about the different things that you need. Our new program is our enhanced program, and we’re going to be doing a dual degree. So, if you have three years of undergraduate studies completed, you would qualify for not just the master’s, but what we’re calling the first professional doctorate degree.

04:08 S2: So, you would graduate with actually a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We are launching that this semester in Santa Cruz. If you only have 60 semester units, you would be still qualified for the master’s degree because it is a three-year program. When you apply, there is an application and it talks about first completing the application. There’s an application online that you can download and on that we need a photograph, that’s like a passport-sized photograph. I need a statement of purpose, which is, why you’re interested in going into this field. A resume which tells me what you’ve been doing, what your background is. The application fee for the program is $45. There are three health forms that need to be completed.

05:15 S2: You also need two letters of recommendation, and those can be from former teachers, people you’ve worked with, employers, people from your church, other healthcare professionals that you’ve worked with. And we also need all the official transcripts from any previous colleges attended. If you are an international student, there are more requirements and you can… There’s a… You can click to the ‘International Students’ and it talks about what you need to do there. We’ll need documentation, your I-20, and things like that, your passport photos and your TOEFL scores. So… And that’s whether you’re going into the English Program, the Chinese Program or the Korean Program.

06:13 S2: And right now our classes start August 25th for the Fall semester and we’ll be beginning the Spring semester in January. So, we still are accepting applications for the Fall but they need to be gotten to us quickly because it’s right upon us now, and October 1st is the first priority deadline for the Spring semester. There is also the academic calendar which will tell you when the classes begin. Your tuitions and fees, tuition is $290 a unit. There is information on all of the classes. You can find out about the teachers and I’m gonna let our Director of Financial Aid talk a little bit more about the financial aid that’s available to you if you are not an international student. But anyway, I’ll let you go ahead and do that. Okay?

07:24 Speaker 3: Alright. Hello, my name is Rose Stadler and I am the Associate Director of Financial Aid, here at Five Branches. My office is located on our San Jose campus and I’m available to answer any questions you may have regarding financial aid and its process. Financial aid is available at Five Branches University for all qualified students and may be used to assist you with your educational expenses. However, because we are a graduate professional school, financial aid is limited to loans only. We are fortunate here at Five Branches University to have many working professionals attending our school. A majority of our students do work between 10 to 15 hours per week and about 80% of our Five Branches University students use financial aid and have loans.

08:31 S3: So, what is financial aid? Financial Aid basically consists of funds provided to students and families to help pay for their educational expenses. As far as financial aid is concerned, there are several types of aid. There are gift aids which consist of scholarships and grants, basically free money, and there are self-help aids which are loans and employment. And because we are, as I indicated earlier, a graduate and professional school, we are limited to loans and employment only, here at Five Branches. So now, the next question that you may ask is, what are federal loans and how do I receive financial aid? So, let’s go over what those steps are.

09:33 S3: Federal loans are loans or monies that students may borrow to help pay for their educational expenses. Repayment on these loans usually begin immediately once your educational career finishes or you stop attending at least half time. Only borrow what you need, it is very important. At the point that most students become graduate and professional students they have already borrowed some during their undergraduate career. Borrowing an exceeding amount of loans is something that you may want to consider, so only borrow what you need and plan things out accordingly. Look at your loans as an investment in your future and know that they are going to need to be paid back at some point.

10:29 S3: As far as the Federal Direct Loan program is concerned here at Five Branches, as well as throughout the nation, there are two types of federal direct loans available to our graduate students. The Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans which carries a fixed rate of 5.84% and the Federal Graduate Plus Loan which carries a fixed rate of 6.84%. The difference between these two loans is that the Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, if you have not defaulted on the loan, you’re an eligible citizen, and you’re enrolled in the proper number of credits, you automatically receive these loans. In contrast, the Federal Graduate Plus Loan is based on an individual’s credit worthiness, which means that the federal government, prior to giving you these loans, will go ahead and run your credit.

11:35 S3: The other thing that I would like to go over, in order for students to receive financial aid is satisfactory academic progress. Now, you may ask, what is satisfactory academic progress and why is it so important? Satisfactory academic progress is a measurement of a student’s maintaining very specific academic standards. It also means that you are moving towards your degree goal at the approved rate. If satisfactory academic progress is not met and you do not meet the specific standards set by Five Branches University, it may make you ineligible for your financial aid in future semesters. So, we want to bring this to your attention and know that you need to go ahead and take… Maintain this because we want to make sure that you are ensured a successful path towards your degree objectives. So now, we wanna go over what the first steps are to receiving financial aid.

12:56 S3: The very first step in receiving financial aid is to obtain a federal student loan personal ID, and password. You can log into www.fafsa.ed.gov and follow the six simple steps of obtaining your personal ID and password. Basically, this website will walk you through, so that you can go ahead and obtain a personal ID and password. This personal ID is your ID to be able to access your federal application, as well as any additional information about your borrowing and financial aid career. So, what is the Financial Aid Application and how do you apply? The Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the FAFSA is the standard form that collects demographic and financial information about a student and their family.

14:12 S3: This application may be filed electronically or by paper. One thing that I do want to make sure that you guys are aware of, is that this application is free. There are several websites out there that are also a FAFSA website that charge for their services. That is the wrong website. If you are having to pay, to file a free application for Federal Student Aid, you’re on the wrong website. To make sure that you are on the correct website, make sure that you are going to a.gov website. Not a.com, not a.org, but a.gov. That is the correct website and there is no charge to file your FAFSA. The FAFSA may be filed any time during an academic year but no earlier than January the 1st of that academic year for which the student is applying for aid.

15:19 S3: Now, one thing that I wanna bring to your attention, the FAFSA, as you are looking at it, looks at two calendar year. So, you’re filing either a 15-16, 14-15, 13-14. The reason for this is the Department of Education’s academic year staggers two calendar years. Their start of their academic year begins July the 1st of the year and ends June the 30th. So, when you’re filing a FAFSA and when you’re looking at when… What term you’re trying to go ahead and file for, you’re looking at the appropriate academic years. If you have not filed the FAFSA, you will not be able to receive financial aid because the FAFSA is your financial aid application.

16:22 S3: So, once again, this is the website, and this is what it looks like as far as where to go to file your financial aid. The www.fafsa.gov website. And you will see it says Federal Student Aid, that is the official logo that the department uses for their website. If you’re not on this website, you’re on the wrong site [chuckle] On their website you can also obtain… And from the Financial Aid office a FAFSA worksheet. This is a pre-application which can help you fill out all of the information necessary before you actually go on to the website, so that you have all of that information readily available and it will make that process that much easier. The other thing that you’re going to need when you’re filing the FAFSA is our school code.

17:28 S3: The school code is 03131300. This ensures that Five Branches University receives your processed data. So, in addition to financial aid and getting federal student loans, there are other options available for students, such as private student loans. Private student loans are those that are given out by lenders such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, et cetera. However, this is a credit-based program, the interest rate is based on your credit history. There are very limited payment options and there are no loan forgiveness programs for this, for private loans. It’s available to all enrolled students, and we do try to go ahead and encourage students to borrow through the federal program prior to going out and getting private loans.

18:33 S3: Our federal loan programs does provide students enough funding to cover all of their educational expenses here at Five Branches. So last but not least, I’d like to go over your rights and responsibilities as far as a financial aid recipient and a borrower. Understand that what you are receiving in financial aid, although it is financial aid, is loans and must be paid back. Know your deadlines, know your due dates when it comes to borrowing and all of the documents that you need to submit. Missing a deadline and a due date can either make you late on a payment or make you late in receiving financial aid to pay for your educational expenses. File your FAFSA each new academic year in a timely manner.

19:34 S3: The FAFSA is year-specific and must be filed each and every year. Correctly complete all of the questions that are asked on all of the documents that are necessary. The necessary documents that we require here at Five Branches is your FAFSA. We also ask for a financial aid supplemental form, we ask for a loan conformation form, and we may also ask for any additional documents as needed, as requested by the Department of Education once your FAFSA is filed. You must also complete all of the necessary promissory notes, loan entrance counseling, and exit counseling once you graduate or separate from the school. Follow up to ensure that everything is complete. Do not rely on us as administrators to remember everything.

20:34 S3: You need to go ahead and make sure that you yourself know what the process is and understand what you need and follow up. You won’t be bugging my office if you come in and ask questions and you’re following up on your information. I encourage you to do so. Understand the terms and conditions of your loans. Read and understand all documents, do not throw your documents away. Put together an accordion file and file everything that you need as far as documents, and keep copies for yourself. Know the types of loans you are requesting and its interest rates. The interest rates can fluctuate. Know what you’re borrowing and know what kind of interest rates you’re getting yourself into.

21:21 S3: Understand and know the payment terms and all of your options. If you have to contact the lender, if you have to come in to the Financial Aid office to ask, understand these terms. Know the consequences of defaulting on your loan. Defaulting on a federal loan can be very detrimental to your credit. These loans, once defaulted, do not go away. There’s only one way for your federal student loans to go away, that is if you become permanently disabled or you’re deceased. So the final thing I’m going to go ahead and do is get on a little bit of a soap box and indicate about students managing your money.

22:14 S3: Identify your expenses before you go ahead and apply for your loans, understand what you need to do, understand what you need as far as expenses, and develop a realistic and effective budget for yourself. Understand and identify your financial goals. Understand that you do not want to mortgage out your future just to finish out your education, so know what you’re borrowing and budget accordingly. Keep accurate and complete records of all of your financial documents, not just your financial aid documents, all of ’em. Make sure that your bills are paid on time. You do not wanna go ahead and have late bills, and now all of a sudden, you have this large student loan payment that’s going to be looming over your head. Don’t forget to save for the future.

23:10 S3: This is the information to contact the Financial Aid office at both the San Jose Campus and the Santa Cruz Campus. I hope that you found all of the information here helpful and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, at any of the numbers or email that I’ve just listed. Thank you very much.

23:39 S2: Okay, great. Thank you, Rose, that was really informative on a very complicated subject. Just quickly, I’m so happy that you’ve joined us today, and we’re very proud of our university and very excited about the growth in our field. You are looking into a field with tremendous opportunity in the future. And we are an outstanding school that when you leave you’re prepared to go out and begin a business and be successful. The field is growing by leaps and bounds. We’re dealing with aging baby boomers, the new-age generation. We’ve got young people that are looking to alternative health and acupuncture is a viable option.

24:31 S2: It’s a field that they continue to think that it’s going to grow dramatically in the next 20 to 50 years, because it is so successful at treating disease. So, I’m happy that you’ve looked into this, and I’m happy you’re considering our school. It is a wonderful school and it’s an exciting opportunity. So, now I would encourage you, if you have any questions, please type them in. We have our professionals here ready to answer your questions. And while you’re doing that, I would like to introduce Dr. Florence Chen who’s gonna tell you a little bit more about our field.

Thank you for your interest in Five Branches University. For more information on the upcoming events, click here

Recording of August 6th Webinar/Admission Info Session!

Webinar Topic:

Traditional Chinese Medicine Foundation

It featured Nancy Burns, Rose Gardner-Stadler, and Dr. Florence Chen.

Overview:

In this session, you will learn how to apply and get financially ready for school. Featuring Nancy Burns, LAc who reviewed the application process and Rose Gardner-Stadler who gave a comprehensive guide of getting financially ready for school.

Also presenting for the webinar is Dr. Florence Chen, LAc, DAOM who presented an lecture on tongue diagnosis and an introduction of TCM facts beneficial to incoming students!

Joining Five Branches University

Financial Aid Overview

Student Panel

Sincerely Yours

Five Branches University Admission Team

1-800-706-1214

To The Point: Acupuncture Use Showing Sharp Rise

This is your chance. If you have a passion for health and wellness, and a deep desire to help those around you live and feel better, there is currently an exploding field of medicine ripe with opportunity. Learning, embracing, and teaching its methods will not only enlighten and vivify others, it will also produce a profound spiritual transformation within you. What is this magical field of medicine, that not only transforms patient, but also practitioner?

Acupuncture and herbal medicine have been used to effectively manage and treat disease in many cultures for thousands of years. Western culture and medicine are finally coming around too; better late than never. Currently ½ of all Americans use some form of alternative medicine, and this multi-billion dollar industry only continues to grow. All main hospitals, such as Kaiser in the Bay Area, now have an acupuncturist on staff. Obamacare includes provisions for acupuncture, as does all California insurance. Doctors all across the country are including alternative medicine into their treatment, and have found it to be especially effective for conditions such as cancer, pain, and even many psychological disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

So how do you get into this exciting, up-and-coming field? Five Branches University is one of the best acupuncture schools in the entire country. President Ron Zaidman, a deeply intelligent, caring, passionate, and realized man, presides over both campuses. He does an amazing job of inspiring others and cultivating knowledge and understanding. He has seen hundreds of graduates go on to fun, fulfilling, and lucrative careers in the US and all over the world.

Because it is a fast growing field, demand for practitioners is increasing at a time when supply is low. Whereas fields like nursing and doctoring are heavily impacted and highly competitive, the field of acupuncture and herbal medicine is wide open and available to all those with a true passion for healthcare.

Once a licensed graduate of Five Branches University, many professional opportunities await. You can work at a hospital, or be a part of a health collective at an integrated group practice. You can even start your own practice. Indeed, autonomy and independence are two of the most exciting parts of being an acupuncturist. In addition, the career comes with a high quality of life because of the deeply fulfilling nature of the work and the balanced life it both teaches and provides. The best practitioners are those who personally embody and employ the wisdom and methods they teach. Acupuncture and herbal medicine can also be a very lucrative career, with country-wide pay rates increasing. Pay rates are competitive with other health care jobs, and those working in hospitals or at private practices can often earn six figures and beyond.

Don’t miss the point on this. If you are interested in learning more about Five Branches University and the exploding field of acupuncture and herbal medicine, the university is holding an open house on June 18th, from 6pm to 8pm at San Jose campus. Come meet faculty, graduates, and clinicians and hear their stories of transformation and success. Prepare to be inspired.

Five Branches University Ranked the Best Acupuncture School in Northern California

Based on a peer review among ACAOM (Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) accredited schools in the US, Five Branches University was ranked as the best acupuncture school in Northern California and the second best in the state of California. The ranking is based on the following criteria:
  1. Quality of academic curriculum, faculty and comprehensiveness of the program. Consider the program’s components in acupuncture, Oriental medicine, herbal medicine and western medicine.
  2. Quality of clinical education, including quality of the faculty, clinic, the herbal pharmacy, clinical externships and clinical community service opportunities.

Faculty Spotlight: An Interview with Janice Walton-Hadlock DAOM, L.Ac

Janice has been teaching at Five Branches University since 1999. She received her Master’s in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Doctorate in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Five Branches University, and her B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Janice is the founder of the Parkinson’s Recovery Project, a non-profit organization that provides free information about the latest findings regarding the cause and treatment of Parkinson’s disease from the perspective of Asian medicine.

She is a founding member of the Parkinson’s Treatment Team of Santa Cruz, and a member of the European branch of the Parkinson’s Recovery Project, the Parkinson Stichting of Amsterdam, also a non-profit. Both the Treatment Team and the Stichting focus on treating people with Parkinson’s disease and training health care practitioners in the use of techniques she developed.

Janice is an active researcher in the field of Parkinson’s disease. Her findings have been published in many journals, including the peer-reviewed American Journal of Acupuncture, and the Journal of Chinese Medicine. Her analysis of a Parkinson’s drug study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine’s correspondence section. Janice is the author of four books: Trouble Afoot, a book about the underlying causes of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease and the effective treatment for this disorder (published by the Parkinson’s Recovery Project, 2008, 690 pages), Medications of Parkinson’s or Once upon a Pill (Parkinson’s Recovery Project, 2003, 650 pages), Tracking the Dragon, a classroom text on advanced channel theory (published by Fastpencil.com, 2010), and Yin Tui Na: Techniques for Treating Dissociated Injuries (published by Fastpencil.com, 2012).

Q: You have a BS degree in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. What brought you to Chinese Medicine?

A: I was drawn to acupuncture because I had a successful treatment from an acupuncturist but he couldn’t explain what it was he was doing. My curiosity was aroused. So I studied acupuncture. I had no thought of changing careers at that time.

Q: Most acupuncturists work either as general practitioners or specialize in pain management or women’s health. What brought you to specialize in treating people with Parkinson’s disease?

 A:   I never decided to specialize in treating Parkinson’s disease. A few years after starting my practice I just happened to have treated several people with Parkinson’s. These people just happened to hear about me as a general practitioner and then happened to come see me.  They all recovered, which I knew wasn’t supposed to be possible. Over the next few years, I found I was seeing quite a few people with Parkinson’s. They just happened to come to me. They didn’t know that I had seen people recover. They came for treatments for their other problems.

I asked a colleague what percentage of her patients have Parkinson’s disease. She said, “Have what?” She’d never seen anyone with Parkinson’s.

Eventually, the conclusion was forced upon me that, for reasons unknown, people with Parkinson’s were being attracted to my office.

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Q: How does Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) view Parkinson’s disease, and what was your original finding?

A: From a TCM point of view, the problem is Rebellious Qi (backward-flowing electrical currents). Many acupuncturists mistakenly think that the tremor of Parkinson’s must be Liver Wind (characterized by sudden, erratic electrical jolts, often associated with emotional strife or sudden blood vessel problems). Of course, it is not. Liver Wind causes irregular movements: Liver Wind “comes on suddenly and is unpredictable”, by definition. Liver Wind is a term that refers to stroke or sudden onset movements or paralysis. The tremor of Parkinson’s, which is rhythmic and steady, is driven by a tremor deep in the brain, increases over the years, and is more closely related to the tremoring that is defined as a Heart or Pericardium Qi deficiency (insufficient electrical or emotional support for the heart and area around the heart) – a fear-based problem, a problem that arises when a person is dissociated from somatic feelings, also known as dissociated from his heart. This dissociation can prevent a person from recovering from life-threatening trauma, a condition that correctly, and temporarily, causes Rebellious Qi in the Du [central-back] and Stomach electrical channels. My first observation was that all my Parkinson’s patients had Rebellious Qi in their Du and Stomach channels. This is extremely rare. I’d never seen it before. I didn’t even know it was possible for Qi to actually, tangibly, run backwards, even though I’d heard the phrase. I had assumed that “Backwards Qi” was a metaphor! From that finding, I worked backwards over many years and finally came to realize that the entire Qi flow pattern of severe traumatic shock was flowing constantly in people with Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s tremoring is caused by Heart and Pericardium Qi deficiency. This is not a new theory. This is a very old theory, but few people, in modern times, study this aspect of Heart Qi deficiency. It’s more popular to just call it, incorrectly, Liver-Wind.

Q: Once you realized that you stumbled upon an interesting discovery, what were your next steps?

A: I had to wonder if other acupuncturists had noticed the backwards-flowing channel Qi. I posted my findings on the internet, asking for feed-back. I was dismayed to learn that most acupuncturists don’t even know how to feel channel Qi. I had always been able to feel it, and had just assumed that others could, as well.

Acupuncture is not used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The main focus of treatment is teaching people how to change their thought patterns so that they can move on from the incorrect neurological/attitudinal shifts they performed, years earlier, in response to trauma. Because acupuncturists are not allowed, by law, to do counseling, I do not do this work, which has a “counseling” feel to it. Instead, I have written up and published the type of cognitive behavioral changes that people need to do, and they do it on their own if they want to recover.

As a side note, most people with Parkinson’s (ninety-five percent) also have a foot injury that has failed to completely heal. This can also contribute to the backwards-flowing Stomach channel Qi that is present in people with Parkinson’s. A type of extremely passive holding treatment, which can be performed by anyone – a friend, a spouse, a child – can help correct the foot injury and allow it to fully heal. Then again, if a person is successful in changing his thought patterns, the foot injury will usually heal by itself and no foot holding is necessary.

In a small percentage of people with Parkinson’s, about five percent, there has been no neurological/attitudinal shift. These people have backwards flowing Qi that mimics the Qi flow pattern of trauma, being held in place by the foot injury. These people will recover simply by having their foot injury supported until the foot begins to relax and starts to heal.

In other words, no acupuncture is needed – only a mental change and some supportive foot-holding treatment. For that matter, acupuncture should never be used in channels that are running backwards.

Q: What would you recommend to prospective students who are considering studying Chinese medicine? 

A: I would suggest that anyone trying to make a career decision sit quietly and let the mind grow still. Do this often, and for as long duration as possible each time. When, after learning how to grow still inside, and when true peace seems to be resting in your heart, then ask your heart whether or not you should pursue a specific plan.

Again, thank you for the interview. You can find out more about, Janice and her practice through her website at: www.pdrecovery.org