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.