Graduate School of Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Mission

Five Branches University, Graduate School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, aims to provide a professional medical education in the art, science and practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine through classroom courses and clinical training. Our programs emphasize traditional Chinese medical theory and diagnosis, acupuncture, herbology, and Western medicine as applied to integrated healthcare. Providing a community of learning and TCM healthcare, Five Branches University is dedicated to making the views and methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine a part of world medicine.

Philosophy, Values & Principles

Five Branches University is committed to providing the highest level of education in Traditional Chinese Medicine. For decades, our TCM faculty and practitioners have successfully practiced and taught in both the United States and China. Our attainment of this goal is reflected in Five Branches consistently high rate of graduates who pass the National Certification and California State Licensing exams and in their development of successful TCM practices nationally and internationally.

Five Branches University’s education is threefold, focusing on:

  • The art, science and practice of TCM as rooted in the classics,
  • TCM’s success in modern clinical practice
  • The integration of TCM with the best practices of Western medicine

Five Branches’ faculty are chosen for excellence, demonstrated in their specialized fields. They also must be skilled as teachers, and passionate about teaching.

Students are chosen for their academic competence, and for their commitment to serving people through Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM philosophy views medicine as a compassionate response to human suffering. Five Branches provides not only TCM knowledge and skills, but also an environment where kindness prevails. In thus balancing a student’s program, Five Branches encourages the qualities needed to become a successful TCM practitioner. Students enjoy a respectful camaraderie with their extended Five Branches family, while nurturing relationships in the local and global community. Together with their faculty mentors, Five Branches students offer TCM to the widest population possible.

Educational Objectives

Five Branches University educational objectives are:

  1. To prepare our graduates to diagnose, prescribe and provide medical treatment within the parameters of Traditional Chinese Medicine
  2. To provide graduates with sufficient knowledge of TCM’s non-technical modalities of diet, massage, Taijiquan and Qigong, to become capable advisors to their patients on lifestyle issues that influence their state of health
  3. To instill in our graduates universal and professional medical ethics and the social responsibilities of providing primary healthcare
  4. To impart to each graduate the knowledge to make, whenever necessary, appropriate referrals of patients to other healthcare professionals
  5. To give each graduate the knowledge and skills to prepare for the National Certification and California Licensing exams
  6. To provide graduates with foundation knowledge in establishing and managing a professional practice.