Clinical Training
Joanna Zhao, L.Ac.
Department Chair
The Five Branches Master’s Degree is a professional degree in the clinical practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This practical aspect of our training is vital, preparing our students to work professionally with the theories, knowledge and skills they learn in the academic program and labs.
Through practicing under the direction of faculty members each have at least ten years of clinical experience, students can develop communication skills, professional conduct, efficiency and confidence. Clinical training comprises approximately one-third of Five Branches’ Master’s degree program. This training is accomplished in six distinct settings: Clinical Theater (observation), Clinical Rounds (assisting faculty), Clinical Internship Rounds, Clinical Paired Internship, Clinical Internship, and Clinical Integrative Theater Internship, each offering a distinct type of clinical and practical experience. Students receive close faculty attention with a ratio of one faculty member to no more than four students in Internship Rounds. In addition, students receive an orientation from staff before each phase of the clinical training, and a written clinical manual provides students with carefully developed guidance to clinical protocols and procedures.
Open enrollment in all clinical settings allows students to learn from clinical faculty in various learning modalities. By the end of the clinical training, interns will perform at least 350 patient treatments, a basic requirement for graduation.
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| MCL 100 48 Hours |
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| In Beginning Clinical Theater, newly enrolled students receive a comprehensive introduction and orientation to the clinic’s protocols on patient care, safety, herb formula preparation and patient records. This is the student’s first opportunity to see how TCM theory and practice are combined. In each class, scheduled patients are interviewed, diagnosed and treated by faculty as students observe. Following each patient’s intake, diagnosis and treatment, a general forum-discussion of the patient’s case is conducted. Students begin learning professional conduct within this clinical setting: how to take a patient’s medical history and how to create and maintain patient records. Students observe all aspects of treating patients as a TCM professional, including diagnostic data gathering, syndrome identification, treatment planning, herb prescription formulation, and acupuncture needling techniques. Students participate in the preparation of herbal formulas. Upon completion of this course, students will know the TCM clinic’s protocols on patient care, safety, herb formula preparation, patient records and how to work with the basics of diagnosis and treatment planning. |
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| Prerequisite: None |
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| MCL 200 48 Hours |
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| Clinical Theater, conducted in a classroom setting, continues from Beginning Clinical Theater in offering students the opportunity to see how TCM theory and practice are combined. In each class, scheduled patients are interviewed, diagnosed and treated by faculty as students observe. Following each patient’s intake, diagnosis and treatment, a general forum-discussion of the patient’s case is conducted. Students begin learning professional conduct within this clinical setting: how to take a patient’s medical history and how to create and maintain patient records. Students observe all aspects of treating patients as a TCM professional, including diagnostic data gathering, syndrome identification, treatment planning, herb prescription formulation and acupuncture needling techniques. Students participate in the preparation of herbal formulas. Upon completion of this course, students will know how to create and maintain accurate clinical records, and how to work with the basics of diagnosis, treatment planning and herb formula preparation. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 100 Beginning Theater |
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| MCL 300 144 Hours |
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| Clinical Rounds offer each student experience in observing and assisting licensed faculty practitioners in interviewing, diagnosing and treating patients. In Rounds, four to five students follow a practitioner, treating patients in the school’s teaching clinic. Students participate in taking and recording a patient’s history and exam. Students take the patient’s pulses and observe the patient’s tongue to understand the instructor’s diagnosis, choice of acupuncture treatment and herbal prescription. Though no treatments are offered by students during Clinical Rounds, this close assistantship is invaluable in the study of TCM. Students are evaluated on their knowledge and their developing patient skills. Upon completion of this course, students will have a basic proficiency in TCM differential diagnosis through direct observation of patients treated in the clinic. They will have practiced the formulation of treatment plans based on information they have gathered. Students will know how to fill an herbal prescription from the clinic’s pharmacy and give patients instructions regarding its preparation and use. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 200 Clinical Theater; MRA 200 Cum Review I |
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| MCL 400 144 Hours |
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| In Clinical Internship Rounds, the student advances to hands-on treatments in a clinical setting under the direct supervision of a licensed practitioner. A small, intimate group of students attend to the patient’s intake and treatment with constant monitoring by a licensed faculty supervisor, who develops a diagnosis and treatment strategy. Clinical Internship Rounds is designed to provide a setting for the students to develop comprehensive clinical skills in preparation for Internship. Upon completion of this course, the student will have had direct experience preparing intake forms, arriving at a diagnosis and treatment plan, treating patients with a variety of TCM modalities, and preparing formulas or prescribing patent herbs under the direct supervision of a licensed faculty supervisor. The student will gain the skills that will prepare them for Clinical Internship. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 300 Clinical Rounds; CPR/First Aid; CNT |
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| MCL 510 144 Hours |
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| Clinical Paired Internship is the next level in the clinical hands-on training after Internship Rounds and in preparation for senior Internship. In Paired Internship, students work in pairs and alternate in conducting the patient history, intake, diagnosis and treatment of their patients. In this setting, students collaborate in the development of the patient diagnosis and treatment plan, and the presentation of their patient’s case to their faculty supervisor. Upon completion of this course, confidence and clinical skills in patient intake, diagnosis, treatment planning, case presentation and treatment will be both refined and enhanced. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 400 Clinical Internship Rounds: MRA 400 Cum Review II |
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| MCL 600 384 Hours |
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| Clinical training at Five Branches University culminates with Clinical Internship. Clinical Internship is designed to simulate an actual clinical environment, in which the student diagnoses, treats and develops long-range treatment goals and plans for their patients. Interns work independently under a licensed clinical faculty supervisor who is there to answer questions and provide recommendations and support as needed. Clinical Internship imparts the ultimate clinical educational condition for students, in which autonomy with patients is supported by the guidance and wisdom of experienced licensed faculty members. Upon completion of this phase of clinical training, students will have received their highest level of TCM patient care guidance before graduation from the University. Students will be able, upon licensure, to treat patients unsupervised with confidence and expertise. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 510 Clinical Paired Internship; Completion or concurrent enrollment in MRA 600 Cum Review III |
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| MCL 800 48 Hours |
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| A member of the Western faculty and of the TCM faculty will supervise up to nine interns. In rotating groups of three, interns will perform the history and relevant examination of a patient from both Western and Eastern perspectives, and develop an assessment and plan from each perspective. The diagnosis and the plan will be evaluated and discussed. A second group of students will perform the Eastern treatment and carry out and make appropriate recommendations for the Western treatment with the exclusion of administering medications. Upon completion of this clinical training course participants gain hands on experience with assessment of patients and treatment planning which integrates both Eastern and Western medical systems. Participants will be better prepared to assume their role as a L.Ac., and primary health care professional. |
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| Prerequisite: MWM 610 Western Case Management I; MRA 600 Cum Review III |
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Clinical Specialty Options
Clinical training offers experience with a broad spectrum of patient clinical cases. Clinical specialty options offer students the opportunity to practice in-depth with faculty in specialized fields.
Sports Medicine
Frank He, L.Ac. Department ChairStudents interested in furthering their understanding of TCM Traumatology and Orthopedics as applied in the clinic may enroll in three clinical training courses which focus on the treatment of sports injury. These courses are part of the requirements for the Sports Medicine Certification.
| Course Title | Code | Hours |
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| Sports Medicine Clinical Rounds | MCL 300 | 48 |
| Sports Medicine Clinical Internship | MCL 600 | 48 |
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| MCL 300 48 Hours |
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| In this specialized clinical training course, students are able to observe senior practitioners in clinic practice as they apply acupuncture, Chinese medicinal herbs and Tuina to a broad spectrum of patients with sports injury-related conditions. Upon completion of this course, students will have increased knowledge of the varying TCM techniques learned in class as applied to sports injury patients in the clinic. |
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| Prerequisite: MRA 200 Cum Review I; passing the specialized round examination |
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| MCL 600 48 Hours |
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| In this final stage of clinical training, students gain greater responsibility to diagnose and treat patients, applying classical and specialized acupuncture and herbal formula treatment plans for a variety of sports injuries, as well as utilizing Western medical diagnostic techniques and examination when appropriate. Upon completion of this course, students will have increased knowledge of the varying TCM techniques learned in class as applied to sports injury patients in the clinic. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 300 Sports Medicine Clinical Rounds; MRA 400 Cum Review II |
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TCM Tuina Massage
Michael Alexander, L.Ac. Department ChairStudents interested in furthering their understanding of and skills in TCM massage may enroll in two clinical training courses which focus on TCM Tuina massage as applied to the treatment of pediatric and adult patients. This treatment modality is highly regarded not only for its results, especially with young patients, but also for meeting the concern that many parents and patients may have about needles. These courses are required for obtaining the TCM Massage Technician Certification.
| Course Title | Code | Hours |
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| TCM Tuina Massage Clinical Internship Rounds | MCL 400 | 48 |
| TCM Tuina Massage Clinical Internship | MCL 600 | 48 |
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| MCL 400 48 Hours |
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| A continuation of the theoretical and practical TCM Tuina Massage course, this course presents students with an opportunity to practice a broad spectrum of applications of Tuina massage with patients in the clinic, under supervision of senior practitioners. Upon completion of this course, students will have increased knowledge of the varying Tuina techniques learned in class as applied to patients in the clinic. |
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| Prerequisite: MAC 350 TCM Tuina Massage I |
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| MCL 600 48 Hours |
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| A continuation of the theoretical and practical TCM Massage course and the Tuina Massage Clinical Internship Rounds, this clinical course offers students an opportunity to apply the Tuina massage techniques they have learned in class and observed in clinic to their own patients under the supervision of a senior practitioner of Tuina massage. Upon completion of this course, students will have an increased practical knowledge of Tuina massage techniques as applied to patients in the clinic. |
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| Prerequisite: MEL 400 TCM Tuina Massage II; MCL 400 TCM Tuina Clinical Internship Rounds |
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Five Element Clinical Training
Dr. Gary Dolowich, M.D., L.Ac., Mary Huse, R.N., L.Ac. Department ChairsThree levels of clinical training classes are available to students interested in studying the clinical applications of Five Element Theory. These clinical courses can be taken as part of the MTCM clinical training while also fulfilling the clinical training requirement for the the Five Element Certificate.
| Course Title | Code | Hours |
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| Five Element Clinical Rounds | MCL 300 | 48 |
| Five Element Clinical Internship Rounds | MCL 400 | 48 |
| Five Element Clinical Paired Internship | MCL 510 | 48 |
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| MCL 300 48 Hours |
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| In this clinical training course, students will be able to observe senior practitioners in clinic as they apply Five Element Theory, Energetics and Spirit of the Points with their patients. Upon completion of this Clinical Rounds, students will begin to understand how the principles of Five Element Acupuncture are applied in a clinical setting. |
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| Prerequisite: MEL 310 Five Element Theory I; MRA 200 Cum Review I |
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| MCL 400 48 Hours |
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| In this clinical training course, students will be asked to diagnose and treat patients, under direct supervision of senior practitioners, and to apply Five Element Theory, Energetics and Spirit of the Points. Upon completion of the Clinical Internship Rounds, students will have skill in Five Element intake, diagnosis and treatment. |
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| Prerequisite: MRA 200 Cum Review I; MCL 300 Five Element Clinical Rounds |
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| MCL 510 48 Hours |
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| In this second level of hands-on training, students work in pairs and alternate in conducting the patient intake, diagnosis and treatment. The students collaborate in the development of the patient diagnosis and treatment plan, and the presentation of their patient’s case to their clinical supervisor. Upon completion of this course students will have confidence and enhanced clinical skills in patient intake, diagnosis, treatment and case presentation from the Five Element persepective. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 400 Five Element Clinical Internship Rounds; MEL 420 Five Element Theory II; MRA 400 Cum Review II |
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Hepatitis C Clinical Training
Hepatitis C is an epidemic, affecting 4 million people in the United States and 100 million worldwide. This specialty training introduces students to an integrated Eastern and Western approach to treating Hepatitis C. A combination of lecture and clinical experience are used to teach a holistic approach to Hepatitis C, which includes diet/lifestyle counseling, herbal formulas, nutritional supplements, moxibustion and acupuncture.
Students will learn in detail both the symptoms of Hepatitis C, and the side effects of Western treatment and how to alleviate them. Herbal formulas that should not be given in conjunction with Western medicine, and other herbal cautions in liver disease will also be discussed.
| Course Title | Code | Hours |
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| Hepatitis C Clinical Rounds | MCL 300 | 48 |
| Hepatitis C Clinical Internship Rounds | MCL 400 | 48 |
| Hepatitis C Clinical Internship | MCL 600 | 48 |
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| MCL 300 48 Hours |
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| In the Clinical Rounds students observe and assist the licensed faculty practitioners in interviewing and diagnosing Hepatitis C patients. Upon completion of the Hepatitis C Clinical Rounds, students will have a basic proficiency in differential diagnosis of Hepatitis C. Through the observation of faculty, the students learn how treatment plans are formulation based on the information gathered from both the Western medical labs work and the TCM perspective. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 200 Clinical Theater; MRA 200 Cum Review II |
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| MCL 400 48 Hours |
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| In Hepatitis C Clinical Internship Rounds, the student advances to hands-on treatments in a clinical setting under the direct supervision of a licensed practitioner. Students alternate practicing the Hepatitis C patient’s intake and treatment planning and application. Upon completion of this course, students will have had direct experience preparing intake forms, arriving at a diagnosis and treatment plan, treating patients with a variety of TCM modalities and preparing formulas or prescribing patent herbs under the direct supervision of a licensed faculty supervisor. The students gain the skills that will prepare them for Clinical Internship. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 300 Hepatitis C Clinical Rounds; CNT: Clean Needle Technique; CPR/First Aid |
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| MCL 600 48 Hours |
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| The primary objective of this clinical internship is for students to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to treat Hepatitis C with Chinese medicine alone, and in combination with Western treatment. Students are expected to interpret lab work, biopsy and ultrasound reports. Based on the information gathered students should develop acupuncture and herbal protocols for treating the specific symptoms associated with Hepatitis C. Upon completion of this phase of clinical training, students will be able to diagnose, treat and develop long range treatment goals and plans for their Hepatitis C patients. |
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| Prerequisite: MCL 400 Hepatitis C Clinical Internship Rounds; Completion of 5th semester |
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Medical Qigong
The Medical Qigong clinic specialty was developed for treating patients with a multitude of conditions, from internal organ diseases, immune system dysfunction, to cancer. Patients are treated with Qigong and given specific Medical Qigong prescription exercises and meditations in order to assist the treatments and enhance healing. The clinical training is part of the requirements for obtaining the Medical Qigong Practitioner Certificate.
| Course Title | Code | Hours |
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| Medical Qigong Clinical Internship Rounds | MCL 400 | 72 |
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| MCL 400 72 Hours |
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| Conducted in a small class setting, Clinical Internship Rounds gives the students exposure and first-hand experience with Medical Qigong diagnoses and treatments. This is a hands-on experience where the different aspects of energetic dysfunctions and symptom manifestations are studied and experienced by the Medical Qigong students. Through the careful guidance of the Instructor, the Medical Qigong students will assist in all phases of diagnosis and treatment. Seventy-two hours of clinical training are required for the Medical Qigong certificate. Upon completion of Clinical Internship Rounds, Medical Qigong students will be confident in diagnosing and treating patients using the techniques of Medical Qigong, as well as creating and maintaining accurate clinical records. |
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| Prerequisite: MEL 310 Medical Qigong I; MEL 320, Medical Qigong II; CNT; CPR/First Aid |
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Clinical Training in China
Students may choose to complete up to 25% of their clinical training in the affiliated hospitals of our sister colleges in China. Every summer, 10 to 20 students accompany our native Chinese faculty and travel to China for an extraordinary professional experience; training in China’s leading hospitals, discovering a new country, and making new friends.
The hospitals of our sister colleges have received the highest AAA rating from the Chinese government. Students can choose to train in various specialty departments such as Internal Medicine, Gynecology, Pediatrics and Oncology to name just a few. Using translators where necessary, students study in small groups with famous doctors from the hospital. For further details please refer to the Study in China section of the catalog.