Do I need to learn Chinese herbal medicine?
Short answer: no — not if you don't want to. It's a real fork, not a hidden requirement, and Five Branches offers a track built exactly for people who'd rather focus on acupuncture alone.
Short answer: no — not if you don't want to. It's a real fork, not a hidden requirement, and Five Branches offers a track built exactly for people who'd rather focus on acupuncture alone.
| Program | Herbal medicine included? | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| DAcHM / MAcHM (herbal dual-degree) | Yes — full TCM Herbology curriculum | Practicing in California without an MD/Western-medicine license |
| DAc/MAc (acupuncture-only) | No — acupuncture, Tuina, Energetics, Chinese Dietary Medicine, but not herbology | Practicing outside California, or MDs/licensed Western medical practitioners already authorized to needle in CA |
The catch worth knowing up front, so it doesn't surprise you later: if you plan to practice in California and you're not already an MD or licensed Western medical practitioner, California requires the herbal-inclusive DAcHM/MAcHM path — the acupuncture-only route doesn't meet that state's licensing requirement for a non-medical practitioner. Both tracks lead to full licensure eligibility and both are ACAHM-accredited (per Five Branches' own published DAc/MAc program page), so this is really a question of where you plan to practice and how broad a toolkit you want — not a hoop everyone has to jump through.
Where do you think you'll want to practice — inside California, or elsewhere?
Sources
- Five Branches University — Consumer Information checked 2026-08
- Five Branches University — Dac Mac Dual Degree Program checked 2026-08
- Five Branches University — Dac Mac Dual Degree Program 2 checked 2026-08
- Five Branches University — Dtcm Mtcm Program checked 2026-08
- Five Branches University — Guidance For Future Students checked 2026-08
- Five Branches University — Tcm Herbology checked 2026-08
- The school's own published catalog and website checked 2026-07
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