How many years — and how many hours — does the program take?

How long is the program — years and hours?

That "years" question actually carries two different concerns at once — how long you're a student, and how long before you're licensed and earning — so let's untangle both, because the honest answer is "it depends which degree you're choosing."

As Five Branches' own DAcHM/DAc/Mac Catalog lays it out (we last checked it 07/2026) — a table like this is the kind of thing worth confirming is still current when you're ready, since catalogs get revised.

Worth being precise about that first pair of rows: Five Branches runs the entry level as a concurrent dual-degree program, not two separate tracks with different workloads. The study period and the core curriculum are identical either way — the same TCM diagnosis, acupuncture, herbology and clinical training courses, over the same four academic years, 11 to 12 trimesters, 3,435 hours and 195.5 units. What actually decides which degree or degrees you come out with is your prior undergraduate study going in: enter with three years (90 semester units) and you receive both the DAcHM and the MAcHM; enter with two years (60 semester units) and you receive the MAcHM only, which is sufficient for California licensing and national certification. Choosing the MAcHM doesn't mean a shorter program or fewer courses — it's an admissions distinction, not a coursework one.

A few things worth knowing underneath those numbers: this all runs on a trimester system (three 15-week terms a year), and it's billed per term, not as one lump tuition — so the 4-year full-time timeline is the standard pace, but it's not the only pace. If you're working, or easing in slowly, part-time and online-hybrid options exist too, and nobody's clock starts ticking until you're ready.

Are you weighing this against working while you study, or is the 4-year full-time picture more what you're picturing?