Chinese Medicine Comes To the Fore in Minnesota

Chinese Medicine Comes To the Fore in Minnesota:

Doctoral Program Opening Remarks

Changzhen Gong, Ph.D.

It is no exaggeration to say that a new acupuncture era is upon us. Professional training beyond the master’s level has come to Minnesota. The first doctoral program in the upper Midwest is officially inaugurated here at the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) and at this moment, February 19, 2016. Put a big mark on your calendar – although I believe you already marked your calendar.

I like to compare the structure of AAAOM’s doctoral curriculum to the architecture of a traditional Chinese school or academy. Those academies were always built with a central axis with taller buildings and two parallel wings.  In this Academy’s doctoral program, the central axis is its focus on five specific areas of TCM medicine: TCM neurology, TCM gynecology, TCM orthopedics, TCM oncology and TCM psychiatry. The two parallel wings of the program consist of a close examination of classical Chinese medicine texts, and modern applications of TCM. This 18-module curriculum of 1260 hours is scheduled to convene for four days every four weeks, and will be completed in two years. It is the goal of this program that each of the 18 weekend modules will be a significant lifetime-learning experience for each of you.

DAOM courses are taught by both permanent AAAOM faculty members and visiting faculty members. Our faculty line-up includes star professors and well-regarded TCM experts from around the world. The increasing awareness of traditional Chinese medicine in this country has attracted skilled, highly-educated TCM practitioners to America. These fine doctors received very solid training in China, have successfully adapted to American culture, and are well able to meet the needs of the American public and American students. These people have contributed much to the development of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the United States, and they are now passing on the torch. We will grasp the torch and carry it forward. AAAOM believes that the future of TCM in this country belongs to you. It is you who are now seizing this opportunity to expand your knowledge base, raise the professional standards of TCM practice, and bring the power of Chinese medicine to your patients.  

Today we open the first chapter of our program with Dr. Jin Ming. Dr. Jin runs a very busy practice in the Manhattan area. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am that Dr. Jin has come to Minnesota to teach our first class. Dr. Ming Jin received eleven years of training in Chinese and Western medicine at Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine, one of China's top medical schools, and completed her medical residency at Shanghai Wusong Hospital. Dr. Jin returned to Shanghai University of TCM for graduate and post-graduate studies in TCM cardiology and TCM gynecology, becoming one of the first women in China to receive a Ph.D. degree in traditional Chinese medicine gynecology. Dr. Jin has been devoted to individualized patient care for more than 30 years, and established her practice, the Ming Qi Natural Healthcare Center, in 1991 to address the need for personalized patient care. In addition to her successful private practice, Dr. Jin works at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center's Integrative Medicine Department as an acupuncturist, and is a co-investigator for the National Institutes of Health's clinical research on acupuncture treatment for cancer patients with chronic fatigue, hot flashes, chest pain, and pain-management issues.

Dr. Jin has written and taught widely in the field of traditional Chinese medicine.  She is a professor at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and New York Acupuncture Institute, and has been a guest lecturer at Princeton University and New York University on the connection between TCM and Western medicine.  She co-authored a four-volume encyclopedia of Chinese medicine, and her clinical research publications include topics on the treatment and prevention of coronary heart disease with TCM, adjustment of the immune system using TCM, research on acupuncture anesthesia and reduced bleeding in obstetrical surgery in China, and 500 case analyses on TCM-based rehabilitation of breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy in China. Dr. Jin has appeared on CNN and ABC’s Regis and Cathy Lee Show, and also wrote and hosted a series of 16 television programs broadcast in Shanghai called "Window on Traditional Chinese Medicine.”

In the following months, we will receive presentations from instructors who I am confident will be as enlightening and dynamic as Dr. Jin. I will say a few words about our next six visiting professors.

Dr. Mohammad Hashemipour

Dr. Mohammad Hashemipour will be here in March to discuss Chinese medicine psychiatry. Dr. Hashemipour’s medical background includes more than 20 years’ training in Western and traditional Chinese medicine in Iran, China, and the U.S. After earning a Western medical doctorate in Iran, Dr. Hashemipour continued his studies at Beijing University of Chinese medicine, completing a clinical Ph.D. degree in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Dr. Hashemipour also worked as a professor at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, where he researched and taught integrative medicine for more than seven years. In addition, Dr. Hashemipour holds an advanced certificate in TuiNa.

As part of his clinical experience, Dr. Hashemi was selected to work as an integrative medicine doctor in the Olympic village during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, applying acupuncture and TuiNa healing modalities for world-class athletes. He also performed similar work during the Asian Games of 2010. These two events refined his experience in TCM-based sports medicine and opened his path to teaching many intensive courses in the field of TuiNa and sports medicine.

In the United States, Dr. Dr Hashemipour became academic dean and faculty member at New York College of Health Professions, and has also passed the United States medical licensing exam. He compiled and edited a book on TCM Diagnostics, published in 2008, and he is a council member of the specialty committee of Internal Medicine in the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Society. Dr. Hashemipour has a special interest in mind-body disorders and analyzing emotional and psychiatric disorders from both Eastern and Western medicine perspective.

Dr. Jeffrey Zhongxue Mah

Dr. Jeffrey Zhongxue Mah will be teaching Chinese medicine oncology in April. Dr. Mah obtained his Master’s degree from Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and his Ph.D. degree from Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He received his medical training from the medical school of Qinghai University. Dr. Mah is the founder of an organization called the Scholars’ Group on New Classical Prescriptions (Xin Jing Fang Xue Pai). He believes that the cannon of classical TCM herbal prescriptions should not be solely limited to prescriptions from the Shan Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Febrile Diseases) and Jin Gui Yao Lue (Synopsis of the Golden Cabinet), but should also include herbal prescriptions from the Wen Bing (Warm Febrile Diseases) and other early classics. Basing his teaching on the four classic texts of TCM classical prescriptions, he has trained more than 300 students. Dr. Mah’s book, The New Classical Prescription System, is being adopted by the University of Herbal Medicine in California for their doctoral degree program. Dr. Mah is the author of Second Chance: Chinese Medicine Approaches to Cancer, specializes in TCM oncology, and treats his patients with new classical prescriptions. Dr. Mah also wrote a twenty-six volume series, The Grand System of World Traditional Medicine. Since 1996, Dr. Mah has served as president of the University of Herbal Medicine in California and the American Consotherapy Center.

Dr. Yubin Lu

Dr. Yubin Lu is back to teach Chinese medicine classics in May. Dr. Yubin Lu received his medical training and his Ph.D. degree at the Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where he also served as an associate professor in the Department of Chinese Medicine. Dr. Lu’s academic specialties include Chinese medicine theory, Chinese herbal medicine, classical Chinese medicine texts, and pulse diagnosis. In addition to being a gifted instructor, Dr. Lu pursues research on an ongoing basis. His research focus is the application of acupuncture and Chinese medicine to the most commonly-seen health conditions, and he is the author of more than seventy books in this field. Dr. Lu’s flair for teaching and comprehensive knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine make his courses and seminars an outstanding experience for students. Dr. Lu served as the Academic Dean for the Master’s Degree Program of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine of the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine for fifteen years, and is the principal architect of AAAOM’s Master’s degree curriculum.

Dr. Craig Mitchell

Dr. Craig Mitchell is a Shang Han Lun expert and will be teaching Shang Han Lun in June. Dr. Mitchell received his Master of Science degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco in 1993. He went on to study Chinese language and medicine in Taiwan for several years, and completed his Ph.D. degree in traditional Chinese medicine at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2006. He has written numerous articles and translated several Chinese medical texts, including the classic Shang Han Lun. Dr. Mitchell is the President of the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine, where he also serves as a clinic supervisor and teaches classes on herbal medicine and medical Chinese. Dr. Mitchell’s monumental accomplishment is the translation of the Shang Han Lun (On Cold Damage) text, which has been adopted as the textbook of choice in most acupuncture colleges in the United States.  Dr. Mitchell takes a unique case study approach to teaching Shang Han Lun.

Dr. Haihe Tian

Dr. Haihe Tian will be here to teach Jin Kui Yao Lue (Synopsis of Golden Cabinet) in July. Dr. Haihe Tian received his Ph.D. degree in Chinese medicine from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in China, and was mentored there by internationally known experts in TCM. After completing his medical degree, he taught and practiced traditional Chinese medicine in the affiliated hospital of Beijing University of TCM. Dr. Tian has been a TCM practitioner and professor in the United States since 1997, serving as academic dean and clinical director at the TCM school in Tampa Bay, FL. In his career, he has treated over 100,000 patients in China and America. He has served as a board member of the American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM), and as a committee member of the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM). Dr. Tian has published 40 professional papers and 20 medical books as an author or co-author, and is a book reviewer for Acupuncture Today.

Dr. Wen Jiang

Dr. Wen Jiang will be teaching Chinese medicine neurology in August. Dr. Wen Jiang received her Master’s degree in acupuncture from Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and her Ph.D. in acupuncture from Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. As a doctoral candidate, Dr. Jiang studied with Professor Shi Xuemin, who is widely known for his mastery of classical needling techniques and his quantitative approach to needling techniques. She has practiced acupuncture at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and also at Tianjin Weixie Hospital. She has an extensive publication list relating to her fields of expertise in needling techniques and the application of acupuncture to gynecological problems. She is also the associate editor of a ten-volume acupuncture manual covering over 700 diseases and health conditions in the fields of internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, geriatrics, dermatology, orthopedics, neurology, and supplementary treatment with acupuncture.

Sitting in my office on weekdays, or looking out the windows of my house on weekends, I have spent so much time considering this program and how it would look when it finally came into being. Now that it is here, I am amazed by how lucky we are to have enlisted these remarkable men and women to teach our doctoral program. Each of these men and women are great practitioners, translators, and teachers. More than that, they all have the ability to create transformation – in their students and in Chinese medicine. Over the next two years you will witness this. They have so much to offer, we have so much to learn. I am putting myself in the same category with all of you – I am a student of theirs, too. I am immersed in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. For me, acupuncture and Chinese medicine education is my lifetime career and my leisure-time hobby. In the next two years and beyond, you will learn from these masters and you will also read a lot of my translations and compilations about acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

I am lucky to have you as my companions for the next two years. We will study together. We will learn from these extraordinary professors together. We will transform Chinese medicine into American medicine.

Dr. Changzhen Gong is the president of the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) located in Roseville, Minnesota. AAAOM offers a Master’s degree and a doctoral program in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. AAAOM can be researched at (651) 631-0204.