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Rationale for Doctoral Programs in Oriental Medicine

By Dr. Tom Haines, Director of Academic Affairs
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine

Since its inception in 1986, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine has promoted the idea that it is essential that practitioners of Oriental medicine thoroughly understand and have the ability to communicate, as well as apply, the wide variety of theories and techniques of Oriental medicine. Additionally, to create a safe and successful practice and to positively represent Oriental medicine in today’s medical culture, the acupuncturist must understand the principles of modern medicine and have the ability to communicate in a professional manner with all health care practitioners. The profession’s current master’s level training has been able to provide a basic foundation for communicating with allied health professionals, for communicating with patients and recognizing ominous signs, including the recognition of health related emergencies.

For more than a decade, the profession has recognized a need for further professional training to provide the Oriental medicine practitioner (who is a recognized primary care provider in many states) with the prerequisite biomedical knowledge and skills to improve treatments within the broader perspective of the established American healthcare system, especially within Traditional Oriental Medicine specialties. Such advanced training must provide opportunities to develop the ability to think critically by challenging Western as well as Oriental theories and practices and to be able to conduct research for provision of new, more effective healthcare possibilities. The profession has felt for some time that these goals can best be realized by provision of a quality, credible advanced degree level program such as the doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (DAOM). In July of 2000, the standards for the DAOM were completed and approved by the national accrediting body, the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) and presented to the accredited colleges within the profession for possible addition to their existing educational degree programs.

In the United States, the doctorate is traditionally regarded as the terminal degree in most fields, especially in the field of medicine. However, due to the emerging nature of the field of Oriental medicine (OM) in the United States, the master’s degree was established as the degree required for entry into the field of OM until the field was more available and understood. With the rapid growth of the field in the past several decades and the concurrent increased availability of higher quality OM translations and Oriental scholars, the profession has evolved to a level requiring formalized extended training in Oriental medicine: doctoral level training.

The recent introduction of the doctorate by the national accrediting agency has provided the profession with a formal means to advance understanding of the underlying principles of Oriental medicine and to promote the basic research foundations for establishing efficacy of a time-tested medicine. Further, doctorate level education in the field of Oriental medicine will provide increased training in the collaborative skills required for effective interaction with other healthcare professionals and will deepen and broaden the practitioners’ evaluative and critical thinking skills in providing more complex clinical interventions in an evolving, integrative, case management context.

As indicated, doctoral training in the U.S. has traditionally developed a deep knowledge base and an advanced level of expertise in a given area. As the field of Oriental medicine has matured in the U.S., it has become more and more a part of mainstream medicine. This increasing demand for OM by healthcare professionals, health related institutions and the consumer includes the need for advanced knowledge and expertise for practitioners of this medicine.

Pacific College’s principal reason for proposing a program of doctoral level study is to extend its educational program to the next level of proficiency and training. One of the primary responsibilities of a graduate institution, both ethically as well as professionally, is maintaining a commitment to the highest quality of professional preparation. Advanced development of Oriental medicine practitioners entails appropriate education and training to those especially talented individuals who are capable of meeting the challenges of doctoral study. We anticipate that these individuals will be many of the current practitioners who have advanced the field over the past three decades, many of whom have been OM faculty members, wishing to extend their level of expertise to the higher level of recognition.

Pacific College has consistently offered the highest educational requirements within the profession. With the length of the master’s program exceeding 3000 hours and the ever-growing request for additional training from practitioners, the College began to review the need for the addition of a doctoral program. Through a needs assessment conducted over the past several years, i.e., focus groups, alumni surveys, and post-graduate education feedback, the college has determined that there is a strong demand for quality doctoral programs in Oriental medicine in the United States.

In summary, the rationale for offering a doctorate in Oriental medicine is based upon several assumptions: a) as the medicine becomes more mainstream, the consumer is demanding more depth and breath from the Oriental medicine practitioner; b) as the understanding and level of demand for the medicine has continues to increase, there is a sufficient knowledge, skills and abilities base within many content areas to establish specialties of Oriental medicine; and, c) the increased amount of interest and funding in OM clinical and herbal research both at the public and private levels coupled with the recent formation of the President’s forum on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) have highlighted and accentuated the need for preparing qualified, knowledgeable clinical researchers in OM at the doctorate level.

Purpose of Pacific College’s Proposed Doctoral Program

The proposed clinical doctorate at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine will be a professional degree emphasizing preparation in advanced knowledge and skills within the scope of practice in Oriental medicine. The advanced clinical doctorate program has been designed for practicing acupuncturists as well as for recent graduates of master’s degree programs who are interested in expanding their abilities to better serve their patient population through collaboration with other healthcare professionals.

The goal of our proposed doctoral program is to continue the College’s high level of the academic excellence and to provide an advanced academic degree that is accessible to the working professional. Further, our goal is to offer a multi-dimensional learning model in which the doctoral candidate will be able to maximize their time and energies by focusing on successfully achieving specific academic and clinical competencies.

The proposed Pacific College doctoral program will provide doctoral students with advanced competencies in the practice of Oriental medicine and in critical inquiry.

Graduates will be able to:

• Practice at a higher level of expertise, providing more comprehensive health care service within areas of specialization;
• Interact with other health care practitioners in collaborative patient case management;
• Provide direction and guidance for curriculum development, teaching and clinical supervision within the profession;
• Engage in scholarly activities to improve health care and ensure the future utilization of Oriental medicine around the world; and,
• Provide leadership for the future growth of the profession;

Pacific College is currently designing a clinical doctorate degree program that will be approximately 1400 hours of advanced study beyond the master’s degree taken in a five semester didactic and clinical curriculum. The proposed doctoral degree program is a logical extension of our mission and is being designed to meet the needs of the working practitioner as well as those recent graduates that wish to extend their capabilities within OM.

To our knowledge, no college has formally requested initiation of a clinical doctorate program at this time. According to ACAOM, it is anticipated that several proposals will be submitted in the next six months. However, until such time, accredited institutions must receive formal ACAOM approval of the doctoral substantive change prior to advertising, making public representations, accepting admission applications or otherwise implementing the doctoral program. Further information on the specifics of Pacific College’s proposed doctorate of acupuncture and Oriental medicine will be forthcoming in the next issue of Oriental Medicine.

Dr. Thomas Haines is currently Director of Academic Affairs for Pacific College. He has been in the field of education for over 35 years serving as a public school teacher, a university professor and administrator, and as an expert witness to the California judicial system testifying in approximately 20 capitol cases. Since 1996, he has been actively involved at the national level in the development of standards for the doctorate degree in Oriental medicine and is currently a board member on a national organization (Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance). He is currently active at the state and national levels serving as Chairman of the California Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Education Committee and as a task force member on several national committees striving to improve the quality of teaching in the field of Oriental medicine. Dr. Haines holds a Ph.D. in Leadership and Human Behavior, a Masters of Science in Math Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education.