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The End of the First DAOM Program A almost a year ago, in these very pages, I penned an article describing the first year of the Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) program. And here I am again writing about the second and last year of the program. This is written just a few weeks before the last of our classes and after the first among us has completed the oral defense of her capstone project. The end is so close we can taste it ... and it tastes sweet! There are three things that have really set this year apart from the last: the continued camaraderie, developing respect, admiration and sheer enjoyment of working with our fellow DAOM colleagues; the introduction of our specialties; and the incorporation of the "leadership" track. We have continued our Chinese language courses under the excellent tutelage of Shi Lao Shi and the Chinese Classics track studying the Wen Bing school with TanTan Huang and the Shang Han Lun and Jin Gui Yao Lue with Min Fan. And, of course, the clinical experience with Dr. Paul Miller and either TanTan Huang or Yuan Wang is still the heart and soul of the DAOM program. However, the three new elements add immeasurably to the DAOM experience. The introduction of our specialties has contributed a lot to the DAOM program over the last year. Three areas of focus were available to us: geriatrics, neuromuscular, and mental health. The opportunity for externships to various biomedical facilities in our community has been particularly useful and educational with the addition of our specialties. These include the Sharp Cardiac Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center, where our geriatric specialists, Don Snow, Brian Kuo, Ai-Ying Chen, and Lily Chang, have been attending. Michael Corradino, the sole neuromuscular specialist, has been attending the Children's Hospital's Primary Care Medical Group dealing with pain management in children. In the mental health specialty, Robin Tiberi and I have been attending the area's largest mental health unit, Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, and Uchenna Eguonwu has been attending UCSD's Owen HIV Clinic. In addition, some of us have toured other San Diego facilities, spent time at San Diego Hospice, attended a clinical facility dealing with eating disorders, and some of PCOM's off-site centers, including the free and senior's clinics. Of course, I can only be specific about my own experiences. I have toured a handful of mental health facilities in San Diego and spent quality time at Mesa Vista Hospital, where I have seen the ICU wards with patients who are in imminent danger of self-harm and require 24-hour attendance of a mental health worker. I have sat in and participated in interviews of major depressive patients-those who are psychotic, manic, or demented. I have seen how the hospital handles acute situations, places patients in beds for extended stays, and how their outpatient programs work including their 30 day intensive programs. I have seen a psychotic patient who did not respond to any medication be completely calm, cogent, and present after a series of electroconvulsive therapy. We have discussed the commonalities between Oriental medicine and several modalities of mental health care. I have become friends with my mentor at the hospital. The leadership track is another major change in the second year of the DAOM program. The program was based on the idea that the graduates would be leaders within the Oriental medical community, and several classes were designed to help facilitate this goal. Two of these classes were designed to help us become teachers and clinical supervisors. The first class, taught by Dr. Stacy Gomes and Lynda Harvey-Carter, taught us basic educational theories and strategies and allowed us to teach several classes within the Masters program, several of which were videotaped and used for feedback within the class. Several of us who were teaching found our skills to be much improved, and those who hadn't taught before learned valuable skills that will help them in their private practice or if they wish to pursue teaching. The final semester concentrated on developing skills of clinical supervision with Harvey-Carter. Here, we not only had classes designed to develop skills, but a lot of handson experience. First, we sat in with other supervisors and observed their skills. Then we supervised with assistance, and then we were pretty much flying on our own. Those of us who were already supervisors learned a lot from our colleagues and increased our skill level. And that translates into better clinical training experiences for us and the Masters students. A constant throughout the program has been an emphasis on our capstone projects under the watchful eye of Dr. Tom Haines. We are finalizing our projects, including preparations for our oral defenses, which range from clinical trials of acupuncture and herb protocols, to translations of Chinese medical literature, to the use of electronic health records in the clinic, to how every common herb interacts with the main clearing enzyme of the liver, cytochrome p450. This last project is by Lily Chang, who works for a major pharmaceutical company and has access to very expensive lab equipment. Her study may have major implications for pharmaceutical drugs in the future and drug-herb interactions in the present. We are talking some major groundbreaking work here. But as usual, the greatest aspects of the program were my peers. Besides those mentioned above, we have had wonderful interactions with the part-time students including Leslie McCoy and Toan Trang and "visiting scholars," Steve Sterling, Desiree Paus, and Jenelle Kim. The interactions have always been full of respect, even if they had become heated, piqued, or even raging. In this second year, they have become full of admiration and coupled lately with more than a tinge of sadness as we bid farewell to friends we have shared every Friday and Saturday with for two years. We have decided we can't just say goodbye and are developing a new Doctoral Society that is geared to social discourse as well as to helping to lead the profession in to the future. Finally, it would be a mistake to not mention the administration, who listened intently to our complaints and comments. They really have listened and made changes so that the next cohort of DAOM students will have an easier time, which was always a goal of our class as we recognized we were pioneering a new program. They have changed the program from two days a week to one four day weekend a month, allowing more students from locales other than San Diego and less strain on existing practices. They have trimmed the fat from the program, meaning it has fewer hours and costs less. And they have established a methodology for listening to feedback and implementing reforms. The first DAOM program from PCOM has been a series of challenges, but as we finish it, we can all say we are much better clinicians, researchers, and contributors to the profession. I have listed the names of colleagues in this article, not only because they would kill me if I did not, but because it won't be the last time you see them. They are true leaders, and you will be seeing their names attached to significant advancements in our profession. Dr.Greg Sperber received a bachelor of science in molecular biology from the University of California,San Diego before getting a Master of Traditional Oriental Medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine,San Diego in 1997.Currently he is a professor and clinical supervisor at Pacific College, where he is also pursuing a Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and starting a new magazine for the profession. The End of the FirstDAOMProgram By Dr.Greg Sperber The first DAOM program from PCOM has been a series of ups and downs, but as we finish it, we can all say we are much better clinicians, researchers, and contributors to the profession.
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