We’ve completed the roundup: Pacific College campuses in San Diego, New York, and Chicago combined provided more than 9,000 hours of intern, faculty, and administrative hours with an in-kind donation of more than $200,000 of free or low-cost treatments and administrative costs to our communities during this year of the pandemic. Pacific College proudly collaborates with organizations in our communities to provide our students with off-campus real-life opportunities to practice patient care and connection. Events in 2021 included providing care for the Tunnel to Towers run, the Wounded Warriors Project, the Beautifully Flawed Foundation, Camp Widow, frontline workers at Rady Children’s Hospital, and more!
Malcolm Youngren, President and CEO of Pacific College of Health and Science, stated: “We set out to serve our local communities on a greater scale than we’ve ever done before, in spite of the challenges this year presented, and we successfully did just that.” We couldn’t be prouder to show up in our community and support others on their healing journey. Moments like that are why we do what we do!
Wounded Warriors Project
The warriors in the San Diego Wounded Warriors Project (WWP) asked to learn about ear acupuncture, so we collaborated on a lunch and learn at their facility on September 24th! The event was such a success that we were invited to return on November 6th for an acupuncture and massage event, where we provided acupuncture treatments and massage therapy sessions. Thank you to our clinic interns who provided this meaningful opportunity for wounded warriors to experience the benefits of auricular acupuncture treatments for acute and chronic conditions!
Tunnel to Towers Run
A proud thank you to our Pacific College massage and acupuncture students who kindly volunteered at the Tunnel to Towers run in New York City on September 26th, an annual event that honors the victims, survivors, and first responders of 9/11. Pacific College has participated in every year of the T2T annual event since its inception.
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“The gratitude of the people we worked with at these events and our regular weekly shifts at offsite events for vulnerable populations is very inspiring to our interns. Watching those people have positive responses, a lot of them receiving acupuncture for the very first time, gives the interns such rewards!”
Valerie Razutis, DAOM, LAc, Associate Director of Clinical Services in San Diego
Camp Widow
On October 15th, Pacific College massage interns volunteered their time to offer the healing power of massage to the widows of Camp Widow, an innovative program that combines the therapeutic effect of group bonding, training in grief coping, and the healing of learning to laugh again. Our fantastic interns at this event were Pearl Vargas, Christopher Versandi, and Christopher Farrelly, supervised by Dan Halpain ABT, HHP, the San Diego campus’ Department Chair of Asian Holistic Health and Massage.
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Beautifully Flawed Foundation
We are so grateful to have collaborated with Bethany Hamilton’s Beautifully Flawed Foundation at their annual retreat for those with limb differences, in Del Mar, CA . After surviving a shark attack 18 years ago, Bethany Hamilton not only continued to pursue her career as a professional surfer, but founded this organization to inspire others to be unstoppable in their pursuit of happiness.
On October 28th, eight of our massage therapy and acupuncture interns provided treatments for her retreat attendees after an inspiring day of surfing. Some tried acupuncture for the first time, and others even overcame their fear of needles! Bethany Hamilton will be presenting as a featured speaker at our upcoming inaugural P3 Summit in May of 2022 in sunny San Diego, California!
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“We’re looking forward to further developing these strong community connections all throughout 2022. Thank you to our partners for the opportunity to keep changing lives exponentially!”
-Malcolm Youngren, President and CEO of Pacific College of Health and Science
If you think a career in holistic medicine is something you would like to pursue, contact us and speak to an admissions representative to get started on your new journey!
Rady Children’s Hospital
Most recently, on November 18th, Pacific College alumni volunteered to serve frontline workers at an off-campus community care event for Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. You know your students are truly passionate about their work when they request to join community outreach events even after graduation! Volunteers at the event included Jessica Boyer, Dr. David Wachtel, Tifania Nazarian, Gabriela Palma-Cruz, Christopher Versandi, and Liz Murray.
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Wilbur Wright College
On November 11th, we worked with Hoyam Tanon, the Clinic Director at Wilbur Wright’s Wellness Center for their Mental Health Awareness Day. Two of our supervisors and four interns visited the campus to connect with students and perform acupuncture treatments for about 25 students.
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