Dr. Tang-Ritchie Represented PCHS at the 2023 Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map

By Pacific College - October 16, 2023
Large group of people on a stage in front of a screen at NIH

From January 2023 through July 2023, Dr. Leng Tang-Ritchie represented Pacific College in the development of the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Leng Tang-Ritchie is our Vice President of Clinical Education and Operations.

Women’s health is an area that often lacks innovation, receiving less research funding than it should when compared to the impact it could have. In part, this is due to a mistaken belief that women’s health only matters during the reproductive years, ignoring women’s health needs across their whole lives and leaving large gaps in medical research and innovation. This means women often lack the basic tools, treatments, and services they need to stay healthy. Stakeholders are starting to address the gaps through improved sex- and gender-based medical training, but without a coordinated plan to align their work.

Collaborative Effort to Construct the Opportunity Map

To help close these gaps, experts and researchers from many different fields and countries worked together for several months to construct the Opportunity Map, a plan to focus global efforts and encourage more investment in women’s health innovation. Ultimately, the goal is to improve tools, treatments, and services for women’s health, reduce suffering, and save lives.

It was an amazing experience to witness and be inspired by this collaboration of 250 experts, activists, and researchers from over 50 countries to identify 50 catalytic opportunities that will improve women’s health and close gender gaps in health research.
–Dr. Leng Tang-Ritchie, DAOM, LAc

The Impact of the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map

The Opportunity Map serves as a guide that stakeholders across the women’s health ecosystem–including researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, government bodies, biopharmaceutical companies, civil society, and more– can use to help advance projects to improve women’s health, reduce morbidity and mortality, and increase well-being.

The document outlines nine broad topics of women’s health innovation, as well as their unique challenges, needs, and objectives. For each topic, it identifies the best opportunities according to their potential to help women, ability to be scaled up, innovativeness, and how well they address unmet needs and promote health equity. Finally, the Map describes specific ways to bring each opportunity to fruition within the next 15 years. Our hope is that the Opportunity Map will pave the way for new research and funding opportunities, consolidated advocacy efforts, and increased global action and investments in women’s health.

Check Out the Full Report or the 4-Page Executive Summary

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Sandra Chiu, Pacific College Alum, Interviewed by Well+Good on Cosmetic Acu

By Pacific College - September 21, 2023
Cosmetic acupuncture being practiced.

Sandra Lanshin Chiu, LAc, MSTCM, a PCHS alum who earned her acupuncture master’s from our New York campus in 2005, was recently interviewed by Katie Baxter for an article on cosmetic acupuncture in Well+Good, a publication that reports upon and highlights wellness and lifestyle trends. “Over time, Chinese medicine developed to treat all kinds of illness from cholera and even dermatological conditions,” explained Sandra. “Acupuncture works with the energy systems of our vital organs, known as qi. That focus on deep internal health is often overlooked in Western beauty, with a focus more on treatments that change the surface, but don’t necessarily address exactly how the body is functioning overall.

More needles are usually inserted into the face than say a treatment for back pain, menstrual pain, or reflux,” in her own self-founded clinic, Lanshin, which specializes in Chinese medical dermatology and rejuvenation via acupuncture and gua sha. “But even when focused facially, we still needle body points, because in TCM cosmetic dermatology we always support the overall health of a person and aim to correct core disease patterns and the causes of accelerated aging.” Chiu has also been featured by the publications MindBodyGreen and Refinery29.

Read the Full Article at Well+Good

Interested in specializing in cosmetic acupuncture at your own clinic? Check out Pacific College’s Facial Applications for Cosmetic Enhancement (FACE) certificate program! New cohort starts in January.

Faculty Member Alice O’Leary Randall Interviewed by Marijuana Moment

By David Sol - May 11, 2023
Logo of Marijuana Moment.

Marijuana Moment, one of the nation’s leading sources for news and developments in the cannabis industry, recently interviewed Pacific College medical cannabis faculty member Alice O’Leary Randall on cannabis reform. She is the widow of Robert Randall, who in 1976 became the first legal user of medical marijuana in the U.S. since 1937–to treat the case of glaucoma that threatened his sight–when he emerged victorious in the Superior Court of DC case United States v. Randall. This case paved the way for the ever-broadening access since, in no small part due to his and his wife’s relentless advocacy, for decades afterwards, for the legality of cannabis as an alternative treatment.

Alice O’Leary Randall says that, today, many think the fight for legalization is essentially over–but marijuana remains federally illegal, a Schedule I substance. Her latest project is compiling and releasing a digital record of the fight for legalization, to preserve the legacy of the advocates and pioneers that have gotten us this far. She will be releasing documents over time, including court records, voice and video clips, and letters, online, as they are digitized, and compiling annotations and guidance for the archive.

Read the Full Article

Problems with Prescribing Medication: Pacific Faculty Interviewed by Healthcare IT Today

By Pacific College - May 2, 2023
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Pacific College holistic nursing faculty members Mitzie Meyers, PhD, RN, CNE, AHN-BC and Caroline Ortiz, PhD(c), MSN, MPH, RN, NC-BC were recently interviewed for an article series by Andy Oram on problems people have taking their medication. Up to half of all patients who are prescribed medications for management of chronic conditions don’t take them properly–or sometimes, at all; one in five prescriptions waiting at the pharmacy don’t even get picked up. The cost of this problem is vast: hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars each year–possibly as much as 20% of all US healthcare spending, according to one estimate. Oram’s article series discusses multiple ways to address this problem.

Using Technology to Address Medication Access

In the United States, patient adherence to medication regimens drops drastically when the patient’s cost for that medication exceeds $50. Patients will fail to pick it up, fail to refill it, or take less medication, or take it less often than prescribed, all in the name of saving money–and justifiably so. The US is notorious for its bloated healthcare costs. Recent technological advances may help mitigate this, by providing up-to-date and transparent pricing, instead of the labyrinthine, obfuscated pricing modern Americans have been forced to grow accustomed to. Read More

Helping People Take Their Meds

IT solutions can also involve reminders, remote patient monitoring, and offers of online connections with clinicians or caregivers; text messages, app notifications, and even gamification can all help. Pacific’s Dr. Ortiz discussed obstacles to adherence like anxious patients that forget or don’t understand their doctor’s instructions, or can’t understand due to a language barrier. Both the healthcare provider and patient need extra support to ensure medication adherence–and technology can help. Read More

What Tends to Go Wrong With Medication Adherence?

A breakdown in medication adherence also often occurs immediately upon discharge from a hospital: Pacific’s Dr. Meyers points out that many patients enter the hospital in a crisis. Because payers want them discharged as soon as possible, they’re often exhausted, in pain, angry about needing new medication, or frustrated by their less-functional body while the hospital staff is trying to teach them about an array of unfamiliar pharmacologies. Afterwards, a nurse might follow up with a call at the most–this isn’t enough. Read More

Rethinking Medication and Information Technology

Oram’s final article in the series turns the question on its head: can patients get better without medications? Family, friends, and even community institutions can encourage them to adopt better habits, but Dr. Meyers emphasizes that the patient-practitioner relationship must be collaborative. Do the medications truly need to be prescribed? Some drugs, such as those for depression and anxiety, are notoriously overprescribed. Although some patients blindly request antibiotics, they won’t do anything for a viral infection. Dr. Ortiz reminds us that a patient’s reasons for altering or diverting from the medical plan can be many and varied. Read More

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Rethinking Medication: Holistic Nursing Professors Interviewed by Healthcare IT Today

By Pacific College - April 25, 2023
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Pacific College holistic nursing faculty members Mitzie Meyers, PhD, RN, CNE, AHN-BC and Caroline Ortiz, PhD(c), MSN, MPH, RN, NC-BC were recently interviewed for Healthcare IT Today’s article “Rethinking Medication and Information Technology”, the fourth and final part in a series by Andy Oram on problems people have taking their medication. Many patients who have been prescribed medications for chronic condition management don’t take them correctly, or, in some cases, at all. This issue costs hundreds of billions of dollars every year–and hundreds of thousands of lives. Read the first article in the series, “Using Technology to Address Medication Access”, for background context regarding this problem; the second, “Helping People Take Their Meds”; or the third, “What Tends to Go Wrong with Medication Adherence”.

Exploring Alternatives to Medication

Oram’s final article in the series turns the question on its head: can patients get better without medications? Some patients need help adopting a lifestyle that can reduce their risk, monitoring their progress, and uploading the results of monitoring to their portal. Family, friends, and even community institutions can encourage them to adopt better habits, but Pacific College professor Dr. Mitzie Meyers emphasizes that the patient-practitioner relationship must be collaborative. Do the medications truly need to be prescribed? Some drugs, such as those for depression and anxiety, are notoriously overprescribed. Although some patients blindly request antibiotics, they won’t do anything for a viral infection. The processes of withdrawal or even just weaning-off are best avoided, as they can be agonizing and complex.

Cultural and Personal Factors in Medication Adherence

Pacific College associate professor Caroline E. Ortiz reminds us that a patient’s reasons for altering or diverting from the medical plan can be many and varied. Many people are members of ethnic cultures that have their own deeply embedded traditional remedies and treatment approaches, and may prefer remedies tied to that culture, or feel more comfortable talking with a community member knowledgeable in traditional remedies than an institutional healthcare provider.

Read the Full Article on Healthcare IT TODAY

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Mitzie Meyers, Pacific College Faculty, Interviewed by Healthcare IT Today

By Pacific College - April 18, 2023
Nurse consult with patients - master of science in nursing

Mitzie Meyers, PhD, RN, CNE, AHN-BC, a professor in Pacific College’s nursing program, was recently interviewed for Healthcare IT Today’s article “What Tends to Go Wrong With Medication Adherence?”, the third in a series by Andy Oram about problems people have taking their medication. Many patients prescribed medications for management of chronic conditions don’t take them properly, or sometimes at all. This problem costs hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Read the first article in the series, “Using Technology to Address Medication Access”, for more on this aspect of the problem, or the second, “Helping People Take Their Meds”, which also included an interview with Caroline Ortiz, another Pacific College faculty member.

Overcoming the Overload of Health Notifications

Daily life now sees all of us inundated with notifications, texts, emails, and letters–an unrelenting avalanche of attempts to get our attention, of which most are somewhere between irrelevant, annoying, and downright malicious. Oram discusses the need to ensure that crucial notifications such as those regarding our health must be tailored to the patient, genuinely useful, and timely. Messages reminding us to renew prescriptions when our healthcare provider has the data to show that we aren’t due for a renewal yet, or that we have never failed to renew it on time in many years, acclimatize us to ignoring all messages from our healthcare providers.

Addressing Post-Discharge Medication Adherence

A breakdown in medication adherence also often occurs immediately upon discharge from a hospital: Dr. Mitzie Meyers points out that many patients enter the hospital in a crisis. Because payers want them discharged as soon as possible, they’re often exhausted, in pain, angry about needing new medication, or frustrated by their less-functional body while the hospital staff is trying to teach them about an array of unfamiliar pharmacologies. Afterwards, a nurse might follow up with a call at the most–this isn’t enough. Some services can combine multiple pills that patients need to take in bubble wrap; others can provide much longer runs of medication for chronic conditions all at once–up to a year or more–instead of mandating endless, manually-triggered renewals for conditions that aren’t going anywhere.

Read the Full Article on Healthcare IT TODAY

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Caroline Ortiz, Pacific College Faculty, Interviewed by Healthcare IT Today

By Pacific College - April 11, 2023
Caroline Ortiz Holistic Nursing Faculty

Caroline Ortiz, PhD(c), MSN, MPH, RN, NC-BC, an associate professor in Pacific College’s nursing program, was recently interviewed for Healthcare IT Today’s article “Helping People Take Their Meds”, the second in a series by Andy Oram about problems people have taking their medication. Up to half of all patients who are prescribed medications for management of chronic conditions don’t take them properly–or sometimes, at all; one in five prescriptions waiting at the pharmacy don’t even get picked up. The cost of this problem is vast: hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars each year–possibly as much as 20% of all US healthcare spending, according to one estimate. Read the first article in Healthcare IT Today’s series for more on this aspect of the problem.

Tackling the Challenges of Medication Adherence

IT solutions can involve reminders, remote patient monitoring, and offers of online connections with clinicians or caregivers; text messages, app notifications, and even gamification can all help. Ortiz discussed obstacles to adherence like anxious patients that forget or don’t understand their doctor’s instructions, or can’t understand due to a language barrier. Studies have shown that patients frequently can’t explain after their visit what they’re supposed to do with the medication they’ve been given: for example, someone may understand that they must take medication lower their blood pressure, but think that they can stop taking the medication once their blood pressure stabilizes. According to Ortiz, both the healthcare provider and patient need extra support to ensure medication adherence. Apps and alarms on patients’ phones can help, as can asking a trusted family member or friend to keep tabs on the patient’s adherence to the medication schedule.

Read the Full Article on Healthcare IT TODAY

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NY’s Cynthia Neipris Elected ACAHM Commissioner

By Pacific College - December 12, 2022
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Dr. Cynthia Neipris, DACM, LAc, Pacific College’s Vice President of Alumni Services and Director of Outreach and Community/Continuing Education as well as faculty on the New York campus, was recently elected ACAHM Commissioner as an At-Large member. The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM) is a specialized agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE).

Dr. Neipris has been licensed and practicing acupuncture since 2000 and has been published in several professional acupuncture journals. She has also served with the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) as well as the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA), and was a founding board member of Acupuncturists Without Borders (2005-2020).

Read the Full Article at ACAHM.org

Chicago’s David Sol Cited by Verywell Fit on Post-Workout Massage

By Pacific College - November 30, 2022
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Dr. David R. Sol, DAc, LAc, LMT, CFMP, the Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Pacific College of Health and Science’s Chicago campus, was extensively cited in a recent article by Lauren David, writing on post-workout massage for Verywell Fit, an award-winning resource for nutrition and exercise information. Most people know that stretching can help prevent and relieve the soreness associated with exercise, but “post-workout massage can increase blood and lymph circulation, reduce inflammation, increase flexibility, and resolve muscle tightness and pain,” explained David. It can also decrease delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and lower the amount of time you need to recover before a hard workout or competition.

There are, however, of course several different types of massage therapy, and some are more beneficial for post-workout recovery than others. Swedish massage and other more relaxing, gentle styles are great, but more intense types such deep tissue massage or that provided by a massage gun can increase inflammation and cause more issues than it could fix. The timing of your massage can also influence how you feel. “Consider getting a massage on the same day as a workout when you want your body to relax and recover,” said Sol.

Read the Full Article on Post-Workout Recovery

Interested in becoming a certified massage therapist? Visit the campus web site nearest you:

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Chicago massage therapy school

New York massage therapy school

Herbal Highway Interviews Tang-Ritchie on Chinese Medicine

By Pacific College - October 3, 2022
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The Herbal Highway, a podcast and radio show, recently interviewed Dr. Leng Tang-Ritchie, Vice President of Clinical Education and Operations and Director of Clinical Services at Pacific College of Health and Science, for an exploration of emotional health and balance from a Chinese medical perspective.

During the course of the hour-long conversation, Dr. Tang-Ritchie dove into topics including using plants as medicine, growing up in a family who relied on Chinese medicine to treat illness, and how she initially became interested in pursuing Chinese medicine as a career.

She also discussed using Chinese medicine to address emotional stressors and mental health issues, as well as the modalities that make up Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbalism), and how the concept of “shen” ties in with Chinese medicine. Finally, Dr. Tang-Ritchie talked through the process that practitioners take to find the right herbal formula for each patient’s specific challenges, and how those formulas positively impact a patient’s mental and physical wellbeing.

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