Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College

Welcome to the Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College, Berkeley!

AIMC Berkeley offers a Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine where students learn the full scope of Oriental Medicine: Acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, moxibustion, suction cupping, dermal scraping (gua sha), therapeutic exercises, and nutritional & lifestyle counseling, with an emphasis on integrative Western biomedicine, Japanese style acupuncture, and business development/practice management. Consisting of 3,263 hours that must be done on-site (no distance learning allowed), students on the standard full-time program take 3.3 years to finish.

Since 1991 AIMC Berkeley has proudly produced hundreds of graduates and successful practitioners of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. As a student of our learning community, you will develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to become an excellent entry-level practitioner.

AIMC Berkeley's program is broad and diverse. In addition to the core Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) curriculum derived primarily from mainland China, you will also learn healing traditions from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, including opportunities abroad with our sister colleges in Japan and China. As a college of integrative medicine, you'll also learn how to communicate, network, and collaborate with other healing professions as a primary healthcare provider.

Featuring a dedicated and diverse student body and a collaborative learning culture. Ages range from the early 20's to late 50's, with a median age of 30 years. You will enjoy the well-designed facility, sense of community, and collegial environment with faculty and staff who will help you adopt and master our academically challenging program.

Location
Centrally located in diverse, vibrant downtown Berkeley, California, AIMC Berkeley is surrounded by great restaurants, convenient to BART and other public transportation, and within walking distance of UC Berkeley, one of the world's preeminent intellectual hubs. Our students enjoy great food, mild climates, beautiful hills with breathtaking views, and plenty of housing options close to campus. We're in a bike/pedestrian-friendly city close to San Francisco, arts and entertainment, Chinatowns in both Oakland and SF, farmers markets, beautiful coastal beaches, and weekend get-a-ways to Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Santa Cruz, numerous hot springs, and other popular destinations.

Curriculum
While the core of our program focuses on learning the Chinese-style TCM on which the California licensing and national certification exams are based, our emphasis on Integrative Medicine makes for a cutting-edge curriculum that meets and exceeds draft standards for the accreditation commission's proposed First-Professional Doctorate in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine. In order to fulfill our mission of producing successful practitioners, our 3,263-hour program exceeds national standards by 638 hours and California standards by 263 hours.

Key features that differentiate AIMC from other programs include:

• Integrative/biomedicine for proper diagnosis, networking, collaboration, and referral
• Training in Japanese-style acupuncture, a gentle technique that utilizes extremely thin needles with guide tubes and a hands-on style of practice that includes additional assessment through palpating acupuncture channels and the abdomen
• Twice as many hours in business development and management to ensure future success
• Additional hours treating patients one-on-one in the final year of the program
• Excellent review and exam prep courses at the end of the program
• Opportunities to study abroad with our sister schools in China and Japan

Medical Qigong Certification
A subtle but powerful healing modality that you can practice independently while you're in school, this program is available to both MSOM students and members of the public. You will learn exercises to develop awareness of and strengthen your qi, therapeutic exercises for correcting various imbalances, and hands-on bodywork protocols that inspire and guide healing. Taught by Qigong Master Suzanne Friedman with insight, humor, and inspiration, there is nothing else like it in the country. For more information visit our website.

Clinic
The AIMC Berkeley Community Clinic features an intimate learning environment with over 1,000 hours of clinic and personalized mentoring, including community-style acupuncture and ear-detox acupuncture shifts. You also have the option of five extern clinic sites, including community clinics in Santa Rosa and San Francisco, public health clinics in Berkeley, and the sports medicine clinic at UC Berkeley.

Scheduling
Most classes run Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday days. Flexible part-time programs are also available, including half-time options for working professionals. The Medical Qigong Certification program consists of four 4-day modules or 8 weekend modules.

Financial Aid
Most students in the MSOM program can borrow up to $30,750 per calendar year in federal loans, with additional Grad Plus loans available. (Full-time tuition costs about $15,000/year). GI Bill tuition payments also accepted (AIMC Berkeley welcomes veterans).

Admissions
MSOM applications are processed and accepted on a continuous basis for those who meet and exceed minimum requirements: 2 academic years of college/60 semester units/90 quarter units (though a Bachelor's is recommended). We run three (3) trimester starts per year in early January, May, and September.

Contact Us Today

If you are interested in any of our programs and would like to find out more, please Request Information.