About Five Branches University

Mission

Five Branches University, Graduate School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, aims to provide a professional medical education in the art, science and practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine through classroom courses and clinical training. Our programs emphasize traditional Chinese medical theory and diagnosis, acupuncture, herbology, and Western medicine as applied to integrated healthcare. Providing a community of learning and TCM healthcare, Five Branches University is dedicated to making the views and methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine a part of world medicine.

Philosophy, Values & Principles

Five Branches University is committed to providing the highest level of education in Traditional Chinese Medicine. For decades, our TCM faculty and practitioners have successfully practiced and taught in both the United States and China. Our attainment of this goal is reflected in Five Branches consistently high rate of graduates who pass the National Certification and California State Licensing exams and in their development of successful TCM practices nationally and internationally.

Five Branches University's education is threefold, focusing on:

• The art, science and practice of TCM as rooted in the classics,
• TCM's success in modern clinical practice
• The integration of TCM with the best practices of Western medicine

Five Branches' faculty are chosen for excellence, demonstrated in their specialized fields. They also must be skilled as teachers, and passionate about teaching.

Students are chosen for their academic competence, and for their commitment to serving people through Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM philosophy views medicine as a compassionate response to human suffering. Five Branches provides not only TCM knowledge and skills, but also an environment where kindness prevails. In thus balancing a student's program, Five Branches encourages the qualities needed to become a successful TCM practitioner. Students enjoy a respectful camaraderie with their extended Five Branches family, while nurturing relationships in the local and global community. Together with their faculty mentors, Five Branches students offer TCM to the widest population possible.

Top Reasons Why You Should Consider Five Branches University For Your TCM Education

Location

Located along California's scenic Central Coast, Santa Cruz is renowned for its beautiful beachfront and nearby redwood forests. Santa Cruz is home to both the University of California and Cabrillo College. It thus has the cosmopolitan appeal of a college town, as well as the ambiance of a small coastal California city. The cultural life of Santa Cruz is diverse and progressive. The downtown area has shops of every description and some of the best bookstores in California. Year round festivals along our famous boardwalk add a plethora of activities to enjoy and remember.

Faculty

Just as the Qi, or vital life energy, animates our bodies, it is the Five Branches faculty that breathes life into its curriculum.

The Five Branches faculty has been carefully selected from the many experienced Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) teachers in the United States and China. Many of our faculty descended from a lineage of TCM Masters in China and have over 20 years experience practicing and teaching TCM. Several have trained in China's most prestigious TCM universities and hospitals, such as Shanghai University of TCM, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou Sun Yat Sen Medical University, Liaoning University of TCM, Fujian University of TCM and Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. Our faculty also includes seasoned medical doctors who teach academic and clinical Western Medicine classes. All of our instructors are fluent in English and are experienced and successful, teacher-practitioners.

As a student of Five Branches you will learn from highly skilled teachers who bring a strong foundation of both Chinese and Western medicine into the classroom. You will have the opportunity to absorb their wisdom, through direct teaching, and to observe the intangible qualities of compassion and caring in their interactions with patients. You will experience faculty who are passionate about Chinese medicine, interested in achieving academic excellence and who are eager to assist you with your personal growth, and success as a TCM practitioner. The Five Branches faculty is a dedicated community of practitioners, teachers, international lecturers and published authors whose exceptional qualities are reflected in the skill and confidence of Five Branches' graduates and in the school's 24 year history of academic excellence.

Clinic

Five Branches University has recently expanded its clinical facilities to include an additional 11 private treatment rooms, increasing the total number of fully equipped, professional treatment rooms to 18. Our busy clinic is furnished with an abundantly stocked herb room containing a wide variety of loose and patent herbs, as well as a separate consultation room where students and supervising practitioners can discuss individual case histories. The Five Branches clinic is thus one of the largestTCM treatment facilities in the country, seeing over 100 patients per day..

Study Abroad

For over 15 years, Five Branches University has offered the Study in China program in cooperation with our sister school, the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. The college, including both hospitals and a research center, is located near Shanghai in Hangzhou, capital of the southern Song Dynasty, on the edge of the scenic West Lake. Zhejiang Chinese Medical University is a regionally recognized institute of higher learning in Traditional Chinese medicine and TCM pharmacology. As a Masters student, enrolled in the Study in China program you will train between two to six weeks in the Zhejiang University affiliated hospitals and out-patient centers with doctors who possess a strong knowledge in the theories of TCM combined with expertise in clinical application. This training will allow you to experience a hospital environment in China, where TCM and Western medicine are seamlessly interconnected. You may choose to complete up to 25% of your clinical training in this program and can train in specialty departments, such as Internal medicine, Pediatrics or Gynecology.

The Study in China program is affordable and satisfies clinical hour requirements approved by the California Acupuncture Board. If you are interested in enrolling in the Study in China program contact the Admissions Department at the Santa Cruz campus.

Academics

Our students receive the most comprehensive education in Chinese medicine available, through exposure to a faculty thoroughly imbued with the spirit of TCM, and grounded in years of practice and teaching. Our student's preparedness for a lifetime of TCM practice is evidenced by their high success rate in passing both the National and California Acupuncture Exams. Our clinical classes begin during the very first semester of study with observational theater, so students begin their practical experience with TCM from the very start of their medical training. Clinical experience and academic coursework go hand-in-hand, allowing students to integrate both theory and practice in a mutually reinforcing way. Five Branches University is a medium sized school that offers students the opportunity to get to know our faculty and TCM practitioners on a personal basis. Classmates stay together as a cohort throughout the program, allowing them to form ongoing study groups, receive mutual support, and develop a camaraderie that will last a lifetime.

Job Satisfaction & Community Service

TCM is a non-invasive, holistic and philosophically sophisticated medicine As a TCM practitioner you can guide your patients to wholeness and well-being, the basis for good health. Proven and effective, TCM is the medicine of choice for a growing number of patients concerned with making their own healthcare decisions. It offers its practitioners a sense of fulfillment hard to find in any other profession. TCM is based on centuries of tried and true methods that increase the body's ability to ward off disease and recover one's health. As a licensed acupuncturist you will be able to professionally administer many approaches to healthcare, such as herbal medicine, energetic exercise (qigong and taijiquan), and nutritional medicine, that patients have been doing on their own without proper guidance. As a TCM practitioner you will provide the public with a well-integrated body of medical knowledge that will nourish the community you live in for decades to come.

Admissions

Five Branches University is on the semester system and has entering classes in both Fall and Spring. In order to have top priority please submit applications by May 1st or December 1st, respectively. A minimum of 2 years college (60 semester units) are required for admission. If you are interested in any of our programs and would like to find out more, please Request Information.