Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) recently announce it has received regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This achievement reflects five years of hard work on the part of faculty, staff, and students. WASC commended the college for its commitment to quality improvement, its shareholders support, and its investment in full-time faculty, new facilities, a modern student information system, and the addition of numerous leadership positions.
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine joins the ranks of such schools as UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and the California Institute of Technology, well-known institutions also accredited by WASC. As part of the first wave of integrative medicine schools to become regionally accredited, PCOM will use this recognition to increase research and scholarship at the institution for the benefit of the holistic professions it represents, i.e., acupuncture and Oriental medicine, nursing, and massage.
As a result of its WASC accreditation, PCOM will offer the entry-level Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM), initially in San Diego. The Chicago and New York campuses are in the process of seeking their respective state approvals. This degree has been known in the industry as the first professional doctorate or FPD.
The ten-year success of the college's post-grad doctoral degree program has created a culture of scholarship, research and critical thinking, further enhanced by the five-year National Institute of Health (NIH) grant to support faculty training in evidence-informed practice. These two institutional endeavors provide a strong foundation to support the new entry-level DAOM. The entry-level DAOM will advance the foundational skills presented in the college's MSTOM with inter-professional communication, evidence-informed practice, systems-based medicine, advanced integrative diagnostics, and collaborative care. Individuals interested in the entry-level DAOM should contact an admissions representative at Pacific College.
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, founded in 1986 as one of the early acupuncture schools in the United States, has a student body of more than 1,300 at campuses in San Diego, New York City, and Chicago. PCOM offers programs in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, nursing and massage. Its degree offerings range from certificate to associate, baccalaureate, master, and doctorate.
For more information, visit www.pacificcollege.edu.
