Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii

Mission Statement

The mission of the Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii contains several tenets, including:

• To educate practitioners of Oriental medicine who can effectively disgnose and appropriately and safely treat in their modality and within the scope of their license.
• Toensure that these practitioners are professionals who have a thorough grounding in both Oriental and Western medical science and philosophy, and can communicate and interact effectively with providers of various modes of Western health care.
• To give students a balanced practical and theoretical training that emphasizes both acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbal therapy -- training that will enable them, upon graduation, to set up and run successful Oriental medical clinics.
• To maintain a teaching clinic where student interns gain the clinical experience required to establish an independent professional practice, a clinic that provides economical, high-quality health care services to the community.
• To train students to be healers, not just practitioners treating symptoms.

Through these tenets, graduates will be able to:

1. Demonstrate the knowledge and ability to collect necessary data from patients through observation, olfactory and aural examination, palpation, pulse diagnosis, physical examination, and inquiry.
2. Demonstrate the knowledge and ability to formulate a diagnosis according to traditional Oriental medical theories based upon the classification of data collected.
3. Demonstrate the ability to determine a treatment strategy based upon the formulated diagnosis.
4. Demonstrate the knowledge and ability to apply appropriate techniques, including the use of needles, moxibustion, herbal prescription, dietary recommendations, manipulation, and counseling to implement the chosen treatment strategy.
5. Demonstrate the knowledge and ability to assess the effectiveness of the treatment strategy and its execution, and to modify the treatment strategy if needed.
6. Demonstrate the ability to interact effectively with their patients, assisting the patient to address the roots of illness and help bring about healing beyond symptom management.
7. Demonstrate the knowledge and ability to adhere to professional standards of conduct.
8. Demonstrate the ability to operate and direct all practical aspects of a clinic. This would include functioning and management of the herbal pharmacy, medical record keeping, reception room etiquette and sound accounting practices.
9. Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively to the public and with providers of various modes of Western health care, and to make medical referrals when appropriate.

History

The Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii's program was made a candidate for accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in 1996. It was accredited in 2002.

Programs Offered

The Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii offers an intensive, four-calendar-year (12 trimester) program, awarding its graduates a Master of Science degree in Oriental Medicine. Each year is composed of three 15-week trimesters. New classes are admitted each September, with class size limited to a maximum of 16 students. Students may also be admitted at the beginning of any trimester if they demonstrate adequate knowledge and skill to merge with the continuing class through transfer credit, a challenge examination, or favorable assessment by the school's academic dean.

The course of study at the TCM College of Hawaii is designed to provide students with a systematic development of Oriental medicine, giving them an understanding of the basis of the effectiveness of Oriental medicine, not just in managing symptoms, but in treating the cases of illness, restoring balance, harmony and health to the patient through the use of acupuncture, herbs, diet, bodywork, and qigong. Students learn the fundamentals of Oriental medicine at the same time they learn its clinical skills. They also learn basic and clinical Western medical sciences that enable them to work effectively with Western-trained medical colleagues.

Contact Information

For more information on the Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii, contact:

Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii
65-1206 Mamalohoa Highway, Building 3, Suite 9
Kamuela, HI 96743
Tel: (808) 885-9226
Fax: (808) 885-9226
E-mail: tcmch@tcmch.edu 
Web site: www.tcmch.edu