Program Details

Specialty Areas
1. Reproductive Medicine/Fertility (This specialty will be initiated in the Spring of 2010.)
2. Integrative Medicine/Health Aging (This specialty will not be initiated before the Spring of 2012.)

Program of Study
The DAOM program at Yo San University is designed for acupuncturists who are interested in advancing their TCM knowledge and skills, learn the intricacies of a medical specialization, as well as developing the skills needed to take part in research. Doctoral candidates will have a unique opportunity to study with expert faculty in their chosen specialty. Yo San’s innovative program emphasizes collaboration in clinical settings by providing rigorous training in advanced concepts of TCM and biomedical theory. By integrating Biomedicine and TCM the program aims to produce skilled practitioners, faculty and leaders in the field. The Yo San program seeks to promote a dynamic relationship between TCM and Biomedicine.

Curriculum Design
The Yo San University DAOM program is 1250 hours in length, composed of 600 didactic hours and 650 clinical hours. Courses are offered in a monthly modular format. Students who earned a Master’s degree or Master’s level equivalent with less biomedicine content than that required by the California Board of Acupuncture will be required to take the 40-hour Introductory Western Medicine Module to fulfill any missing prerequisites. The program is 24 months in length. Module 23 is a 1-month Flexible Clinical Training Module wherein students can choose to go to China for externship opportunities at leading hospitals affiliated with the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. Module 24 is an oral defense of the Research Project. The chart below is an overview of the Program’s courses and the hours dedicated to each module, including didactic and clinical hours.

DAOM Program Curriculum Summary:
Reproductive Medicine (RM) Specialty

Research
All DAOM students will be required to complete a doctoral research project for which preparation will be provided in several of the first year’s didactic courses. Students will develop thorough knowledge regarding the broad range of quantitative, qualitative, and clinical case study research methods. By the end of the first year, the proposal for the research project will be submitted. Students engaging research projects that involve human subjects will be required to submit their research proposals to the YSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) to affirm the use of appropriate ethical procedures. Completed research projects must be submitted during the final term and presented during the final month of the program.

Accreditation
Yo San University has received approval by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine to begin offering a post-graduate doctoral program titled “Doctor of Oriental Medicine program” (“DAOM”) pursuant to ACAOM substantive change procedures. This approval is only the first step in the process toward accreditation of the program and is not an official status with the Commission. No assurance is made by granting approval to commence the program that the program will eventually be granted either Candidacy or Accreditation.

Academic Calendar
The Yo San University DAOM Program operates on a Trimester calendar with three trimesters each calendar year as follows: Spring Trimester—January through April Summer Trimester—May through August Fall Trimester—September through December.

Academic Advising
All students in the program are advised individually by the DAOM Program Director or the Assistant Director. Either the Director and the Assistant Director are available for advisement consultation during every weekend of the program’s residency sessions. Other appointments may be scheduled between those weekends as well. All students are required to participate in an orientation session which will be scheduled approximately two weeks before the program start.

Graduation Requirements
Students who complete the entire academic program of not less than 62 units incorporating all academic, clinical and research requirements (including the defense of the research project), and ABORM certification will be recommended for graduation.