Leading up to my online CEU course on Jing and nurturing life practices (
2 hours of CEUs for FREE, sign up here
), I sat down with scholar and Chinese medicine practitioner Dr. Phil Garrison to discuss Jing (Essence) and the less discussed Jing Shen.
PCOM-NY faculty member Jeremy Pulsifer was featured cooking a healing soup to treat a cough on PCOM alumna Jill Blakeway’s show “Grow Cook Heal”. Check it out!
And at #7: the Power of Placebo, featuring Ted Kaptchuk–Pacific Symposium 2013’s keynote speaker and a longtime PCOM associate!
“ 32 - Because joining a ragtag band of fellow travellers, cooks and guides as I trekked back from La Ciudad Perdida in Colombia reminded me of the joy of sharing your journey with others.”
In 404 CE, the first foreign medicine was imported into Japan from Korea, which has been deduced as being mostly herbal in nature.
During this time, waves of migration from the Korean peninsula brought Chinese technology and writings to the island nation. It was through these transplants that the native Japanese learned of Chinese medicine and acupuncture. As passageways between China and Japan became more open, the first formal introduction of acupuncture in Japan occurred in 562 by a Chinese monk name Zhi Cong. He made the trek across the Sea of China east and brought with him medical treatises on herbal medicine and acupuncture meridians including the Mingtang tu, also known as the Illustrated Manual of Channels, Collaterals, and Acupuncture Points.
Thanks to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation for honoring Pacific College for our support for the important work they do. And thanks to Dr. Jeff Poplarski who makes it all possible.
David Rich Sol, Dean of Asian Holistic Health and Massage of PCOM’s Chicago campus, talks extensively about this method to reduce pain and tension.
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine: Three Decades of Healing and Learning
For 30 years, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine has helped bring the theories and practices of Chinese medicine into classrooms, clinics, professional programs, and public conversations about health. Its story reflects a broader transformation in American healthcare: acupuncture, herbal medicine, bodywork, and integrative care have moved from the margins toward greater visibility and acceptance.
The college began with an educational mission grounded in the classical traditions of East Asian medicine while responding to the needs of contemporary patients. Over time, that mission expanded through degree programs, clinical training, continuing education, faculty scholarship, community events, and a growing network of practitioners.
A history of Pacific College is therefore more than a sequence of dates. It is a record of students learning to connect traditional diagnostic systems with modern clinical responsibility, teachers preserving an evolving body of knowledge, and patients discovering new approaches to pain, stress, women’s health, recovery, and everyday well-being.
From A Small School To A National Presence
Pacific College was established in 1986, at a time when acupuncture was still unfamiliar to many Americans and formal training opportunities were limited. The school’s early development took place in San Diego, where it cultivated an environment devoted to serious study of Oriental medicine and its clinical applications.
The original educational vision combined respect for ancient medical texts with practical preparation for professional practice. Students needed to understand meridians, qi, yin and yang, and traditional pattern diagnosis, while also developing observation skills, communication habits, ethical judgment, and hands-on competence. This balance became central to the college’s identity.
As interest in acupuncture and integrative medicine grew, Pacific College developed beyond its initial local setting. Programs and partnerships connected the institution with wider professional communities, allowing its graduates to serve patients in private practices, clinics, hospitals, wellness centers, and other healthcare environments.
The college’s growth also mirrored changes in public expectations. Patients increasingly looked for care that considered sleep, nutrition, emotional stress, physical activity, and personal history alongside symptoms. Oriental medicine offered a framework for seeing those factors as interconnected, and Pacific College prepared practitioners to work within that broader understanding.
Preserving Tradition Through Modern Education
Chinese medicine is often described through its ancient roots, but its practice depends on continuous interpretation. A pulse diagnosis, an herbal formula, or an acupuncture treatment must be understood in relation to a particular person, setting, and moment. Pacific College’s educational work has addressed this challenge by treating tradition as a living clinical system rather than a fixed collection of techniques.
Coursework has traditionally brought together foundational theory, acupuncture and moxibustion, herbal medicine, biomedical sciences, ethics, and clinical practice. This structure encourages students to move between different ways of understanding the body. They learn how traditional terminology describes function and imbalance, while biomedical study helps them recognize safety concerns, anatomy, physiology, medications, and referral needs.
That educational integration is especially important in a healthcare system where practitioners frequently collaborate. An acupuncturist may work with a physician, physical therapist, midwife, psychologist, or nurse practitioner. Clear communication and respect for professional boundaries help ensure that traditional medicine is offered responsibly and as part of a patient-centered plan.
Faculty members have also contributed to the culture of inquiry. Through teaching, writing, speaking, supervision, and continuing education, they have helped students see that clinical excellence requires curiosity. The best practitioners continue studying after graduation, refine their diagnostic reasoning, and remain attentive to research without losing sight of the individual patient.
Clinics Where Learning Meets Service
Clinical education has always been one of the defining features of professional Oriental medicine training. In a classroom, students can memorize points and formulas; in a teaching clinic, they must listen carefully, identify priorities, create a treatment strategy, and adapt when a patient’s response differs from expectations.
Pacific College clinics have provided opportunities for supervised practice across a range of concerns. Patients may seek care for musculoskeletal pain, headaches, digestive complaints, stress, sleep difficulties, fertility support, recovery from injury, or general wellness. Each encounter teaches students that treatment begins with a relationship and that technical skill must be matched by patience and careful observation.
Teaching clinics also make education accessible to communities that may have limited opportunities to experience acupuncture or related services. The exchange benefits everyone involved: patients receive attentive care, supervisors guide developing practitioners, and students encounter the complexity that cannot be reproduced in a textbook.
This patient-centered approach is visible in discussions of changing health needs. For example, the college’s exploration of acupuncture and herbs for menopause symptoms reflects a wider interest in individualized care during major stages of life. Such topics demonstrate how traditional modalities can enter contemporary conversations without being reduced to a single promise or universal remedy.
Reaching Beyond The Treatment Room
The history of Pacific College also includes the growth of public education. Articles, interviews, videos, lectures, and event features have helped explain acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition, movement, and holistic health to readers who may be encountering these subjects for the first time.
Communication matters because Oriental medicine is frequently presented through simplified language. Terms such as qi or meridian can be misunderstood when removed from their clinical context, while herbal remedies can appear risk-free when their potency, interactions, and quality are ignored. Educational publishing creates room for greater accuracy, nuance, and informed decision-making.
The college’s blog and related media have broadened that conversation by connecting professional knowledge with everyday concerns. Cooking, travel, seasonal routines, self-care, faculty profiles, alumni experiences, and historical features show that a medical tradition is also shaped by culture and daily life. These stories make the field more approachable while preserving its depth.
Community engagement has taken other forms as well. Symposiums, workshops, and continuing education courses give practitioners opportunities to revisit fundamentals and explore emerging areas of care. They also create professional relationships that extend beyond graduation, strengthening the sense that learning is a shared and continuing process.
Milestones Across Three Decades
The college’s development can be understood through several overlapping stages. Its founding established a formal home for Oriental medicine education. Program growth created pathways for advanced study and professional practice. Clinical expansion connected training with service, while public programming brought the college’s expertise to a wider audience.
The 30-year milestone celebrated continuity as much as expansion. Institutions change as healthcare changes, yet their identity is shaped by the principles they carry forward. Pacific College has continued to emphasize rigorous preparation, respect for traditional knowledge, clinical responsibility, and a commitment to the people who seek care.
| Period | Focus in the college’s development | Broader significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | Founding and early instruction in Oriental medicine | Acupuncture education gains a stronger institutional foothold in the United States |
| 1990s | Program development and clinical training | Students receive more structured preparation for professional practice |
| 2000s | Wider academic and community engagement | Integrative health becomes more visible to patients and healthcare professionals |
| 2010s | Thirty-year reflection, media, events, and continuing education | The college connects its history with the future of evidence-informed traditional medicine |
| Today | Ongoing education, clinical service, and public conversation | Graduates and educators continue adapting Oriental medicine to contemporary needs |
These stages should not be read as isolated chapters. A school’s history is built through thousands of ordinary actions: a supervisor reviewing a treatment plan, a student practicing a technique, a faculty member revising a lecture, or a patient returning because attentive care made a difference. Institutional milestones matter because they gather those efforts into a shared story.
A Living Network Of Students And Practitioners
One of Pacific College’s lasting contributions is the network created by its students, alumni, faculty, patients, and supporters. Graduates carry their training into many settings, from independent acupuncture offices to multidisciplinary clinics and community health programs. Their work continues the college’s influence long after they leave campus.
Alumni also represent the adaptability of the profession. Some focus on pain care or sports medicine; others develop practices centered on women’s health, mental well-being, family care, oncology support, or herbal medicine. Their paths demonstrate that a common foundation can lead to many forms of service.
The college’s educational community has expanded through digital publishing as well. The Pacific College community offers a place where readers can encounter institutional history, practical wellness information, faculty perspectives, and stories from the wider field. This kind of publication helps preserve institutional memory while making current work available beyond the classroom.
The 30-year celebration remains meaningful because it invites reflection without turning history into a museum piece. Pacific College’s story is still being written through new research, changing regulations, evolving patient expectations, and the daily practice of care. Its next chapter will depend on how well it honors its roots while meeting present realities.
Ways To Carry The Tradition Forward
- Study the foundations of Chinese medicine alongside anatomy, physiology, safety, and current clinical evidence.
- Approach acupuncture and herbal medicine as individualized practices that require qualified professional guidance.
- Support teaching clinics and community programs that make integrative care more accessible.
- Continue learning through lectures, workshops, publications, and conversations with experienced practitioners.
- Preserve cultural context when explaining traditional medical concepts to new audiences.
Continuing The Work Of Healing And Education
Thirty years gave Pacific College of Oriental Medicine a substantial history, but the deeper achievement lies in the relationships formed across that time. Teachers introduced students to a demanding and flexible medical tradition. Students brought fresh questions into the classroom and carried clinical skills into communities. Patients helped shape the education by reminding every practitioner that theory must ultimately serve real human needs.
The work continues through education, responsible practice, and open conversation. Explore the college’s stories and resources, learn more about acupuncture and herbal medicine, and take part in the ongoing exchange between traditional knowledge and modern integrative healthcare.