Imagine you're a recent acupuncture graduate, worried about making enough income as you forge your new career and seek more in-depth training in a particular treatment style. You'd love to find a place where you can jump into an established patient population, where you're fully booked treating clients with varied conditions.
Finally, imagine you're an administrator at an AOM school hoping to provide your recent graduates one more year of experience that mixes academic and professional interactions before launching them into their own practices of choice. If you are wondering how to set up your own program to host such experiences ... the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) AOM residency program in Portland, Oregon may be your answer.
AOM Residencies
The NUNM AOM residency program addresses the needs of recent graduates, private acupuncture practices and academic clinical settings, via a one-year, post-graduate training. Residency has long been a standard for post-graduate medical training in allopathic and osteopathic medicine, and an option in chiropractic, and naturopathic medicine. It is a natural extension of the lineage-based learning and clinical education available in AOM master's and doctoral programs.
| NUNM Residencies: A Snapshot |
PRIVATE CLINIC RESIDENCY
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In 2014, the NUNM AOM residency program was developed with positions at two sites, a private Portland clinic and the campus NUNM Health Center. The NUNM residency took shape through the efforts of Susan Hunter, MBA, NUNM's vice-president of Advancement, in collaboration with Dr. Michael Cheung, PhD, MSc, BSc (pharm), Dr. TCM; and Berte Marr, Dr. TCM, from BEMA Botanicals. Together, they were inspired by a common vision and belief, to establish a model residency program for the profession of Chinese medicine within the U.S.
Program Sponsor
BEMA Botanicals is sponsoring the program with the goal of bringing awareness, availability and use of ancient lineage-based teaching methods, proven through centuries, which can greatly benefit and heal diseases in our modern society. Dr. Cheung and Marr. Brandt Stickley, MSTCM, LAc, NUNM assistant professor and a program clinical supervisor agree that, "The program provides a bridge between student learning and professional excellence."
The application process assures that the host private practices meet the minimum professional standards and financial qualifications, while also ensuring that the new grads bring the requisite clinical skills, academic excellence, and professionalism to meet the demands of the program. After NUNM's vetting and interview process, the private clinics and school extend offers to candidates for a private clinic residency or a campus residency, respectively.
All details of resident recruitment (i.e., advertising for the position, pre-screening of applicants) is guaranteed by NUNM. Private clinic residency sites also benefit from increased clinic cash flow and the goodwill they garner from mentoring a new practitioner in critical medical and business knowledge — skills that these experienced clinicians have developed over the course of their careers. The costs to the clinic are minimal: a $28,000 resident salary, plus health insurance benefts, which is defrayed by the income from the resident's practice.
The Next Step for the Profession
The NUNM program is the logical next step for clinical education training for those seeking to practice Chinese medicine in the U.S., according to NUNM Professor Bob Quinn, DAOM, LAc,. "The resident is closer to the students' lived experience, having themselves just recently graduated, so they're able to relate to the interns in a way that the supervisor cannot," he explained. Quinn's NUNM colleague, Assistant Professor Joon Hee Lee, MSOM, DAOM, LAc, agrees that a clinical residency represents a "Valuable opportunity for recent graduates to become leaders of our profession." They yearn for broad exposure to a variety of treatment styles. They seek clinical experience where they can work alongside highly respected practitioners, who are willing to mentor them. They're also at a point in their training where they enjoy sharing their knowledge with new AOM interns.
Resident Feedback
In fall 2015, the first two NUNM AOM residents provided program assessment criteria and valuable feedback that supported these ideas. Both residents expressed gratitude for additional clinical education and skills training, and reported their readiness to step fully into private practice by the end of the residency period.
Since her residency, Sarah Clark, MAc, LAc, continues private practice at Kwan-Yin Healing Arts Center in Portland, Oregon,with a full load of patients generated from her year there. Clark says that she refined her clinical skills to an extent "that would otherwise have taken years of study to reach." Another NUNM resident, Turtle Farahat, MSOM, LAc, now has a private practice at Seven Circles Natural Medicine in Portland, volunteers at a local non-profit clinic, and teaches a NUNM core curriculum class, which she started during her residency.
NUNM's vision is to continue to expand residency offerings so more graduates can gain a solid clinical footing as they transition from academic learning to clinical practice. This fall, NUNM increased its residency opportunities, as three private practice residents were accepted into Portland clinics and a new resident joined the campus NUNM Health Center. In addition, one private practice resident began residency in Seattle in January 2017.
These successful resident assessments are just the beginning. NUNM is committed to sharing this model with other schools interested in establishing a residency program. We hope that NUNM's AOM residency program attains the widespread professional acceptance and recognition achieved by the university's naturopathic medicine residency program, which is certified by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (recognized by the Department of Education).
National and professional recognitionwould allow for consistent quality standards for residency sites, ensuring comparable experiences for residents at various sites. It could also streamline the application process across national residency programs, making it easier for recent graduates from any accredited college or university to obtain a residency position.
NUNM welcomes recent/upcoming graduates of all ACAOM-accredited schools to apply to the program. Residency positions are full-time salaried positions and include health insurance, a rare opportunity for recent graduates. We also welcome clinics and AOM schools to join us in developing a national model. The time for the expansion of our profession has never been better and the students are ready and willing to get started. For more information about the program please visit nunm.edu/ccm-residency.
Lauri Elizabeth recently completed her residency at the campus NUNM Health Center. She graduated with highest honors from NUNM in 2015 with a Master of Acupuncture degree. Prior to her medical training, Elizabeth taught the Alexander Technique privately and at Portland's Marylhurst University for over a decade. Since completing her residency, Elizabeth and her mentor, Dr. Bob Quinn, have opened a new clinic in Portland, Oregon, and she now also works at NUNM as its AOM residency director.
David Berkshire assistant professor in the College of Classical Chinese Medicine at NUNM, has been teaching for more than 10 years. He is the founder and co-owner of two large integrative medical clinics in Portland, Oregon: Kwan-Yin Healing Arts Center and Kwan-Yin Healing Arts Center East, with many naturopathic and Chinese medical residencies. Berkshire is also the current president of the non-profit organization Worsley Institute. Berkshire received his master's from Oregon College of Oriental Medicine; completed an informal apprenticeship in 5 Element acupuncture with David Ford, LAc, and an in-depth training in Drainage Homeopathy with Dr. Gerard Geuniot, and ongoing study with Judy Worsley.