Dynamic Opportunities for Acupuncture Students: Stanford Medical School reaches out to Five Branches University for co-residency program in South Bay area

By Abram Ojure

As a student and future Acupuncturist, I am continually excited to hear of programs, research or publicity that help bring Acupuncture and TCM into the mainstream and help bridge the gap between Allopathic and complementary Medicine. I was particularly excited to hear of the developing east-west co-residency program between Five Branches University (FBU) and Stanford Medical School, not only because I was already enrolled at Five Branches University, but because I believe that this partnership is indicative of the growing trend toward acceptance and recognition of the efficacy and necessity of TCM among more progressive M.D.s and medical schools nationally.

This new development at Five Branches University is the culmination of a series of conversations between Ron Zaidman, MBA, MTCM, President and CEO of FBU, Joanna Zhao, Academic Dean and Clinic Director at FBU, and Samuel LeBaron, M.D., Ph.D, Professor of Family Medicine and Director for the Center of Education in Family and Community Medicine at Stanford. The FBU-Stanford relationship gives Oriental Medicine Doctoral and Stanford M.D. students a unique opportunity to practice clinically in both eastern and western settings. In addition, the program will offer a higher level of exposure to Master’s level students who will benefit from clinical observation at Stanford University, specifically focusing on interdisciplinary communication.

“Practitioners with different training bring diverse perspectives to medicine that enrich the overall treatment and care for individuals, not only for response to specific acute illness but also for prevention. In the same way that western medicine benefits from variety of specialties working together, when we broaden that point of view not only in to include allopathic but holistic modalities, ultimately the patient benefits,” says Samuel Lebaron, M.D., Ph.D, Professor of Family Medicine and Director for the Center of Education in Family and Community Medicine at Stanford.

The program has been finalized but the two schools are still in the process of taking the plan for co-residency at the Doctoral level to fruition. Incorporation on the Master’s level, however, already manifests itself at FBU's San Jose medical center as MTCM students are joined by M.D. students from Stanford on a regular, ongoing basis.

Beginning this spring, FBU will expand its medical center, located on Santana Row in downtown San Jose, to accommodate a larger influx of MD students. During this time period, FBU also hopes to open the door for Doctorate and Ph.D. level students to begin clinical study at Stanford University's O'Conner Hospital.

"There is a mutual interest from both medical communities to learn from each other because more and more patients see the value of using both eastern and western medicine. It is the use of a cross-disciplinary approach that will ultimately benefit the patient most both in terms of quality and cost of health care," says Ron Zaidman, president and CEO Five Branches University.

The Institute of Medicine's 2003 "Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality" follow-up report to their 2002 interdisciplinary health summit suggests that medical educators incorporate a "core set of competencies -- patient centered care, interdisciplinary teams, evidence-based practice, quality improvement and informatic -- into health professions education." I hope that the future success of the Stanford-Five Branches partnership indicates a growing trend of collaboration between eastern and western medicine modalities that incorporate the above stated principles.