Integration Progress: John Chen Invited to Teach at UCSF Medical School

Integrative medicine is taking place through many avenues, and sometimes it is possible to recognize moments where AOM makes a major stride. John Chen, PhD, PharmD, OMD, LAc (co-author with Tina Chen of “Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology”) has been invited to teach at UCSF’s medical school.

According to John, “Many medical / pharmacy schools around the U.S. have slowly begun to accept complimentary and alternative medicine as a whole, and to some extent, traditional Chinese medicine. I have taught quite a few classes on Chinese herbs to schools such as USC (University of Southern California), UCI (University of California Irvine), and Western University of Health Sciences. It is certainly very exciting to know one of the best medical and pharmacy schools in the nation is opening its doors.”

The newly formed elective "Integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into Clinical Practice" begins in fall, 2009, at UCSF. It represents an interdisciplinary course that is open to medical, pharmacy, nursing, and physical therapy students.

Shirley Wong, a UCSF doctor of pharmacy candidate, believes “that it is crucial that future health professionals learn about different modalities of healing, especially TCM (i.e., coining, black teas, acupuncture), potential drug-drug interactions between TCM and Western medicine, TCM treatments for Western illnesses (i.e., diabetes, neuropathic pain), the risks and benefits of TCM.”