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Apprentice-Style Learning in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
nuhs clinicians white coats outside whole health center lombard

Apprentice-Style Learning in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

For centuries, students of acupuncture and oriental medicine have learned through close apprenticeships with masters of these healing arts. Hours of close observation, discussion and hands-on guidance allow seasoned doctors to pass on their lifetime of knowledge and skills to the next generation.

National University recreates apprentice-style learning in both its master of science in acupuncture and master of science in oriental medicine programs.

Learn from the Masters
Our teaching clinicians have an average of over 20 years of experience each. They are international leaders in their field who have made the next generation of students their priority.

Our master clinicians pride themselves on individual areas of expertise such as women’s health, cancer, allergies and immune disorders, pain management, musculoskeletal conditions or neurological disorders. Each trimester, students can pick which clinician they’d like to work under in order to absorb this specialized knowledge.

Clinical Excellence
Our students start observing in clinic in their second trimester. By the fourth trimester, they start treating patients under watchful guidance and supervision. Our master clinicians personally walk them through each patient case, going through diagnosis and treatment options. This way, students hone their skills while learning reasoning strategies directly from a seasoned professional.

Our clinic training hours for each program outpace most other similar programs in the nation: Our MSOM program gives you 1200 hours of clinical training, while the MSAc program provides 840. After 180 hours of observation, you’ll spend the rest of those hours treating patients as an apprentice under your clinician, who will guide you every step of the way. Your mentoring continues when you are treating pain patients at Stroger Hospital or treating veterans with PTSD in our veterans clinic. This means when you graduate, you’ll be able to treat your own patients with experience and confidence.

Accessible Faculty
Many acupuncture schools rely primarily on part-time instructors, while National University boasts six full time professors in addition to a wealth of part-time faculty. This means students have more access to our faculty both in and outside of the classroom during established office hours.

Our classes and clinic shifts have a remarkably low student to faculty ratio of 6:1. Your instructors will know you by name, and be able to provide the personal attention you need on challenging topics or patient cases. It also means classroom time is collaborative, focused on discussion with questions and answers rather than simply lectures.

At every turn, National University pairs its students with masters of the art in apprentice-style learning for acupuncture and oriental medicine excellence.