Oregon College or Oriental Medicine

OCOM's Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine program is a clinically focused postgraduate degree program leading to a clinical doctorate degree. The DAOM degree represents the highest formal educational credential currently available in the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM) in the United States.

The students who graduate from our program are naturally positioned as future leaders in the field, whether as specialized practitioners skilled in the treatment of chronic and complex conditions, clinical researchers, or teachers of future generations of practitioners.

OCOM’s doctoral program is designed to accommodate practitioners to complete the degree while maintaining their practice — advancing their knowledge and skills in the clinical domain, as well as in biomedicine, research literacy and teaching skills. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to cultivate habits of lifelong learning and scholarship, and self-directed inquiry is strongly and continuously emphasized.

To complete the program successfully, graduates must be able to demonstrate academic competencies, professional skill sets and related clinical expertise well beyond the levels required at the master’s level. Specialization in women’s health and aging adults, increased interaction with Western biomedical practitioners, a strong emphasis on clinical judgment skills, and the use of research findings to inform clinical decision making are key areas that distinguish the doctoral degree program from OCOM’s master’s degree program.

Patient care is at the heart of OCOM's educational program. We are able to offer affordable acupuncture, herbal consultation and massage ​for the public thanks to our teaching clinics. Master's students work under the direct supervision of more experienced practitioners as they complete their required 700 hours of clinical education. All of our clinical supervisors have been working for at least five years; many more than 20 years. Students have an opportunity to learn from supervisors while working directly with patients.

OCOM's Weekend Specialty Clinics are staffed by our doctoral students, licensed practitioners who turn to OCOM to receive advanced training. Supervisors for our doctoral clinics are among the most respected practitioners in the field of Chinese medicine.

Treatment options include acupuncture, Chinese herbs, massage and a number of other modalities of Chinese medicine.

The college operates two treatment clinics: OCOM Clinic, on the 4th floor of our campus building in Portland's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, and OCOM Hollywood Clinic in northeast Portland's historic Hollywood District.

The OCOM Herbal Medicinary is one of the largest traditional Chinese herbal medicinaries in the Pacific Northwest. With over 350 bulk and granule herbs in stock, we serve herbalists and their patients at OCOM’s clinics, in the greater Portland area, and across the country. We also carry an extensive line of herbal tablets, teapills, tinctures, and other health products. The Herbal Medicinary is located next to the Bookstore on the first floor of OCOM's campus in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown neighborhood.

Services

OCOM Herbal Medicinary is a full-service, traditional Chinese apothecary that serves the local natural health community as well as the greater United States. The Herbal Medicinary compounds custom herbal prescriptions in both bulk and granule form for licensed practitioners and their patients. In addition to carrying over 350 bulk and granulated single Chinese medicinals, the OCOM medicinary stocks a wide variety of patent teapills, capsules, tablets, liniments, plasters, oils, salves, and rinses — all supporting the practice of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and patients across the country.

Locations/Hours

The Herbal Medicinary is located next to the Bookstore on the first floor of the OCOM campus in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. Herb purchases and prescription pick-ups can be handled at either at the Herbal Medicinary or the OCOM Hollywood Clinic.

Schedule an Herbal Consultation

Consultations are essential for determining which formula is best for you and your individual condition.

In China, there is the famous saying that "Ten patients with the same condition might receive ten different herbal formulas, yet ten patients with ten different conditions might all receive the same formula.” Chinese medicine treatments depend on a sophisticated, time-tested system of diagnosis that allows the practitioner to customize every herbal formula to meet the needs of each individual patient.

As a result, when you come into the clinic with a cough, the herbalist’s task is not simply to prescribe the cough formula but, rather, to decide which cough formula best fits your body and symptom picture. This is why it’s impossible for a pharmacist or customer service representative to assess your condition and prescribe a proper formula without first conducting a thorough medical intake and individual assessment. All custom formula orders must therefore be authorized by a licensed acupuncturist or qualified herbalist.

OCOM’s Clinics and the OCOM Herbal Medicinary

The role of the OCOM Herbal Medicinary is to support practicing herbalists working within OCOM's clinics, as well as those in private practice locally and throughout the United States.

Internally, the medicinary supports both our licensed and student clinicians by preparing custom formulas in-house and offering a wide selection of prepared products for over-the-counter sale.

Our unique web-based custom formula ordering platform allows a practitioner to log into their account, place an order for a custom formula or products, and tailor pickup or shipping options for patients across the country. Fax, phone, and walk-in orders are also accepted. A courier service between OCOM’s campus and Hollywood locations is available as a courtesy to clients at either location.

All custom formulas and individual Chinese herbs must be authorized by a licensed healthcare professional; patent remedies and other prepackaged products are available without a prescription.

About Research at OCOM

Since its founding in 1999 (by Dr. Richard Hammerschlag), the Research Department's partners have included such leading health education and research institutions as the Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Arizona, Legacy Health System, Portland State University and Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, and the University of Western States. These collaborative projects have been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and from private foundations.

From 2005 until 2013, the department implemented an NIH/NCCAM grant — Acupuncture Practitioner Research Education Enhancement (APREE) — to enhance research literacy and research appreciation in academic and clinical training. The continuing research education initiatives are now focused on analysis of intake and outcomes data collected at OCOM's clinics, and opportunities for student participation in research.

The Ongoing Role of Research

Research appreciation and literacy are infused into both the master's and doctoral curricula. A series of three courses for master's students provides the foundation for understanding the role of research in the field and prepares them to participate in such research. In the first year, a course entitled "Oriental Medicine Research I" introduces students to key concepts of research literacy and research opportunities at OCOM. The Year Two course, "OMR II," grounds students in the challenges and current status of clinical research in acupuncture and other modalities of Chinese medicine. In the third year's "Research Practicum" course, students are mentored by faculty to participate in ongoing research projects.

Doctoral research coursework provides students with a deeper understanding of issues in research design and evaluation. Critical thinking skills are developed, along with an appreciation of evidence-based criteria and outcomes in health care research and clinical practice. In the doctoral program's Capstone Project, students demonstrate their abilities to synthesize the theoretical and practical/clinical aspects of doctoral education, critically evaluate research and potentially contribute to the research base of Chinese medicine, and enhance competencies of professional communication.

Staff

The staff of the Research Department assists faculty and students interested in conducting research in OCOM's clinics and elsewhere. Such help includes the formulation of the research question, obtaining of relevant literature, design and methods of the proposed project.

Research at OCOM is facilitated by the College Research Committee (CRC) and the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The CRC functions to coordinate and prioritize emerging interests for data collection from OCOM's clinics and the college's collaborative research projects. The IRB reviews all research projects involving human subjects to ensure patient safety and confidentiality.

The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine Library is the natural remedy for information stagnation. Students, faculty, and alumni will find an inquisitive and supportive community of researchers, along with a collection of print and digital resources primed to help them master their academic studies, encourage inquiry, and continue on as research-literate practitioners.

Mission

The OCOM Library supports the learning, teaching, research, and information needs of the OCOM community. In addition, the library serves as an information resource on acupuncture and Oriental medicine to health professionals and to the general public. The library strives to develop, maintain, and provide relevant information resources and services. All library staff work together as a team in fulfilling this mission.

About the Collection

OCOM is proud to have one of the most comprehensive acupuncture libraries in the United States. The college also subscribes to many of the major acupuncture and alternative medicine journals. Visit our collection in person, or access the collection online by using Primo, our search discovery tool. OCOM is a member of the Portland Area Health Libraries (PAHL) consortium, an inter-disciplinary partnership between the libraries at OCOM, National University of Naturopathic Medicine, University of Western States, and Oregon Health and Science University. Using Primo, users can search the collections at all four libraries, and request materials be delivered to OCOM. Additionally, our Interlibrary Loan service provides users with access to any journals or books not normally available from the library's print or online collections.