Guest guest Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Trish, I recently graduated from Dongguk Royal University - an LA school that is a block away from South Baylo in downtown LA... From the perspective of a recent student who visited Yo San and Emperor's before choosing DRU, heard all the rumors about the LA schools from the inside, and studied with students from other schools for the stateboard... I thought I'd share with you my own personal final conclusion - TCM school is almost entirely about what you put in it. Period. There are good teachers, there are awful teachers, and quite a bit of overlap amongst teachers at all the schools. If you're interested in reputation, I second that Emperor's, Yo San and PCOM have the best reputation in the SoCal area... But I challenge that I got a better education than many people at those schools because of the gusto I put into my own education and how involved I got with my own professors. DRU managed to give itself a bad rap during the time I was there and continues to struggle with its English program pass rate, much like South Baylo - But, I passed the CA board first time with flying colors. School reputation won't get you a job and no school can guarantee you a passing grade on the exam. You must find a school that is both convenient to you and speaks to you. Walk into the various possibilities (like you did with South Baylo), and listen to your gut. All the schools have something to recommend them. Good luck! As far as herbs, I second the idea that if it's simply herbs you're looking for, perhaps a program specifically focused in herbs might be the ticket. A good proportion of your time in TCM school is spent in acupuncture.. a waste if you don't have a passion for it. The CA schools must prepapre you for the California Board exam and have the required number of hours study in each subject as required by the board. Each school is governed by these rules so you will get at least the minimum number of mandated hours at any school in the california area. (And these hours keep going up.) Herbs and formulas were a very heavy focus during my education hours-wise. I spent at least half of my class time in classes related to herbs (4 Herbology, 4 Formula, Formula Writing, 4 OM Internal Medicine classes, Case in Herbs, Gynecology, Pediatrics, etc.) However, last I checked you do not need a license to practice herbology, and since you are already a nurse, the full TCM training may or may not be the right fit. I agree that there are too many uncertainties in this profession to take the risks if you don't have the passion for the medicine. Best wishes, Nadia Haddad > >Message: 1 > Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:23:40 -0800 > pippa258 <pippa258 >South Baylo University was Acupuncture schooling > >Thank you Mike and Ming for your responses re: South Baylo. > >I did recently attend an Open House there. It was very informative and >included a student Q & A session as well as a tour. Of course, they would >only present their school in the most positive light :-) so I was >interested in learning if past students were satisfied with the >education they received there. For instance, at the open house, our >packet contained a list of pass rates on the licensing exam (the same >list that is available on the CA acupuncture board website) but omitted >the last column which overall pass rates. They only included the 1st >time takers pass rate (80% vs. 49%). > >Thanks, >Trish > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Trish, This is an excellent email that brings up many important points to consider. I previously shared pass rates for the various CA schools as it tends to show patterns of their graduates but is not the definitive as to how an individual does on the exam. Some schools seem to better prep their grads for the exam (and practice ?) and the numbers show it. You can certainly do it alone but I think that it is a good thing to think about benefitting from others who have done well. This is kind of like learning from someone who is successful in a field vs one who is not. The real questions here is do you feel like being the pioneer? Your education is important and the more that an institution has its stuff together and helps to prep you for the exam and practice, the better. There are a lot of schools that teach to the lowest common denomenator and it tends to show up, either at the license exams or in practice. I would like to say that the school you attend can determine employment ops as not all schools are created equally and the better ones are now offerring internships in medical clinics. This looks good on a resume as well as can get your foot in the door if you want to practice in a hospital. As for herbs, a strong understanding of theory is needed for eastern herbal training and this is a part of the total curricula that CA OM schools offer. If you want more western/nutrient training then I would suggest naturopathic or integrative programs. Hope this helps. Mike W. Bowser, L Ac > " East Dakota " <eastdakota >Chinese Medicine >Chinese Medicine > South Baylo >Mon, 05 Dec 2005 18:33:43 -0800 > >Trish, > >I recently graduated from Dongguk Royal University - an LA school that is a >block away from South Baylo in downtown LA... From the perspective of a >recent student who visited Yo San and Emperor's before choosing DRU, heard >all the rumors about the LA schools from the inside, and studied with >students from other schools for the stateboard... I thought I'd share with >you my own personal final conclusion - > >TCM school is almost entirely about what you put in it. Period. There are >good teachers, there are awful teachers, and quite a bit of overlap amongst >teachers at all the schools. > >If you're interested in reputation, I second that Emperor's, Yo San and >PCOM >have the best reputation in the SoCal area... But I challenge that I got a >better education than many people at those schools because of the gusto I >put into my own education and how involved I got with my own professors. >DRU >managed to give itself a bad rap during the time I was there and continues >to struggle with its English program pass rate, much like South Baylo - >But, >I passed the CA board first time with flying colors. > >School reputation won't get you a job and no school can guarantee you a >passing grade on the exam. You must find a school that is both convenient >to >you and speaks to you. Walk into the various possibilities (like you did >with South Baylo), and listen to your gut. > >All the schools have something to recommend them. Good luck! > >As far as herbs, I second the idea that if it's simply herbs you're looking >for, perhaps a program specifically focused in herbs might be the ticket. A >good proportion of your time in TCM school is spent in acupuncture.. a >waste >if you don't have a passion for it. The CA schools must prepapre you for >the >California Board exam and have the required number of hours study in each >subject as required by the board. Each school is governed by these rules so >you will get at least the minimum number of mandated hours at any school in >the california area. (And these hours keep going up.) > >Herbs and formulas were a very heavy focus during my education hours-wise. >I >spent at least half of my class time in classes related to herbs (4 >Herbology, 4 Formula, Formula Writing, 4 OM Internal Medicine classes, Case >in Herbs, Gynecology, Pediatrics, etc.) > >However, last I checked you do not need a license to practice herbology, >and >since you are already a nurse, the full TCM training may or may not be the >right fit. > >I agree that there are too many uncertainties in this profession to take >the >risks if you don't have the passion for the medicine. > >Best wishes, >Nadia Haddad > > > > > > > >Message: 1 > > Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:23:40 -0800 > > pippa258 <pippa258 > >South Baylo University was Acupuncture schooling > > > >Thank you Mike and Ming for your responses re: South Baylo. > > > >I did recently attend an Open House there. It was very informative and > >included a student Q & A session as well as a tour. Of course, they would > >only present their school in the most positive light :-) so I was > >interested in learning if past students were satisfied with the > >education they received there. For instance, at the open house, our > >packet contained a list of pass rates on the licensing exam (the same > >list that is available on the CA acupuncture board website) but omitted > >the last column which overall pass rates. They only included the 1st > >time takers pass rate (80% vs. 49%). > > > >Thanks, > >Trish > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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