Save the Date

April 28, 2011
Robert Graham Visionary Award Gala
Honoring Emmy and Golden Globe Winner

Sela Ward

2011 Marks the Year of the Rabbit

by James Tuggle

On February 2, 2011, we officially enter the year of Rabbit. The intense Tiger year is over, and the Chinese almanac, which is based on the ten Heavenly Stems and the twelve Earthly Branches, tells us that change is afoot. You might wonder what this “Rabbit” energy is. Well, according to our friend and mentor Ni, Hua Ching, the Rabbit symbolizes yin or receptive “wood” energy. Hua-Ching Ni tells us that this beautiful Rabbit gives us the image of “luxuriant vegetation dancing in the sunshine.”

Whereas the Tiger took us on a wild intense ride, forcing us to make necessary changes to our lives, the Rabbit takes a more gentle happy approach to the changes inherent in the coming year. When you see a rabbit in the wild, what comes to mind? Their fertility. Their alertness. Their nose, ears and tail in constant motion. These are all images we know and love. But how does this apply to our life situation?

Rabbit energy is certainly the energy of fertility and opportunity – opportunity that could yield results in the very same year or in the upcoming year of the Dragon. You can take this figuratively or metaphorically. Whereas the Tiger forced us to let go and end our attachments, Rabbit energy allows us to conceive new projects, ideas and relationships. Personal relationships should prosper and love of yourself and your partner should grow with the seasons.

This is also a good year to develop our alertness or awareness on a deeper level as we gaze around us and see our relationship with our environment. Keeping active and alert will serve you well.

Get in touch with your spiritual nature, nurture your liver and feel the subtle influence of your life force creating your dreams, your aspirations and your intentions. And use the rabbit as your guide to diet -- eat lots of green leafy vegetables, especially spinach, get your exercise on a daily basis, and drink lots of clean pure water to strengthen your kidneys. Doing all or some of this is bound to create a happy and prosperous year of the Rabbit.

Life After Graduation: Tales of Alumni Successes & Achievements

by Lawrence Lau, L.Ac.

“What opportunities will be out there for me after I graduate?” This is a question most students ask at one point or another during the course of their studies. With the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) / acupuncture profession growing in public acceptance as well as professional recognition, opportunities exist for licensed TCM practitioners in many areas outside the conventional clinical practice setting. At Yo San University, we are very proud of how many of our alumni have successfully carved a niche for themselves in the rapidly advancing TCM profession. We are sharing some of their success stories with all students and practitioners in TCM with the hope that they may be a source of inspiration for your own career development and success.

In this inaugural article, we feature excerpts from a recent interview with two YSU alumni, Nini Mai, L.Ac. (Class of 2009) and Jonah Ewell, L.Ac. (Class of 2009). Together, Nini and Jonah established a successful TCM herbal dispensary company, Fat Turtle Herbs, based in Culver City, California.

“In the course of our studies at Yo San, we came to realize the need for a full service TCM herbal pharmacy that not only offers custom fulfillment of herbal formulas, but also provides educational support to both the acupuncture profession and the public in general” said Nini. “We were inspired by the awesome herb instructors we had at Yo San, and the supportive environment at school really made a difference; we felt encouraged and were optimistic we would make it,” added Jonah. Over the last two years, their company has grown from a part-time student-intern venture into a full-fledged successful business with four employees and orders coming in from Hawaii to Florida. In addition to the herbal company, Nini also maintains a thriving private acupuncture practice in the west Los Angeles area.

To fulfill their mission of educational support to the profession, Fat Turtle Herbs made a donation to the Yo San University Alumni Scholarship fund in 2009, “as a token of appreciation for the education we received at Yo San, as well as to encourage other Yo San students to strive for success after graduation.”

What advice do Nini and Jonah have for other students or junior practitioners on how to be successful? “The key is to be confident at what you do and don’t stop learning” Jonah offered. “Develop an ‘entrepreneurial hustle’ – you’ve got to get out there, identify opportunities and put in time and energy to make things happen”. “Good basic business acumen definitely helps,” added Nini, flashing a wide grin.

To learn more about their herbal company, visit them online at:
www.fatturtleherbs.com

The Don Primack Scholarship

The entire Yo San University Community was saddened by the passing of Yo San University Board of Trustees member, Don Primack, D.D.S. Dr. Primack’s service as a member of University’s Board of Trustees was characterized by wisdom, responsiveness and care at every point. Don volunteered his expertise to the Yo San Board having had several decades of service in both healthcare delivery and in graduate education. Don was especially instrumental in the planning and initiation of our new doctoral program. He participated in many face to face and teleconference meetings with our Board as well as with our academic leadership team to assure that the new Yo San University doctoral program launched on January 3, 2010 program would be of the highest academic quality. Even after the launch of the program Don participated actively on the Doctoral Program’s Academic Committee. He offered advice and counsel in his ever gentle and supportive manner. Without his efforts we would not have the successful doctoral program that has quickly achieved a positive image in the professional Community.

In Don’s memory Yo San University Board of Trustees established the Don Primack Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor the excellent work that Don mentored to make the doctoral program at Yo San University a reality. The scholarship has been designated to benefit a deserving student in the Yo San University Doctoral program.

The scholarship was awarded to DAOM candidate, Sharareh Daghighi. Sharareh earned a Bachelor’s degree with a major in Biology/Life Sciences from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and completed the Master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at Emperor’s College in Santa Monica, CA. Sharareh is a licensed acupuncturist with an active practice in Encino, CA. She has focused her practice with specialty in gynecology and fertility cases. In her practice Sharareh makes a point to collaborate closely with Western physicians to achieve the best results for her patients. For her doctoral research project Sharareh is already deeply involved in the exploration of literature and case studies that will provide more information regarding the impact of combined acupuncture and herbal treatments on FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels in women who are seeking to become pregnant.

Congratulations, Sharareh, and we look forward to hearing about the results of your research project.

The S. Mark Taper Foundation Awards Grant Yo San University

In mid December 2010 the S. Mark Taper Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to Yo San University to provide partial support for the work that Yo San does at its Being Alive externship site in West Hollywood. Founded in 1989 the S. Mark Taper Foundation is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people’s lives by supporting non-profit organizations and their work in our communities.

Being Alive is an agency that serves the healthcare needs of men and women who are HIV Positive. The Yo San University Community Clinic has provided acupuncture and TCM services at the Being Alive site for more eleven years. This unique program has proven its success through hundreds of patients treated through the program. Because of the strength of the medicines typically taken by HIV positive patients, there are invariably secondary symptoms that appear. Those symptoms typically include one or more of the following: neuropathy, sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal disturbances, loss of appetite, fatigue, anxiety/stress and unspecified pain. Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in providing relief from these symptoms. All services rendered at Being Alive are free of charge to patients, and Yo San University receives no remuneration from Being Alive. Each week approximately 20 treatments are rendered at the site.

Yo San University is grateful to the S. Mark Taper Foundation as well as to Carolyn Leigh, L.Ac, YSU Clinical Supervising Faculty member at the site, and the staff of Being Alive for their excellent work that made this grant possible.

Four YSU Doctoral Students Awarded Alliance of Health Care Professionals Scholarships

On December 15, 2010 the Scholarship Committee of the YSU Doctoral Program awarded four of our doctoral students Alliance of Health Care Professionals Scholarships.

This scholarship was funded by a $5000 gift by “Professional Insurance Services” through Dessa Schroeder and Howard Wong. “Cal Pro” as the company is known, is a provider of malpractice insurance for health care professionals. The scholarship’s goal is to support the efforts of doctoral level students who have made a special commitment to engage advanced studies that will bring them to the highest level of the profession.

The following four students of the DAOM program in Reproductive Medicine earned the competitive award:

• Paula Kunkel, L.Ac., FABORM, MT(ASCP). Paula received her Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine degree in June of 2000. She maintains a full time acupuncture/herbal practice, Tree of Life Oriental Medicine, Inc., in Fairbanks, Alaska, and is currently an instructor at the Oriental Healing Arts Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

• Cynthia Splies (Cindy), L.Ac. is a California licensed acupuncturist, a Registered Professional Herbalist and a diplomat of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine (NCCAOM). A native California, Cindy specializes in treating fertility patients and lives in Ventura with her husband and 4 children.

• Janice Chen, L.Ac. an MIT graduate, specializes in women's health and the treatment of infertility, and is board certified in Oriental Reproductive Medicine. Janice works with reproductive endocrinologists to ensure that women receive the best integrated care available on their journeys to parenthood. She currently practices in Santa Monica, California.

• Florence Lim, L.Ac, Dipl. O.M. obtained her medical degree specializing in traditional Chinese medicine at the prestigious Shanghai University of TCM. In her practice, she emphasizes using an integrative approach that includes diagnostic methods of both western and eastern medicine, acupuncture and herbal treatment, as well as lifestyle, diet, and nutritional counseling.

Congratulations to all four recipients!

Yo San Heads East: China Externship 2011

A team from Yo San University will be traveling to Sichuan, China in April for a 2-week clinical externship program at the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CUTCM) (成都中医药大学).



The group, comprising students from the DAOM program and YSU alumni, will be led by Dr. Lawrence Lau, our Dean of Academic and Clinical Affair. The two week intensive will focus on TCM Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, and students will be attending lectures on a selection of topics in the specialty. They will also participate in inpatient and outpatient clinical rounds at various hospitals and clinics affiliated with CUTCM. In addition, the group will also attend the Specialist Acupuncture Clinic for a first hand encounter on how acupuncture is practiced in China. On weekends, the group is expected to be busy visiting the numerous cultural and historical sites in and around Chengdu city, experiencing the sights, sounds and taste of the capital of Sichuan province in full.

Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CUTCM), founded in 1956, is one of the four earliest established TCM universities in modern day China. Recognized as a provincial key university in 1985, CUTCM is authorized by the Chinese government to confer Doctoral degrees in 16 areas of specialties, in addition to offering postgraduate degrees in numerous clinical specialties, as well as post-doctoral research and workshops. With 5 campuses and over a dozen affiliated teaching hospitals, CUTCM currently enrolls over 10,000 students at all levels, with a faculty size of over 1,200 to support the wide range of academic, clinical and research activities within the university.

We will be delighted to share our group’s experiences with you when they return from the trip.