If you are thinking of attending acupuncture school, you are probably wondering what to expect in your acupuncture training programs. At The Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we focus on the Chinese approach to acupuncture, particularly from the classical texts. We also focus on clinical application of the information you learn from those texts. As a result, we focus on both in-depth theory and ancient practice in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and integrative medicine. Upon graduation, you’ll understand how to use western medicine to alleviate a variety of health conditions and pain in patients thanks to clinical experience, practicing acupuncturist training, and an understanding of traditional herbs.

At The Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we have broken down our Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) program into 6 trimesters that consist of 3 weekend modules per trimester that are to be attended on-site at our campus. During the week, students are to attend online classes. The overall amount of time spent to earn this degree is 1,215 hours (53.5 credits), which is broken down into 450 hours of classroom instruction and 765 hours of clinical hour application.

The academic curriculum consists of learning of the fundamental theories, diagnosis, needle techniques, and treatment plans from the Ling Shu classical text in year 1, while learning the Huang Di Nei Jing, Nanjing, and Shang Han Lun in year 2 and applying the theory to develop the treatment plan that was learned in year 1.

The clinical training part of the curriculum is broken down into 15 hours of clinical pedagogy, 30 hours of clinical observation, 105 hours of clinical forums, 120 hours of clinical internship, and 495 hours of clinical externship. This externship has students working with a DAOM program externship mentor and reporting all externship treatments on DAOM clinical treatment reports. Students must also provide proof of appropriate insurance and current LAc.

Apply to The Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine and experience our curriculum for yourself.