Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM)

by Diana Hermann (Class of 1999)
(Fort Collins, CO USA)

I graduated 10 years ago and I still think I went to the best school in the U.S. I got such a balanced education (acupuncture + herbs + non-needle techniques + western medical understanding). I felt confident in my skills and knowledge of theory from the very outset.

Having both Chinese teachers and naturopathic teachers for different portions of the program gave me very different perspectives of Chinese Medicine and made me a better clinician. I think our teachers at OCOM overall could not have been better. Last time I checked, the curriculum that I felt was lacking at the time of my education there (business/marketing and pediatrics) has been added into the coursework, making it an even stronger program.

In addition, Portland is a great city to live in and the community is very well aware of "alternative" medicine. This makes the OCOM clinic (and off-campus clinics) busy with real patients - an excellent clinical education.