Welcome to the College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (CAOM) at the Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCU). SCU is celebrating 100 years of excellence in education and the CAOM recently celebrated our 10th Anniversary in 2010.
I was raised in a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) family where I was exposed to herbal medicine from the time I was a child. When I grew up, I attended China Medical University for my M.D. degree. This university has a TCM program and integrates both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine among all its programs, so I had a great opportunity to experience Traditional Chinese Medicine and its integration with Western Medicine. This established my foundation and my passion for Traditional Chinese Medicine.
As the founding Dean of this college, my philosophy and goal are to provide the best Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AOM) education in the United States with excellence in teaching, research, and patient care. Our curriculum focuses on Student Learning Outcomes which emphasize how students learn, not how we teach. The design of our curriculum integrates the knowledge, diagnosis and skills of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine with Western Medicine and evaluates the patient as a whole person, not just a disease or individual symptoms. Our clinical education develops the essential knowledge, skills and competencies our students need to become excellent AOM/TCM practitioners. Students start their clinical observation as early as 3rd term, integrating what they learn in the classroom with real clinical cases. Our clinic, the University Health Center, sets and maintains the highest of quality assurance standards and provides a broad spectrum of treatments, affording our students the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary setting and enhance their experiences with other healthcare providers.
As global awareness of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine grows, I would like to make sure that our students have the opportunity to learn from the schools and hospitals in Asia. As a result we have developed strong and innovative partnerships with other AOM or Traditional Chinese Medicine schools in China, Korea, and Taiwan. We are working to promote these ties and expand this collaborative spirit in our effort to prevent and treat human diseases through the healing art of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
I am confident that the CAOM is uniquely well-positioned to produce the rigorously trained AOM/TCM practitioners that possess the skills, knowledge, and leadership to form the essential bridges from discovery to clinical innovation as we enter the next phase of the world’s healthcare system.
Sincerely,
Wen-Shuo Wu, MD (Taiwan), MPH, MSAOM, L.Ac
Dean of the College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine
