*Five Reasons to Attend SIOM*

Message from the Directors

East-Asian medicine is a clinical approach to health care that has been refined and honed over thousands of years. For most of that time the focus of its transmission has been the clinic, where knowledge grows organically out of experience as master practitioners pass on what they know to apprentices. We believe that a modern acupuncture program still must be grounded in the clinic.

We have designed such a program here at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine. We focus on providing a series of apprentice-like experiences for our students. The student's knowledge is born of experience with patients, under the guidance of skilled instructors, and does not rely on the memorization of isolated bits of information. By limiting admissions, we insure from the very beginning of the program that each student is actively drawn into the process of patient evaluation and care.

Our emphasis on a clinically-based program is coupled with a deep respect for the inclusive spirit of Oriental medicine. During their three years at the Institute, our students are paired with a sampling of experienced practitioner-instructors from various traditions. It is our hope that at the end of their training at SIOM, they will have the basis to thoughtfully integrate their experiences into their own personal approach to Oriental medicine, thus perpetuating its inclusiveness.

While the clinic is the focus of our program, we realize that textual transmission has also been a crucial part of the Oriental medical tradition. To ensure that our students see themselves as part of that tradition and to aid them in the understanding and treatment of their patients, we require Chinese language studies throughout our program. With the tools provided to them by these courses and interactions with the faculty, our students will be able to access some of the vast amount of information in Chinese that is unavailable in English.

It is with these underlying themes that we have established this school in Seattle. They are supported by the courses and clinical opportunities described in the catalog. If after reading it you have questions about our program, please feel free to contact the school for more information.

Craig Mitchell	Paul Karsten
Academic Dean	Director