Clinical Internship

The Midwest College's Clinic Focused Education

Prospective students who choose to attend the Midwest College should be prepared for a clinic based educational experience. Students begin to work in the College clinic their very first quarter. The program has been designed to take classroom learning, support and develop it by clinic activity.

In order to guide the development of clinical competencies, interns work with a number of workbooks through the phases of internship. From observation, through TCM intake, with developing diagnostic problem solving skills and finally with the responsibility for providing continuity of care with acupuncture, herbs, nutrition and the other modalities of TCM.

The Midwest College's student clinics, together with its off-campus internship sites, provide students with the opportunity to rotate through a variety of unique clinical settings and allows them to experience the styles of different Oriental Medicine practitioners. Interns at the Midwest College treat a wide range of conditions and gain thorough hands-on experience in the modalities of Oriental healing.

The clinical program is arranged into three phases for acupuncture and five phases for Oriental Medicine. Acupuncture students complete a total of 660 hours using acu/moxa therapy. Oriental Medicine students complete 648 hours of acu/moxa internship and then begin integrating acu/moxa, herbs and nutrition for an additional 270 hours; for a total of 918 hours.

During Phase 1, interns learn the procedures of clinical intake and physical assessment. They also observe senior interns during TCM intake and treatment. Interns document this phase with the Observation Workbook in which they record their experience in the objectives of this phase.

During Phase 2, interns deliver Acupuncture, tui-na and accessory modalities under supervision of clinical faculty. This is documented by completing the TCM 10 Question Intake Workbook.

In Phase 3, students have the responsibility for making diagnoses and developing treatment plans. They complete the Continuity of Care Workbook to document the objectives of this phase. These three phases, and workbooks, compose the internship portion of the Acupuncture Program.

In the Oriental Medicine Program, beginning in the eighth quarter and while still in Phase 3, students begin working in the herbal pharmacy dispensing herbs , compounding formulas and making nutritional recommendations. They work closely with their supervisor developing the sophisticated interviewing skills needed for herbal diagnosis and nutritional counseling. There are two more phases of internship focused on Chinese herbs, and TCM nutrition counseling. In Phase 4, students begin to complete an Herb Formula / Nutrition Workbook to be completed over Phase 4 and 5.

In Phase 5, the last phase prior to graduation, students perfect their skills in herbal compounding and gain increasing responsibility for making diagnoses and developing treatment plans using all the modalities of TCM; acu/moxa, herbs and TCM nutrition. They complete the Herb Formula / Nutrition Workbooks. After completing the Midwest College's internship programs, students have two to three, or more, years of intensive experience treating patients. These years of clinical contact guided by well experienced supervisors, prepare graduates for the demands and responsibilities of a busy practice.



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