Newsletter - Pacific Rim College - Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine in BC

Through PRC's Global Outreach Program, a pair of acupuncture students are again going overseas to earn clinical credit while giving back to impoverished communities. Third year acupuncture students Susan Koning and Katie Tarasiouk have been planning to partake in overseas clinical training for some time. Katie, a Russian immigrant, has previously volunteered at an orphanage for disabled children in Viet Nam, and Susan has done outreach in Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia. The 2 will begin their trip at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar in mid-January and will finish in Uganda with the PanAfrican Acupuncture Project in March. We would like to thank the following Victoria businesses that contributed to our recent GOP Silent Auction Fundraiser at the Bard and Banker pub: Green Cuisine, Good Health Vitamins and Tea Bar, Ten Thousand Villages - Broadmead Village, Baggins, Tao Acupuncture and Herbs, Hemma, The Herbal Path, Moda Fina, Sapphire Day Spa, Market on Yates, Solstice, Earls, The Penny Farthing, Organic Day Spa, Sitka, Haute Cuisine, Side Street Studio, Blethering Place, Ivy's Bookshop, Old Towne Art Gallery, Hip Baby, Simple Remedies, Whirled Arts, Nezza Naturals, Mangos, Habit, Utopia, Christina Parkhurst - Structural Bodywork, Reuven Freesman - Acupuncturist, James Christian - Herbalist, and Veda Mata - Reiki.

At the Victoria Tea Festival this February, PRC phytotherapy students will be on hand to provide free herbal consultations and to dispense to you customized organic herbal teas. If you are a tea connoisseur, you will love visiting the dozens of booths displaying tea wares and providing tea tastings at this event. If you cannot make it to the Tea Festival, stop by our Student Clinic for a Herbal Medicine consultation. Consultations are now free until further notice.

Speaking of Herbal Medicine, our Phytotherapy students have released their first e-zine known as Herbal Medicine Education. Please click here to view it and learn how you can incorporate simple herbal remedies into your life.

Continue reading to learn about other exciting events and activities at PRC and in the community. Enjoy the newsletter!

Todd N Howard, President

Welcome to New and Returning Students

PRC is pleased to welcome to its student body for the Winter 2011 semester more than 50 new students from throughout North America and around the world. With the arrival of each new semester our international melting pot of students expands, enriching the PRC student culture and deepening the integration of global medicines. These new students join our returning students to study a variety of different forms of medicine including Western Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Ayurvedic Marmatherapy, Yogatherapy, Thai Massage and more. If you are interested in studying at PRC and would like to visit the college, meet students and instructors, and sit in on classes, please contact our Office of Admissions. PRC is committed to providing students with flexible study options in programs that promote sustainable medicine. Applications are being accepted for all 2011 programs, and admissions applications can now be completed online!

PRC students head to Africa

Two PRC acupuncture students - Susan Koning and Katie Tarasiouk - are heading to Africa this month to volunteer in the Acupuncture Ward of Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar and with the PanAfrican Acupuncture Project in Uganda. This will be the second time PRC students have volunteered with these 2 organizations since 2008.

The PanAfrican Acupuncture Project (PAAP) trains African healthcare workers so that they can continue using acupuncture even after the foreign practitioners have left. PAAP has provided basic acupuncture training to hundreds of Ugandan and Kenyan healthcare workers who have in turn provided thousands of treatments since the project's inception in 2003.

Mnazi Mmoja Hospital is Zanzibar's largest hospital. Its Acupuncture Ward is run by a team of African and Chinese acupuncturists and nurses and provides effective treatments to scores of patients daily.

Since 2007 Pacific Rim College's Global Outreach Program has provided exposure, organizational support, contacts, funding, medical supplies and volunteers to numerous non-profit organizations offering free natural health care to impoverished communities around the world. Many GOP opportunities are also open to practitioners and students not affiliated with PRC. Click here to learn more the Global Outreach Program.

Student Clinic Services Expand

In addition to Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, PRC's Student Clinic now offers therapies in Yogatherapy, Ayurvedic Marmatherapy and Thai Massage. Students in the final year of the Diploma of Eastern Therapies and Bodywork will be providing these therapies under the guidance of experienced faculty members. Ninety-minute treatments are $30 per session with a $5 discount to seniors and students. If you would like to learn more about the services, please visit our Clinical Services page. For more information on the Eastern Therapies and Bodywork diploma program, please click here.

In addition to these new services, Western Herbal Medicine consultations in the Student Clinic are now free! To book your appointment, call today!

Workshop on Medicinal Mushrooms

"Medicinal Mushrooms of Western Canada" will be held at PRC on April 9-10. In this weekend course, students will explore the world of medicinal mushrooms and lichens, learn how to prepare tinctures, examine the top 20 mushrooms and their use in a clinical setting, and learn contraindications and positive drug interactions. The course will be presented from the perspective of a registered herbalist with 18 years of clinical practice, and include case studies involving chronic disease and auto-immune conditions. Course instructor Robert Dale Rogers has been a student of native plants and fungi from the Canadian prairies for over 40 years. He has authored numerous books and is a retired clinical herbalist, mycologist, and professional member of the American Herbalist Guild. He was recently nominated a Fellow of the International College of Nutrition and teaches plant medicine at Grant McEwan University. For more information and to register, please click here.

Workshop by Renowned UK Herbalist

Herbalist Peter Conway is scheduled to present a workshop entitled "Hidden Dimensions of Healing in Natural Medicine". Over the course of 2 intensive days, Peter will explore the ways in which practitioners can exert therapeutic effects beyond their primary tools of practice. Peter argues that all practitioners can positively and significantly influence patient outcomes by attending to the interpersonal factors that occur in the consultation. Awareness and manipulation of these normally concealed aspects of healing allows for enhanced benefits to patients and increased satisfaction for practitioners. In a wide-ranging, profound, radical yet entertaining set of presentations and exercises, Peter will touch on the fields of history, philosophy, science, physiology, esotericism, clinical practice and more.

Peter is President of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy, a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, and a Director of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association. He teaches herbal medicine courses at numerous schools including the London College of Traditional Acupuncture. Peter helped develop the UK National Professional Standards for Herbal Medicine and sat on the UK Department of Health Steering Group looking at the regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture. He has written several books including his recent textbook The Consultation in Phytotherapy: the herbal practitioner's approach to the patient published by Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone.

"Hidden Dimensions of Healing in Natural Medicine" is scheduled at PRC for February 19-20. Please click here for more information and to register.

Thai Massage Workshops

This spring Nikki Manzie, Taro Chiba and Eila Buziak again will offer a series of Traditional Thai Massage workshops. Traditional Thai Massage is part of a larger body of medicine known as Traditional Thai Medicine.

"Table Thai Massage", scheduled for April 16-17, is designed for the therapist who prefers to work on the table. "Table-Thai" is ideal for clients who enjoy the benefits of Thai massage but are unable or unwilling to lie on the floor. This workshop is intended to teach participants a one-hour routine of Table-Thai Massage and also how to integrate this discipline into an existing practice.

"Prenatal and Postnatal Traditional Thai Massage", scheduled for April 30-May 1, is performed in all stages of pregnancy and following birth. In this workshop participants learn massages that attend to the specific needs of mothers-to-be and new mothers, with special attention given to the reproductive organs, the support systems (respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous and endocrine), and soft tissues that experience great changes during and following pregnancy.

"Cupping and Scraping in the Thai Tradition", scheduled for May 14-15, demonstrates multiple techniques used by traditional Thai massage practitioners to help release toxins, imbalances and pain/discomfort from various levels of tissues, in particular layers of muscle and connective tissue. The techniques presented in this workshop are similar to what is found in traditional Chinese acupuncture. Liniments are massaged into the affected region; cupping and/or scraping is then performed, followed by further massage if indicated.

A fourth workshop on Therapeutic Back Walking is scheduled for May 28-29, and more information will be available soon. All workshops are open to students and practitioners of all forms of bodywork, and CMTBC CEU approval is pending. Please click here for more information.

Yogatherapy and Ayurvedic Marmatherapy Programs set for Fall

Two of PRC's ever-popular semester-long programs - Foundations of Yogatherapy and Fundamental of Ayurvedic Marmatherapy - return this fall and are expecting capacity enrolment. The Foundations of Yogatherapy program introduces students to the philosophy, therapeutic principles and techniques of yoga and provides them with 40 hours of recognized Yoga Teacher Training. Ayurvedic Marmatherapy works with vital points (Marmas) in the body where there is a junction of tissues, vessels, systems and subtle yet potent life-energies. Marmas are stimulated with acupressure, oil massage and energy work to affect a healing response in their associated organs, tissues and energy channels.

For more information about these programs, including the admissions process, please click on the program links above.

Community Herbalist Program

The next offering of our popular 4-month Community Herbalist Program (CHP) is slated for May 2011. This semester-long program, offered mostly on evenings, introduces participants to the incredible world of medicinal plants and remedies and provides opportunities in wildharvesting, medicine-making, plant identification and herbal therapeutics. For those CHP graduates who are interested in continuing with more studies, 4 classes (10 credits) transfer directly in to the Diploma of Phytotherapy program. For more information about the Community Herbalist Program and how you can join, please click here.

Range of Medical Supplies Grows

Our range of professional medical supplies continues to grow, and this month the AS Super 4 Digital needle stimulator is still on sale. The AS Super 4 Digital provides convenient and efficient electrostimulation of acupuncture points at the highest standard of quality. This hand-held battery-operated (includes cord for plug-in use) e-stim machine is digitally controlled and provides the user with a variety of pre-programmed settings. The intensity can be adjusted at increments of 0.1mA, and individual patient settings can be easily programmed for subsequent treatments. The Super 4 Digital is on sale for $339.95.

PRC also has a comprehensive selection of acupuncture supplies, stethoscopes, reflex hammers and blood pressure cuffs.

Jason Robertson to Present 2-Day Workshop

Internationally recognized author, clinician and educator Jason Robertson will present a 2-day workshop entitled "Channel Palpation and Diagnosis: An Exploration of Classical Acupuncture Technique" at PRC on February 5-6, 2011. Channel palpation, emphasized in the earliest acupuncture texts (Nei Jing/Nan Jing), is extremely helpful for confirming diagnosis and refining point selection. This workshop will focus on learning the basics of channel palpation through interactive lectures, case studies and hands-on practice of technique. Topics include a discussion of the history of palpatory technique in Chinese Medicine and its historical antecedents in the Inner Classic and Classic of Difficulties; an introduction to the role of the distal channels in classical physiology and a discussion of how physiology can manifest with specific, palpable changes on the acupuncture channels; an introduction to techniques for palpating each of the 12 major channels; a channel-by-channel discussion of commonly found changes and their significance; how to utilize channel palpation information to refine and simplify diagnosis; and an introduction to the acupuncture treatment style of Dr. Wang Ju-Yi. For more information and to register, please visit our Lectures, Workshops and Events page.

Neil Gumenick to present Five-Elements Workshop

PRC Faculty member Neil Gumenick returns on May 7-8, 2011, for another installment of the workshop entitled "Classical Five-Element Acupuncture: Beginning the Journey". Classical Five-Element Acupuncture, in the Worsley tradition, is one of the most complete, comprehensive, and far-reaching systems of medicine in the world. Seminar topics include the mental and spiritual levels of the Five-Elements, Twelve Officials, and specific acupuncture points; diagnosing the needs of the mind and spirit; how this system addresses physical pain and illness; clinical interaction with patients; rapport skills and patient management; pulse diagnosis within the Classical Five-Element System; detecting and resolving life-threatening energetic blocks; and treatment planning. Neil R. Gumenick, MAc (UK), LAc, is one of the world's foremost practitioners and teachers of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture. For more information and to register, please visit our Lectures, Workshops and Events page.

Book of the Month

Applied Channel Theory in Chinese Medicine demonstrates how a deeper understanding of the interrelationship between organ and channel theory can lead to more precise diagnoses and better clinical results. This book is a collaboration between Wang Ju-Yi, one of modern China's most respected scholars, teachers, and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, and his American apprentice and practitioner, Jason Robertson, who will be presenting a workshop on Applied Channel Theory at PRC on February 5-6. Hailed by the directors of the 2010 TCM Kongress in Germany as one of the best books on TCM to be released in a long time, Applied Channel Theory is an inspiring read for any TCM practitioner and student. Visit our Books and Products page today to view this book and many more.

Client Practice Building Workshop

During February and March in Calgary, Victoria and Vancouver, Pat Hercus presents a workshop designed to give therapists, practitioners and coaches the skills and consciousness to easily attract clients. Learn why when people have equal connections and education, some thrive and others don't. Accessing your market is becoming more difficult and expensive. This course will lead you through exercises to connect your passion and purpose so strongly that people want to talk about you. Using the same 5-step process that Pat uses, participants will learn how easy it is to develop a waiting list of clients that really want to work with you. Presenter Patrick Hercus has had a full-time practice in Spiritual Counselling since 1995. For the last 13 years he has had a waiting list, with no advertising or networking. The course cost is $478. Is it time for you to learn a new way to be successful? To learn more information and to register, visit clientpracticebuildingworkshop.com.

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