I attended what was then known as SIOM before it was an accredited school. I thought the program and approach was a good fit for how I learned, and being in my late 30’s at the time, I did not have the patience for a program that would not let me get my hands on people for a year or more.

At SIOM, they had us in the clinic from the first week. Our patients were part of our curriculum. That fit the way I learn. The innovative program they were experimenting with back then was in part due to the efforts of Paul Karsten, who was one of the founders. Learning and instructional design was something he’d been interested in and gravitated towards.

Listen into this conversation on the early development of schools and curriculum, the challenge of teaching Chinese medicine concepts to Western students, the importance of hands-on experience,  and the role of qi transformation in learning and practice.