Message from our President

Starting your Internship

Lawrence J. Ryan, Ph.D.

Next to the excitement of graduation, there is nothing quite as satisfying as they day when a Yo San University student enters internship service in the YSU Community Clinic. The day that the fourth year student enters clinic internship service is a significant and unforgettable milestone in the path to becoming a Traditional Chinese Medicine healer. Entering clinic internship service represents the successful completion of numerous theory and practice courses and qualifying examinations including the rigorous pre-clinical examination. More important than the academic preparation and qualification is the expression of commitment and motivation of the student to continue in the path of training and supervision in order to make a difference in her/his own life, as well as in the lives of countless others who will benefit from Traditional Chinese Medicine. Throughout the internship experience, whether at the on-campus Community Clinic or at one of the five externship sites, each Yo San trainee works under the gentle and vigilant guidance and mentorship of expert clinical supervising faculty.

The supervisory relationship is close and intense. It includes the opportunity to discern and further develop both the science and the art of providing Ni Family inspired Traditional Chinese Medicine to promote wellness and to restore health and balance. After so many years of applying dots in training for needling, after so many student-to-student practice sessions, observations and other “dry run” practice procedures, the intern is face-to-face with a real person seeking treatment. In the vital moments of meeting and interviewing the patient the intern connects with the energy of the patient and engages the years of study and training to generate hypotheses from the details of patient’s life history, life style, symptoms, and Qi status.

After consultation and deliberation with a seasoned clinical faculty supervisor, the intern arrives at a diagnosis and crafts a course of treatment. Each experience with a patient enhances the knowledge and skills of the intern and strengthens the mentorship relationship with the supervisor. I am told that the ultimate reward comes to the intern when it is learned that a patient has made another appointment. What could be more satisfying?

The administration, faculty and staff of Yo San University salute all of our current interns as well as all of our first, second and third year students who continue to develop their knowledge and skills in preparation for advancement to internship status.

FOUNDATION GRANTS Awarded to Yo San University

Lawrence Lau (Dean of Academic and Clinical Affairs) and fourth year MATCM student, Valerie Clayton, recipient of the 2011 William H. Hazen Foundation Scholarship award.

In recent months Yo San University has been the recipient of three grants from private foundations. The Fineshriber Foundation of Culver City, California has awarded a grant that will provide partial support for the implementation of a pediatric acupuncture program at Venice Family Clinic. This grant will facilitate the referral and treatment of children 12-18 at Venice Family Clinic, thus expanding the range of services and training opportunities for Yo San University students. A grant from the Green Foundation of Pasadena, California will provide partial support for the Pediatric Pain Management partnership externship program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). The externship program at CHLA continues to provide a unique training opportunity for students in both the MATCM and DAOM Programs. Students who participate in the CHLA program not only provide much needed services but are a part of a research team that is establishing a data base to support the case for the use of acupuncture in relieving pain that results from a variety of childhood illnesses.

Finally, the University was greatly honored to receive a grant from the William H. Hazen Foundation of New York. The Hazen Foundation grant includes two funds. The first component provides scholarship assistance to students in the Yo San University MATCM Program. The second component will be constituted as a student emergency fund to provide partial assistance for MATCM students who experience catastrophic circumstances that have the potential to inhibit academic progress. The late William H. Hazen was a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he later served as a trustee, and Harvard Law School. Mr. Hazen had a long and successful career in financial management, trust and estate planning. Yo San University is enthusiastically grateful for the resources and support provide by all three of the foundations mentioned above.

Yo San University Scores DAOM Candidacy

With more than ten years in the planning and nearly two years in operation with matriculated students, the Yo San University DAOM program has achieved candidacy with the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).

The YSU DAOM program (Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) is a post-licensure Integrative Medicine program that currently includes two specialty options, Reproductive Medicine and Healthy Aging. The program operates with a one weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) per month model, each cohort completing study in just two years. In order to capitalize upon the rich background that the experienced clinician candidates bring to the program, special emphasis is placed on collaborative interactive learning. The hand-picked faculty come to Yo San from all over the country to offer their unique contributions.

This is an extraordinary milestone for Yo San University. Congratulations to all!

Another great news from our Alumni, Stephanie Bland

We learned recently that Stephanie Bland, L.Ac, a 2008 graduate of Yo San University, has been appointed by the Governor ofr Arkansas for service on the Arkansas State Board of Acupuncture and Related Techniques.

Stephanie who is in practice in Benton, Arkansas joins the ranks of other YSU graduates who serve or have served their states that the profession through membership on the state level oversight board. Stephanie was chosen for service at least in part because of her expressed motivation to represent the interests of newly licensed acupuncturists and because of her knowledge of the California standards for the profession. The Arkansas Board regulations designate a particularly wide range in its “scope of practice” of licensed practitioners to include all the usual diagnostic and therapeutic services normally associated with acupuncturists, as well as others such as dietary, lifestyle, emotional and spiritual balance counseling, therapeutic exercise, breathing, biofeedback and other devices that involve color, light, sound and electromagnetic energy. Stephanie’s Yo San education has prepared her well for service on the Arkansas Acupuncture Board.

Yo San Grad leads “The Good Life” in California’s Napa Valley

“Everything from crunchy apples to complicated computer programs with a whole lot of needles in between” is a concise characterization of the career of Yo San University Graduate Richard Rosen.

When he graduated from Yo San in 1998, Richard might have imagined a full time acupuncture TCM practice. However, what unfolded in the ensuring years by Richard’s choice has included a range of activities that emerged out of expertise developed in earlier parts of his career as well as from his Yo San master’s degree.

A major step in diversifying his career was his move more than eleven years ago with his wife and three young daughters from his native Los Angeles to a new home in the semi-rural Napa Valley/Sonoma, California. In the tiny hamlet of Forestville The Rosen family acquired a very productive acre that provided space for the cultivation of exotic apples and several other fruit varieties. With the help of the entire family, Richard became comfortable in the role of part-time farmer and organic gardener. But being a steward of the earth was not enough for this Yo San graduate. Richard has additionally drawn from a prior career in computer programming continuing his in the role of development, marketing, consulting and maintenance of several software packages designed to assist TCM students and practitioners.

One product that assists TCM students in learning herbs was initially developed when he was struggling in the Yo San Program with the complexities of herbs and herbal formulas. Richard is also the author of a professional practice management software package, “TCM Pro”, which was utilized by the Yo San University Community Clinic for many years. He continues to promote this software package and works with numerous practices across the country regarding the use of that program.

Wearing another hat Richard is the proprietor of a Forestville, CA retail store called “The Good Life,” where he carries a complete line of herbs and other natural products. Finally, Richard carries on the Yo San University Ni Family tradition in a busy acupuncture practice in space adjacent to his retail store where he treats a wide range of conditions.

Need apples, herbs, software or a treatment while travel in California’s wine country? Contact Richard at ricahrd.thegoodlife@gmail.com.

Ask Julie

Question:

Chinese medicine teachers talk a lot about spermatorrhea. What exactly does this mean, from a physiological viewpoint?

Answer:

Dr. Shaheen has written a great article in the current issue on the western medical view of this concept. There are several conditions in which semen can be emitted in a way that would be considered pathological according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. I think there are two conditions that are most likely referred to as “spermatorrhea,” a term that is archaic in western medicine.

One is nocturnal emission, which occurs more in younger men, and the other is premature ejaculation, which could be considered a form of impotence, in that it prevents a successful conclusion to the sexual experience, and can occur in men of any age.

Both are considered harmless in Western medicine, but are of concern in Chinese medicine. Because fluids and yin are so important in balancing the bodily fiery yang, any excessive loss of fluids, whether seminal, urinary, sweat or blood, could result in a yin/yang imbalance. In class, I rely on my students to help each other understand functions and processes particular to males and females. I asked my male students, “nocturnal emission: is that a good or a bad thing?” Most said it was great, and one added poetically, “It’s like making love to your dream.” (One said it wasn’t good if you were 14 and living at home with your parents.)

(Painting by Vincent Hui)

Why do we in Chinese medicine feel we have to treat these conditions that are considered normal and harmless in western medicine? The answer may lie in the belief that excessive leakages indicate an underlying weakness in the kidney, which, if not treated, could lead to problems with reproduction, sexual function, premature aging, blazing heat and fire, heart agitation and other imbalances of yin and yang.

I treated a male, age 49, with unexplained blood in the semen. He was examined by a urologist, with no findings. The diagnosis was “idiopathic hematospermia,” “idiopathic” meaning “we don’t know why.” This patient masturbated frequently (several times every day), and suffered from chronic low back pain. He also had problems at home: his wife slept with their 10-year old son, leaving him to sleep alone. This is not a case of spermatorrhea, but it is an example of how frequent loss of seminal fluids can damage yin and jing and cause heat in the blood. I treated him with a formula consisting of hemostatics, yin tonics and herbs to clear deficiency heat, and I advised him to cut his masturbation by 50%.

After two packs of herbs, the blood disappeared. So, keep in mind that “spermatorrhea” is a symptom of an underlying potential problem in the kidney, according to the Chinese Zang Fu system, and maintaining the health of the kidney is crucial to overall well-being. This is why many of the most famous Chinese herbs stabilize and bind the kidney jing essence.

Please direct any questions you may have to Julie Chambers, L.Ac. at info@juliechamberslac.com

What's up, Doc?

In this article, I would like to discuss the concept of “spermaorrhea” from the viewpoint of a western medical physician. “Spermatorrhea” comes from the Greek words that mean “seeds that flow”. First I would like to say that the term has no meaning in modern medicine. However, there are references to it in older medical texts from 1800’s. These references usually start with “involuntary” emission of semen. But after that, the definitions differ, such as, “involuntary loss of semen without copulation” or “without orgasm” or “frequent and spontaneous”. There are some common physiological entities that could be included in this term, for example, masturbation, nocturnal emissions, premature ejaculations. All of these entities involve an ejaculation of some type.

Looking at the definitions in English texts for Chinese medicine, we can also find some different versions for “spermatorrhea”. Maciocia seems to think that it is a result of chronic prostatitis. Yanchi’s text on TCM defines it as nocturnal emission, excessive libido. Many texts don’t describe or define it at all. I have found that as a student of TCM, my Chinese teachers were often too embarrassed to explain or were not too sure themselves what the ancients meant by “spermatorrhea”. The main idea is that there is a loss of a vital substance that the kidney is supposed to protect and maintain.
I wonder about other possibilities that might explain this as well or better. Is “spermatorrhea” always associated with ejaculation or climax or does it just run out of the body like the name implies? The latter explanation has no physiological basis. It does not occur. The sperm basically has to be brought up from storage in the seminal vesicles, vas deferens, epididymus by a pumping action that we call ejaculation. It doesn’t just roll out on its own. Nevertheless, we are talking here about ancient Chinese who did not have access to a microscope to observe sperm. Perhaps the ancients differentiated the pungent smell that comes from seminal fluids (with or without sperm) from urine and assumed that this was sperm. Or maybe they sometimes got confused with prostatic secretions which do not contain sperm but do tend to just flow out without ejaculation. Or another possibility, maybe spermatorrhea was at times confused with gonorrhea, which also just flows out and stains clothing. None of this appears to be clear in discussions and textbooks. Finally, some authorities in TCM see spermatorrhea simply as a TCM concept that accounts for any urogenital secretion other than urine.
They see this as a TCM loss of vital substances and not much more. When all is said and done, modern medicine basically considers it harmless. Chinese medicine counts the waste of semen or whatever was actually observed to leak untimely out of the male genital organ as a reduction in jing or kidney essence. What is your opinion?

Yo San has a new Herb Lab Manager!

Lisa Knickmeyer, L.Ac.

A Board-certified Acupuncturist and Chinese Medical Herbalist, Lisa's practice is based on an integrative approach to Chinese Medicine, combining a variety of healing modules customized for optimal health and patient well-being. Lisa is a recurring Technical Supervisor at the Yo San University Clinic as well as the President of the Alumni Association.

Lisa graduated with honors from the Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where she received her Master's degree. During her final year at Yo San, Lisa completed an intense internship at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She has also spoken at the Abbot Kinney Festival on such diverse topics as Integrative Medicine for Oncology, Weight Loss and Healthy Weight Management, and Emotional Detoxification.

Lisa Has earned an Advanced Certification in Constitutional Facial Acupuncture Renewal from one of the country's foremost authorities on Facial Acupuncture. Her extensive training also includes certifications in Microcurrent Electro-Acupuncture, Basic and Accelerated Rehabilitation, and Techniques of the Ideal Weight Program.