Message from our President

The festivities of our recent Chinese New Year celebration reminded us about the characteristics of the Year of the Dragon. One factor that stands out particularly for me is the fact that this will be a year when energies are aligned appropriately for engaging new projects and new ventures. In a climate of growth, we need all factors in our favor as Yo San University embarks on a number of changes including improvements to our facilities as well as ongoing refinements regarding curricular and clinical processes. For the most part, the approaching changes and new ventures have been stimulated by the positive growth that the University has experienced in the past several years. At least 70% (a little over 70% of our students are female) have registered a resounding vote of approval for the remodeling and expansion of the third floor women’s rest room completed in early January of 2012. We sincerely hope that the positive reaction regarding the rest room project completed on the cusp of the “Year of the Dragon” will foreshadow the reception of several other new ventures that the University will engage in the next twelve months or sooner. While we are barely midway into the Spring 2012 Trimester, plans are active for the expansion of the second floor Student Lounge, a project that will be undertaken immediately upon the completion of at the current term. YSUSA reps have provided feedback and recommendations regarding the plan that will incorporate two kitchen areas and provide an open, expanded and more comfortable space for students to gather and build the sense of community that is a hallmark characteristic of the Yo San environment. During the same brief and concentrated period of demolition and construction, the University will gain a new classroom on the third floor. Unlike our other classroom spaces which are all carpeted, the new instructional space for approximately 20 students will have a “hard surface” floor that is conducive to safety and convenience when used for needling practice. Additionally, on the third floor, a new faculty/staff lounge will be constructed. Coincident with these visible construction projects will be an effort to increase our storage capacity via the construction of secure storage units in the lower level parking garage, a factor that will be invisible to most YSU constituents. Thanks to the prevalence of smaller cars these days, the storage units will be constructed with no loss of parking spaces. In addition to the facilities enhancements, the University will be expanding its pilot program that provides a partnership model for one or more clinic shifts for level I interns. The partnership teams will be designed to provide maximum supervisor feedback. The partnership model will also facilitate the development of professional collaboration and communication. The pilot model is further designed to enhance intern self-confidence and promote the important factor of mutual support. As in prior years the curricula of our programs are under constant scrutiny for the purpose of program improvement. The year 2012 will include careful assessment of program curricula with one important difference—the program review process will be initiated and led by YSU faculty members. With the implementation of the new faculty by laws document, faculty members welcome the additional responsibility of program assessment and for the generation of recommendations that will improve the quality of our curricula. The Year of the Dragon will be a year of new ventures. As members of the every changing and improving Yo San University community, we are all Dragons! 


-Larry Ryan President of YSU

DAOM Candidate, Karen Gordon visited Dalai Lama

Yo San University, DAOM Candidate, Karen Gordon was invited to the Dalai Lama’s November 2011 “Heart Sutra” talk in Kyoto Japan by BTV of Seoul, Korea. Just before the talk Karen was among a small group of dignitaries and Korean High Monks who were privileged to have a small group audience with his holiness. The session was arranged by Karen’s mother who has a talk show on the Buddhism Television Network where she often interviews monks regarding spiritual and other topics. Karen experienced the Dali Lama as a gentle caring person who considered the Korean high monks as his own “brothers and sisters.”

How Does a Doctoral Research Project Develop?

Andrea Murchison is a long way from her home city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her journey from the northeast corner to the southeast corner of the North American continent can be characterized as a path of self-discovery, service and identification with the role of the empowering healer. Andrea’s career has always included a strong leaning in the direction of serving women and children. That service motivation was especially evidenced in an early career job as a child and family therapist where she worked with clients who were victims of abuse. The role of therapist/healer developed even further when Andrea earned the MATCM Degree from Yo San University in 2006. Subsequent to achieving licensure as an acupuncturist Andrea began service as the manager of the Yo San University Herbal Dispensary. In 2008 Andrea was promoted to her current position as Assistant Dean of the MATCM Program while also serving as a part time faculty member. Simultaneous with her administrative duties Andrea maintains a part time practice at the Yo San University Community Clinic. Achieving the highest degree in the profession, the DAOM, was a natural next step in Andrea’s personal and professional growth. It was through involvement in the DAOM Program’s clinical component, the new and unique Yo San University Fertility Clinic, that Andrea began asking questions and had some intuitive hunches about what conditions motivate women to seek the services of a fertility clinic. Those “hunches” are the seeds of a doctoral dissertation. After immersing herself in the research methodology components of her doctoral studies Andrea more precisely formulated her research questions and designated several variables pertinent to her investigation. With the scholarly foundation of a solid literature review on which to build her study, Andrea proceeded to bury herself for several weeks of systematic data gathering form stacks of archived Fertility Clinic patient charts. The completely anonymous data revealed some very interesting demographic as well as prior history and treatment information that were further explored during the dissertation “defense” session that culminated the DAOM program process. Because all DAOM candidates were involved in the Yo San University Fertility Clinic sessions, Andrea’s defense presentation was one of especially high interest for the DAOM students and faculty members in attendance. What was learned from the DAOM Capstone Dissertation Project? Research is based in experience and hunches. It is a simple matter of articulating hunches into viable research questions that are grounded by prior literature and sound methodology. Like all of the doctoral research projects that emerge from the DAOM Program, among other factors, Andrea addressed the implications of her findings for clinical practice. Andrea’s findings are particularly relevant to improving service at the Yo San University Fertility Clinic as well as for other TCM fertility practitioners. Thanks, Dr. Murchison for your contributions that will pave the way for improvements at the Yo San Fertility Clinic and beyond.

The Spleen

Of all the traditional Chinese Zang Fu (the organs), the Spleen is the least similar to its Western counterpart. The ancient Chinese physicians knew there was an organ in the upper left abdomen that had something to do with digestion, and they named it Pí (what we translate as “Spleen”). They probably included the pancreas as part of the Spleen.

The Spleen is considered more important than the other organ of digestion, the Stomach, because as with other yin/yang paired organs, the Stomach does what the Spleen tells it to do. This means that only when the Spleen function is strong can the Stomach do its job of ripening the food it receives and emptying it for the use of other organs. We should think of the Spleen more as a functional than an anatomical entity.

As a Yin organ, the Spleen is unique in not being susceptible to becoming Yin-deficient. Why is this? All other Yin organs (Lung, Kidney, Liver, and Heart) suffer greatly when their Yin energy is deficient. The Spleen, however, craves warmth and dryness and suffers more when it becomes damp or cold. The healthy Spleen is like a blazing sun in the sky, dispelling gloomy yin and vaporizing dampness upward.

The Stomach, on the other hand, prefers coolness and moisture and suffers when it becomes hot and dry.

The Yin organs are also supposed to “store” substances (the definition of “Zang” organ is “flesh which stores”), meaning they do not fill up and empty themselves as the “Fu” organs do. What does the Spleen store? Thought.

If the Spleen is weak, thinking will be cloudy and memory will be weak. Conversely, excessive thinking, concentration and mental work can damage the Spleen.

Julie Chambers L.Ac.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT “SPLEEN” YOU MEAN

After working long hours with the TCM concepts of disease, it is sometimes difficult to switch to the western mode of thinking. This is most often true when it comes to the spleen.


In western physiology the spleen has nothing to do with digestion. It is primarily an organ that filters the blood and stores immune cells that are important in the inflammatory process. It sits in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen just below the diaphragm, which is why pathology of the spleen can cause pain in the left chest, neck or shoulder. Even though the spleen is partially protected by the lower ribs, it can be involved in any blunt trauma to the abdomen. Likewise, the spleen is much more friable during and just after someone has had infectious mononucleosis, a common disease in children and young adults.

Blunt abdominal trauma, infectious mono and splenic enlargement from other causes can result in a rupture of the spleen. This is a life-threatening condition, which may result in a fatal hemorrhage. Occasionally the rupture of the spleen can be delayed more than 48 hours after injury and may not even be picked up on a cat scan initially. Patients may present to an acupuncturist for treatment of left shoulder pain and the acupuncturist may treat this without history or examination only to miss the real cause of the shoulder pain, which could have a tragic outcome.

The spleen also plays a role in prevention of S. pnuemoniae and several other bacterial infections. If someone does not have a spleen or the spleen has been removed, it is important to refer them for the proper immunizations to prevent life-threatening septicemia. This is a standard of care in the community and, as an acupuncturist and a partner in health care, you will be expected to know the importance of this.



- Ed Shaheen

More Tea at Yo San

Over twenty Yo San University students and other community members gathered in the Qi Studio on Tuesday January 24, 2012 to listen to a presentation by tea master and author Aaron Fisher.


For the past two decades, Fisher, a native of Ohio, has devoted his life to travel and living in Asia and learning more about the history, healing powers and culture of tea. He has written several books on the topic including Tea Wisdom and The Way of Tea (Tuttle Publishing, 2010), and is currently the director of a center in Taiwan that focuses on the study and learning about tea. He is also the editor of an on line magazine The Leaf-Tea and Tao (check it out at: the-leaf.org), With the opening of Temple Tea in Venice California, a tea house and emporium founded by Yo San University Student, Colin Hudon, Fisher has made several recent trips to the United States. In his US visits Fishes conducts workshops and provides advice regarding the procurement, storing, distribution and preparation of quality teas that have a multilevel healing potential. More importantly Fisher’s consultations promote and transmit the value and culture of tea. In his address to the Yo San University community Fisher cited that next to water tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. Because of its extensive use and enduring history, Fisher opined that the human body has genetically evolved to be receptive to the healing power of tea. He traced the history of the tea tree and recounted several of the ancient legends associated with the “divine herb,” that he views as the most basic and powerful of all Chinese medicines. He noted that in China there are some tea gardens that have trees that are over 3500 years old. Those tea trees bear particularly potent tea leaves that are accessible only to Chinese royalty. On the other hand, Fisher also recognized the need to propagate tea in plantations and likewise values the culture, ceremony and potential healing that can emerge from commercially grown tea varieties. Fisher’s comments repeatedly emphasized the danger of separating body mind and spirit, and postulated the potency of tea as an integrative medicine that has the potential to heal the whole person. He views the use of tea as a means of flushing toxins from the body, mind and spirit. While Fisher has a clear grasp and respect for the history of tea, he is all in favor of incorporating contemporary perspectives and science into the use of tea. His comments challenged the Western standard of medicine that healing has to result in the removal of disease and focused on the spiritual and meditative processes so often a part of enjoying a cup of tea. Fisher’s words pointed out that so much illness originates or is compounded by stress. He encouraged the audience to reverence the moments of brewing and savoring tea and the calming down and healing impact of those moments.