The Well Street Journal talking about Traditional Chinese Medicine today, on the Health & Wellness Section, Nov 4, 2014

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VITCM Spring Seminar: Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Will be hold on April 1, 2012 in Potomac, MD

Dear colleagues & Friends,

A Spring seminar will be hold by Virginia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine (VITCM) on April 1, 2012, Sunday. Hope everyone will arrange time to attend, and share your knowledge and experience.

Topics: The Western Diagnosis, TCM Treatments and Research Updates of Common Skin Diseases; Yellow Emperor’s Classics of Internal Medicine.

Location:Potomac Community Center, 11315 Falls Road，Potomac, Maryland 20854；Tel: 240-777-6960.

Skin problems, which affect more than 10 million Americans, can be one of the most frustrating and stubborn group of symptoms to successfully treat. Many pharmaceutical solutions offer quick relief but do not provide a lasting solution, and come with risks such as toxic build-up in the body and weakening of other organ systems. Therefore, more and more people are choosing alternative solutions such as Chinese Medicine, which can be safer and which intends to address the root cause of the symptom instead of covering it up each time it appears. In fact, dermatology is a recognized specialty in traditional Chinese Medicine. Treatments for skin disorders have been described as early as 1100-221 BC in China.  Acupuncture and Chinese herbs offer a natural solution to improving skin conditions with its sophisticated system, both external and internal administration. There are hundreds of herbal formulas available for skin disorders such as herpes, eczema, and psoriasis.

Fee: $208. (Mail check before March 15, 2012, discount rate at $188).

Contact Person: Dr. Arthur Fan，Tel:（703）499-4428, e-mail: ChineseMedicineInstitute@gmail.com. Address: VITCM,8214 Old Courthouse Rd,Vienna, VA 22182.

Lecture Details (included in lecture and discussion):

8:00AM-9:30AM: Tai Chi and Medical Applications. By Drs. Eugene Zhang, Arthur Fan (Outside, in Parking lot; if rain or snow, cancel). 

9:30AM-1:30PM: Western Diagnosis & TCM Management for Common Skin Diseases. By Dr. Yongming Li (this special lecture outline is available in the Blog part)

1:30 PM- 3:00PM:  TCM and Skin Disorder: An Update on Clinical Research. By Dr. Lixing Lao.

3:00PM-5:30PM: Yellow Emperor’s Classics of Internal Medicine: Four Seasons, Five Organs, Yin Yang and Related Experiments. By Dr. Quansheng Lu

Instructors: 

Dr.Lixing Lao,  CMD, PhD, LAc, Professor of Family Medicine, Director of Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Center for Integrative Medicine,University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore,MD.

Dr. Lao graduated from Shanghai University of TCM (MD in Chinese medicine) and completed his PhD in physiology at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. He has practiced acupuncture and Chinese medicine for more than 20 years, and has been awarded numerous grants from the NIH and the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct research on acupuncture and alternative medicine. He presents frequently at national and international conferences, including the seminal 1997 NIH Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture and the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He was board cochair of the Society for Acupuncture Research, chief editor of American Acupuncturist, the official journal of American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Dr.Lao was one of funders and professor of former Maryland Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine (MITCM), which was a well-known school in TCM education during 1990s to 2000s. Currently, he is the honor president and main lecturer of VITCM.

Dr. Eugene Zhang, CMD, PhD, LAc. has been practicing acupuncture for over 15 years, and is a graduate of famous oriental medical school in the world: the Beijing University of TCM.

In China, Eugene Zhang was a Medical Doctor (MD in Chinese Medicine); here in  US he is one of the top Licensed Acupuncturists inVirginia,Maryland and Washington DC. area. He was a well-respected professor and Clinical Supervisor for the prestigious Maryland Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine (MITCM). Because of his years of experience, he serves as a consultant for the council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM).

Dr. Zhang is also a senior Taiji (Tai Chi) and Qigong Instructor, both in the United Statesand in China. He has written a detailed book, “The Ultimate Exercise for Mind and Body” that explains the benefits of Qigong and shows pictorially the different body postures.

Dr. Yongming Li, MD, PhD, LAc (in New York and New Jersey). Our guest speaker.

Dr.Li is a leading doctor in both Chinese medicine and Western medicine. He graduated from Liao-ning college of TCM in 1983, and got PhD, MD in USA.

He is a well-known doctor in dermatology, doctor and scholar in the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine with more 20 years’ clinical experience. Currently, he also serves as a NIH grant reviewer. He was the president of American Traditional Chinese Medicine Society, which has more than 700 members in New York area.

He has published many academic papers and books,included in “Acupuncture Journey to America”, a new published book in acupuncture history.

Dr. Quansheng Lu, CMD, PhD, L. Ac. Dr.Lu is a licensed acupuncturist in Maryland. He graduated from Henan University of TCM in China and subsequently worked as a resident and attending physician of TCM at a general hospital in China for 8 years. During this period, thousands of patients recovered under his treatment.  Given his outstanding contribution in TCM, Dr. Lu was awarded the Outstanding Doctor Award from the Local government. Dr. Lu pursued his master degree in TCM at Beijing University of TCM.

He continued to expand his education and later received a  PhD in cardiology in Chinese and western integrated medicine  at the China Academy of Chinese medical science. He focused on exploring hypertension molecular mechanisms and looked for new anti-hypertensive natural herbs. His supervisor is Professor Keji Chen; president of The Chinese Association of Integrated Medicine, and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Lu was a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University Medical Center and Children’s National Medical Center.

Dr. Arthur Yin Fan (Fan Ying),PhD, CMD, LAc, a leading specialist in Acupuncture and Chinese herbology, has more than two decades of clinical experience in both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western medicine. In China, he was awarded an M.D. degree in TCM and a Ph.D. in Chinese internal medicine from famous Nanjing University of TCM. He completed additional one year’s training in the Western medicine diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders as well as a six-year medical residency combining TCM and Western internal medicine. He was a medical doctor in both TCM and coventional medicine when he worked in a University hospital in China. He was the funder of  Nanjing Stroke Center which is now a China national key center in Stroke rescuing and rehabilitation.

An evaluator of medical science research grant applications for many countries, Dr. Fan is currently a consultant for the Complementary and Alternative Medicine program at the University of Maryland medical school. He has also conducted CAM research for the Georgetown University medical school’s programs in nutrition and herbology.

Dr. Fan holds the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) certificate in Oriental Medicine, which comprises Acupuncture, Chinese Herbology and Asian Bodywork. Dr.Fan was awarded the third place prize in Taiji-quan (Tai Chi) in China first national health-sport congress (1985,Shenyang,China). Dr.Fan is the funder of VITCM.

Ron Elkayam, MSTCM, graduated from the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences in Oakland,California in 2004 where he studied acupuncture and Chinese medicine. While still in school studying Chinese Medicine,  Ron studied with Robert Levine, L.Ac., in Berkeley, where he furthered his understanding of acupuncture, herbal formulas, diagnosis, and pulse taking. Inspired to take his learning to a new level, he moved to Taiwan in 2005 to learn Mandarin as a way of deepening his studies in Chinese medicine.Over the course of almost five years, Ron studied Mandarin in universities in Taipei, Shanghai, and Beijing, received advanced Mandarin language certification, and worked in hospitals (Guanganmen,Tonren hospitals) as interns, where he was able to communicate with doctors and patients in their native language and gain useful clinical experience.

Ron has a background in mind-body disciplines and has a 2nd kyu (brown belt) in aikido. He has also studied qigong (Wild Goose style), taiji (Wu and Chen styles), and Kripalu yoga. He also believes in the importance of diet and exercise in helping patients reach optimum health and happiness.

In late 2010, Ron finally returned to theU.S.to bring his clinical experience to American patients.  He has NCCAOM certification in acupuncture and herbal medicine, in addition to being licensed inVirginia,California, and Rhode Island. Ron is originally from Baltimore,MD.At present time, he works part-time to assist VITCM’s daily work.

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Treatment in Chinese medicine is Generally Individualized. By Dr.Arthur Fan, in Washington DC and Northern Virginia

Sometimes TCM doctors treat patients mainly according to his or her illness/disorder, in other words, treating each illness/disorder the same. But most of the time, the treatments are individualized, especially when it involves using herbology or dietary adjustment. The same disease or condition may be treated differently depending on the individual’s constitutions and/or the individual’s illness stage; such that acute, chronic, and recovery stages all receive different treatments. Some patients may also have additional conditions to their primary condition, which would alter the formula recipe for the herbal tea.

Because Chinese Medicine uses more than one way to treat conditions or illnesses, one patient may receive acupuncture and Herbology, some may only receive Herbology, while others may receive just acupuncture, or other therapies such as Tui-na, Chinese therapeutic massage or bone-setting. Treatment is also dependent upon a patient’s preference and the provider’s training. For example, some providers may have only received training in acupuncture or herbology alone, while others may have had more extensive training within the whole context of TCM therapies. Therefore, some providers may have additional choices in applying suitable therapies to achieve quick, satisfactory results.

Patients with the same condition may have varied recovery times. When receiving treatment through herbology, it is beneficial to acknowledge that every person has a different constitution. The concept of a constitution in Chinese Medicine infers that every person has different organ function, structure, metabolism, and diverse personalities. Based on one TCM perspective, there are five main types of constitutions: Yang/hot type, Yin/cold type, Phlegm/damp type, Dry type, Neutral Type. Note that an individual usually does not maintain just one constitution; in actuality, people may have mixed physical and mental constitutions.  With TCM doctors’ guidance, each patient is capable of choosing the correct diet for their type, along with prescribed herbal teas, to aim for a neutral constitution and maintain a balanced life.

However, just because two people have the same constitution or pattern, does not mean they will be treated the same. For example, two women may exhibit the same blood-deficiency type; also known was anemia in Western medical terms. Yet one of the two ladies is on her period, and one is not menstruating. The woman menstruating will receive a different herbal tea formula because her body is in a different state. In this sense Dr. Fan says that even if two people have the same illness, but one has a different pattern, you do not treat the two patients the same. Yet even though two people may have a different illness, if their pattern is the same, it is possible treat them both alike. However because many people have other issues in addition to their main illness, it is sensible to treat each individual differently; everything depends on a patient’s specific condition at that particular time.

Personality also plays a role in determining the correct treatment for an individual. Dr. Fan is excellent at noticing a patient’s personality type and then basing a treatment plan off that observation. For example, for those of us who have drunk the herbal tea, we know it doesn’t always taste delicious. Despite the many who do not mind, there are those that prefer not to. Dr. Fan finds alternative means to treat these sensitive patients by either informing them of diet restrictions/additions, or providing them with herbal pills, which are quite easy to swallow and do not bother the stomach like most Western pharmaceuticals. Also for many children, it may be difficult for them to drink the herbal tea because of the taste, so the herbal pills are very convenient for that reason. Sometimes Dr. Fan may use herbs with less bitter or pungent smell/taste to substitute the herbs used in the original formula to make the aroma and taste more acceptable.

Based on the cultural differences, Asian cultures such as China, Korea, and Japan consist of doctors and patients that use more herbology in their treatment plans. In Western countries such as America, doctors and patients are more hesitant to use herbology as a treatment, and lean toward more acupuncture treatment instead. It is beneficial for the doctor-patient relationship to be as open about this as possible to create a happy and positive experience for the patient. Some cultures or societies have specific habits or preferences which they do not wish to change. TCM doctors attempt to understand these cultural differences and respect. In doing so, their treatment or dietary guidance will cater to those who do convey different cultural or societal ideals.

Written and edited by Arthur Fan and Julia Rosenthal.

For more information, visit: www.ChineseMedicineDoctor.US,  www.VITCM.org

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VITCM Seminars in Safety & Ethics and Adjunct Therapies. Hold on Sept. 25, 2011

Dear Colleagues & Friends, 

As the golden weather of fall approaches us, I hope everyone is in good health and good spirits.

The Virginia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine (VITCM) will hold a special professional development activity (PDA) on Sunday, September 25, 2011.

Based on the current NCCAOM board requirements for certificate renewal every four years, there are a few new mandatory requirements: minimal 15 credits in Key knowledge of Acupuncture and Oriental medicine, 4 credits in Safety/Ethics, 11 credits in adjunct therapies, as well as additional 30 credits in other scopes (see detail at http://www.nccaom.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/2011%20Recertification%20Handbook.pdf, http://www.vitcm.org/?page_id=32). We applied 10 credits one day live presentation in field of Safety/Ethic and Adjunct therapies.

We invite you to participate this special PDA event, in this Seminar, you also have opportunity to watch a American documentary movie “9000 Needles”, which got a few international awards as the Best Documentary Movie.

Seminar time: 09/25/2011, 7:30AM to 5:30 PM.

Seminar address:  Potomac Community Center, 11315 Falls Road，Potomac, MD 20854 (only 20 minutes from Vienna/Falls Church); Tel: 240-777-6960.

Contact person：Dr. Arthur Fan，Cell:（703）499-4428.

Fee: $208 (please make check payable to VITCM), Lunch included.

Early registration before 09/15/2011: you could get 10% off (payment will be $188, please mail the check to VITCM, 8214 Old Courthouse Rd, Vienna, VA 22182). 

Agenda

7:30AM: Registration

8:00AM-9:30AM: Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi) and its medical application

By Eugene Zhang, CMD, PhD, LAc & Arthur Fan, CMD, PhD, LAc; Tai Ji Quan in the parking lot, however it may be canceled due to rain

9:30AM-1:30PM: Safety and Ethic in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Practice

Speaker:Lixing Lao,MD, PhD, LAc

Discussion: Arthur Fan, CMD, PhD, LAc

1:30 PM- 3:30PM: Scalp Acupuncture: Prof. Shi Xuemin experience in Neurological disorders

Movie “9000 NEEDLES,” By Arthur Fan, CMD, PhD, LAc；

3:30PM-5:30PM: Cupping, Guasha and Its clinical Applications with demonstration

By Quansheng Lu, CMD, PhD, LAc.

Speakers：

1. Lixing Lao, MD, PhD, LAc：Professor at the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, international well-known scholar in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Former Chairman, Society of Acupuncture Research.

2. Eugene Zhang, CMD, PhD, LAc: Well-known scholar and doctor in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, former professor of Maryland Institute of Traditional Chinese medicine (MITCM). Board member of CCAOM. An outstanding practitioner of Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi) and Qi Gong.

3. Quasheng Lu, CMD, PhD, LAc: Well-known scholar and doctor in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, very skilled in the application of various TCM therapies.

4. Arthur Fan, CMD, PhD, LAc: Well-known scholar and doctor in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, director of Virginia Institute of Traditional Chinese medicine (VITCM). Also excellent practitioner of Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi), Qi Gong.

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Virginia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, By Dr.Arthur Fan in Washington DC and Northern Virginia

On March 23,2011, Virginia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine (VITCM) established. The institute locats at 8214 Old Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA 22182.

Currently, VITCM focus on continuing medical education for acupuncturists, Oriental medicine doctors and other healthcare providers. providing authentic Chinese medicine and good practice skills are our main aims.

President: Dr.Arthur Fan,CMD,PhD,LAc.

Honor president: Dr.Lixing Lao, MD,PhD,LAc.

Academic advisor: Dr. Eugene Zhang, CMD, PhD,LAc.

On March 27, 2011, VITCM hold its first seminar in Potomac Community Center (Potomac, Maryland), more than 30 local acupuncturists and other audience attend that event. Dr.Lixing Lao, a noted professor in University of Maryland, introduced the updated information on recent years acupuncture research; Dr.Eugene Zhang discussed famous herbal formula Wu Ling San and its herbal family’s clinical application; Drs. Arthur Fan and Eugene Zhang hold a training in Tai Chi Quan (24 form Yang Style); Dr. Haiyan S. Hawkes discussed her experience in starting an acupuncture office, and shared her idea in clinic design; Dr. Aifei Wang and Ms.Julia Zhou introduced their precious experience in clinic management and marketing.

The seminar and its topics were approved by NCCAOM PDA program.

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