Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy
仁醫學院 · 根與枝
仁醫學院 · 根與枝
The Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy is a nonprofit school preparing the next generation of practitioners in Chinese medicine. Grounded in the depth and lineage of the classical tradition, CMBA is built on a structurally reconceived institutional model. It is designed to preserve the rigor of the medicine while sustaining it for the long term amid the pressures facing legacy schools today.
The inaugural cohort will begin the three-and-a-half-year program in Fall 2027.
The stewards of the Academy’s mission and governance
PhD, LAc
Founder & President, Board of Directors
Dr. Toby Daly is a licensed acupuncturist, author, and teacher. He holds a PhD in Classical Chinese Medicine, has written three books on the subject, and shares his teacher’s tradition of Saam acupuncture internationally. He is also the developer of the educational tools Chinese Nutritional Strategies and Chinese Medical Characters, and co-hosts Office Hours with Angelique Britt.
His teaching and clinical work are rooted in the transmission he received from his own teacher, Dr. Angela C. Wu. This direct master-to-student lineage continues to shape both his practice and his vision for the Academy.
His work with the Academy grows out of decades of clinical practice, teaching, and scholarship, and is shaped by the belief that the future of the profession depends on training practitioners who are both technically skilled and deeply rooted in the tradition they carry forward.
DAHM, Lic.Ac., Dipl. O.M. (NCBAHM), RN
Vice President, Board of Directors
Dr. Angelique Britt is a licensed acupuncturist, registered nurse, and the founder and clinical director of Eventide Acupuncture and Integrative Health in Haydenville, Massachusetts. Before entering Chinese medicine, she spent more than twenty years as a registered nurse, primarily in hospice and oncology. That work continues to shape her clinical approach and her attention to the relationship between patients and those who care for them; the human ground on which any medicine, classical or modern, is practiced.
She earned her master’s degree from the New England School of Acupuncture and her Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine from Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts. She is board certified through the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (NCBAHM). Her clinical work draws on Classical Chinese medicine, TCM-style acupuncture, orthopedic-style acupuncture, and Saam acupuncture, with a clinical focus on autoimmune conditions. She co-hosts Office Hours with Dr. Toby Daly.
Dr. Britt’s work with the Academy grows out of her conviction that technical skill and genuine care are inseparable, and that the future of the medicine depends on training practitioners who are both rigorous in their practice and deeply attentive to the people they serve.
DAcCHM, FABORM, CNS, LDN, LicAc
Secretary, Board of Directors
Dr. George Mandler is a licensed acupuncturist, licensed dietitian/nutritionist, and Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine with more than two decades of clinical experience integrating Classical Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and functional nutrition. He is a Fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (FABORM) and has dedicated his career to advancing patient care through evidence-informed, traditional approaches to healing.
As Secretary of the Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy’s Board of Directors, Dr. Mandler is committed to supporting the Academy’s mission of preserving, advancing, and making high-quality Chinese medicine education accessible to future practitioners. He is passionate about ensuring that students receive rigorous training rooted in classical principles while embracing modern clinical standards and lifelong learning.
Dr. Mandler has a longstanding interest in professional education, mentorship, and the responsible advancement of the Chinese medicine profession. Through his work with the Academy, he hopes to help cultivate the next generation of compassionate, skilled practitioners who will serve their communities with integrity and excellence.
CPA, MSA
Treasurer, Board of Directors
Lohrie Pardue is a CPA and business owner. She has personally benefited from acupuncture and herbal medicine for over two decades, finding weekly treatment crucial in helping her keep up with the demands of business ownership. Because of this, she is dedicated to helping keep Chinese medical education accessible and affordable for future students.
Lohrie manages CMBA’s financial oversight, budgeting, and organizational reporting, focusing on transparent and sound internal controls. A licensed Certified Public Accountant, she holds a B.S. in Accounting from California State University, Sacramento, and an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Phoenix. Her background includes 12 years in public accounting alongside her role as Controller and Business Owner at North Bay Concrete, Inc. since 1991.
Beyond her work at North Bay Concrete, Lohrie has served as treasurer and finance committee member for various non-profit organizations, to include volunteering with local schools and meditation and faith-based organizations. She is grateful to contribute her experience and support to CMBA’s mission.
Our teachers are clinicians and scholars whose work bridges classical learning and living practice. Roster as of August 2026; continues to grow as our program takes shape.
MSc
Faculty
Simon Becker is a Swiss-based practitioner and educator whose career bridges American and European Chinese medicine. He completed his diploma in traditional Chinese medicine at the Florida Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1997 and undertook a postgraduate internship in hematology and pediatrics at Heilongjiang TCM University Hospital in Harbin, China. He later earned an MSc in Herbal Medicine from the University of Westminster in London.
Since 2013, Simon has served as Deputy Head of the Chinese Medicine Policlinic at See-Spital in Horgen, Switzerland — a hospital-based integrative practice. He is also President of Chiway Academy in Winterthur, which he has led since 2012, and has taught pediatrics at Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts in Asheville, North Carolina since 2016. His earlier teaching includes lectureships in Chinese herbal medicine at Danube University Krems, the Academy of Chinese Healing Arts in Winterthur, and the Institute for TCM in Basel.
Simon is the author or co-author of eight books, including TCM in der Kinderheilkunde (Elsevier, 2025), Fokus Chinesische Medizin (Verlag Systemische Medizin, 2026), The Chinese Medical Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases (Blue Poppy Press, 2005), and A Handbook of Chinese Hematology (Blue Poppy Press, 2000). His long service to the profession includes leadership roles with the Swiss Professional Organisation for Traditional Chinese Medicine and the European TCM Association.
PhD, MS, LAc
Faculty
Claudia Citkovitz, PhD, MS, LAc, began her acupuncture studies in a New York kung fu studio in the 1990’s, and has been licensed in acupuncture and herbal medicine since 2002. She currently practices in Western Massachusetts, teaching at the New England School of Acupuncture/Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, as well as live and online continuing education. From 2004-2021, Claudia directed the inpatient acupuncture program at NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn, treating thousands of patients in neurological and orthopedic rehabilitation, oncology, pain management, and labor and delivery, and training some 300 acupuncture students and practitioners. Her study of acupuncture during birth (2009) was the first in the US, as was her 2015 PhD study on acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation (2015). Her book, Acupressure and Acupuncture during Birth, was published in 2019. Claudia is an active practitioner, educator and peer reviewer, serving on the board of the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) and as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine (JICM).
D.Ac., L.Ac.
Faculty
I’m an unquenchable learner, in awe of the majestic elegance of Nature, its cycles, and the human body. For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by their secrets and how Life works.
Searching for relief from my own neck pain and insomnia, I discovered profound physical and mental level healing in acupuncture with the late Sifu Kenny Gong in New York City. Amazed at the results, I joined the next class at the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, MD in May of 1994. Since then my passion has been helping others experience the same freedom from physical and emotional pain that I did, as well as reclaim their own health and wellbeing.
I’ve been practicing Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in Linthicum, MD since April 1998 and Annapolis, MD since 2018. I specialize in sports acupuncture, orthopedics and anxiety, and my own handmade high-quality topical Chinese Herbal liniments – 7 Stars Medicinals.
From 1999 until its closing in December of 2025 I was an Assistant Professor and Lead Teaching Clinic Supervisor at Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH). Since 2010 I’ve been teaching professional workshops to fellow acupuncturists.
Through daily meditation and spiritual practices I learned from my Guide, Sufi Master Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal ash-Shadhuli (RIP), I have been blessed to experience a little bit of the World behind the world, the World of Unity, Majesty and Love. I’ve resisted sharing what I’ve learned about this with others, but now that I’m getting older I feel compelled. As is the custom, Sidi gave me the Sufi name Noor, which is Arabic for Light.
Some of my favorite things are spending time at the beach, being on the water and traveling with my wife Khadijah, exploring new places and savoring new and unusual cuisines.
OMD, LAc
Faculty
Efrem Korngold began the practice of acupuncture in 1974 as one of the early non-Asian acupuncturists in the United States. For more than 50 years, Efrem’s contributions, via speaking, teaching and herbal formulations, and by authoring numerous articles in magazines and professional journals, contributing chapters to several books, doing radio interviews and appearing on television shows like Good Morning America, he has helped to awaken health care professionals and the public to the study, practice, effectiveness and credibility of Chinese traditional medicine in America.
Efrem first taught the principles of Chinese medicine and acupuncture to a small class of University of California (UCSF) medical students in 1974. In 1979 he developed one of the first acupuncture curricula in the country for the San Francisco College of Acupuncture; and over the course of eight years, trained a new generation of American acupuncturists. In 1991 Efrem and his partner and colleague, Harriet Beinfield, LAc, co-authored the best selling Between Heaven and Earth, A Guide to Chinese Medicine (Ballantine 1991), which has been translated into more than eight languages and found its way into more than 300,000 hands.
At the Kunming Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Institute in 1980, and the Shanghai College of TCM’s Shu Guang Hospital in 1984, Efrem received advanced training in Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture. For three years during the 1990s, he was mentored by the esteemed Chinese Vietnamese herbalist, Dr. Fang Feng, whose practice served patients in the China Towns of San Francisco and Oakland, California.
Efrem continues to practice at Chinese Medicine Works in San Francisco, the clinic he founded with Harriet Beinfield in 1988.
L.Ac., DAOM
Faculty
Dr. Joshua Laurenzi, L.Ac., DAOM, is an acupuncturist, herbalist, educator, and student of classical Chinese medicine whose work bridges clinical practice, scholarship, and classical Chinese philosophy. He has served as Dean of Programs, Clinic Director, and Professor at the Academy of Chinese Culture & Health Sciences and is currently the Executive Director of New Rivers Alliance, a nonprofit acupuncture advocacy group working to expand the use of Chinese medicine in preventative healthcare. Joshua also maintains a private clinical practice in San Francisco.
Dr. Laurenzi earned his Doctorate in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine from the Academy of Chinese Culture & Health Sciences in Oakland, California. His studies focused on classical medical theory and philosophy, clinical reasoning, and classical herbal formulation. He also holds certifications in Tuina and Western clinical herbal medicine.
Dr. Laurenzi is the author of Only Perfect Shadows: A Philosophy of Classical Chinese Medicine, which explores the philosophical foundations and cosmological perspectives underlying classical Chinese medicine. This work represents years of research into the conceptual architecture of Chinese medical thought, presenting theoretical traditions in a way that is accessible to both practitioners and patients alike.
LAc, DACM, DOMTP
Faculty
Joshua Margolis, LAc, DACM, DOMTP has been practicing manual medicine and bodywork since 1995, and acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine since 2001. His work integrates a deep understanding of anatomy, movement, pain patterns, and the relationship between the nervous system, internal organs, and musculoskeletal function.
Joshua graduated from The Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences in 2000 and the Osteopathic College of Ontario in 2012. From 2005 to 2009, Joshua served on faculty at the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences in Oakland and the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley, where he taught anatomy, orthopedic acupuncture, advanced channel theory, and pain management.
He is currently on staff at the Osteopathic College of Ontario and continues to pursue advanced osteopathic training in cranial and visceral manipulation. The integration of osteopathic and traditional East Asian medical traditions informs his comprehensive approach to treating complex pain, structural dysfunction, and chronic health concerns, and has led to the development of his Segmental Acupuncture curriculum.
Over his years of practice in the Bay Area, Joshua has developed a diverse and loyal following, including professional musicians, dancers, yogis, restaurateurs, athletes, children, older adults, and individuals managing significant chronic illness. He has been practicing in Santa Rosa, California since 2011.
DACM, Dipl. AHM (NCBAHM)™, LAc
Faculty
Grace S. Ouchida, DACM, Dipl. AHM (NCBAHM)™, LAc has practiced acupuncture and herbal medicine for 17 years. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Economics and Decision Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, before entering healthcare, and prior to that transition held management roles in the aviation industry and at a nonprofit membership organization supporting documentary filmmakers. She graduated summa cum laude with a Master’s degree in Oriental Medicine from Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, in 2009, and later earned her Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from Pacific College of Health and Science in 2020.
Grace ran a private practice in Healdsburg, CA, for 13 years and has since worked as an acupuncture provider within western medical settings, including at Santa Rosa Community Health prior to her current role at Kaiser Permanente, where she serves as an Acupuncture Provider in the Pain Medicine Department in Santa Rosa, CA. Her commitment to advancing the acupuncture profession led her to join the team negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement for Northern California Kaiser Permanente acupuncture providers. She previously chaired the Membership/Benefits Committee for the American Society of Acupuncturists (ASA) and has served on ASA’s Conference Committee for the past six years.
DAOM, L.Ac.
Faculty
Bob Quinn, DAOM, L.Ac. has been in practice since 1998, always with a focus on body-informed styles of acupuncture practice. For 12 years, he was a full-time faculty member in The School of Classical Chinese Medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR. There he taught a year-long mentorship class in Japanese Meridian Therapy. He also taught Asian bodywork classes and supervised in the intern clinic. He now teaches privately in the US and Europe, as well as for three West Coast acupuncture programs.
For 17 years Bob and a partner ran a seminar-hosting company in Portland, OR that focused on Japanese styles of acupuncture, moxibustion, and bodywork. This allowed him to study with genuine masters over an extended period. He was mentored by Jeffrey Dann, Ph.D., the developer of the Koshi-Balancing style of treatment and by Dr. Bear (Iwashina Anryu Sensei), one of the original pioneers of the use of the teishin (dizhen in Chinese). The teishin is a non-insertive tool named in the Lingshu as one of the nine types of classical needles.
Bob also teaches classical Chinese medicine dreamwork, which is based on Chapter 43 of the Lingshu, i.e., using dream images diagnostically is thoroughly part of ancient Chinese medicine. These images welling up from the subconscious realm of our patients often contain valuable treatment insights.
Yin Sotai is the name Bob has given to his style of a Japanese movement-manual art referred to as Sotaiho. It was developed in the post-WWII era by Keizo Hashimoto, MD, and follows traditional principles. In essence, Sotai and Yin Sotai reduce to a form of yin-yang manual therapy.
Bob is the author of A User’s Guide to the Teishin and Enshin: A Quiet Revolution in Traditional East Asian Medicine. It is available now in German translation; the Spanish and Italian versions will be available soon. The book can be purchased from Amazon or Blue Poppy.
L.Ac.
Faculty
Sally Rappeport has been practicing acupuncture and East Asian Herbal Medicine since 1998. She graduated from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) in New York, after which she continued her education with many practitioners including Sharon Weizenbaum, Yaren Seidman, Ed Neal, Dr. Feng Shi Lun, and many others. In 2005/6 she did an internship with Jean Giblette at High Falls Gardens concerning growing East Asian Medicinals sustainably in the US. She has served on the board of the High Falls Foundation since 2016.
A Shang Han Lun course co-taught by Dan Bensky, Craig Mitchell, and Arnaud Versluys inspired her to focus on studying the classics. Sally began reading the Shang Han Lun using multiple translations, and helped to lead a study group with Stephen Boyanton. This got her hooked on the classics and she has been focused on them ever since.
From 2016 to 2022 she helped to organize the Shen Nong Society (SNS) Conference in NYC. The SNS was focused on support for practitioners who write individualized prescriptions for their patients by introducing them to a variety of teachers. During the pandemic, many other online opportunities have superseded the need for such a gathering.
At this time Sally sees patients live for acupuncture and herbs as well as telemedicine herb consultations; she mentors practitioners with their difficult herb cases, and she teaches about herbs on the White Pine Circle platform. One afternoon each week she offers free acupuncture at a local food coop in exchange for a discount on groceries. Since her passions include cooking, baking and eating, this works out well.
L.Ac.
Faculty
Dr. Jason D. Robertson is the co-author of Applied Channel Theory in Chinese Medicine (Eastland Press, 2008) with Professor Wang Ju-yi (王居易). Dr. Robertson has studied Chinese language for 30 years and studied Chinese medicine in San Francisco (USA), Chengdu and Beijing (China). He currently maintains a private practice in Seattle, WA (USA) and has been a faculty member at the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine (www.sieam.edu) for 20 years. Dr. Robertson has taught courses on channel theory and diagnosis around the world and has been recognized by the Beijing Administration of Chinese Medicine as an official apprentice of Wang Juyi. For more information about the work of Dr. Robertson and other apprentices of Professor Wang, please see www.channelpalpation.org.
L.Ac.
Visiting Professor
Z’ev Rosenberg is recognized as one of the first generation of practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine in America. He began his practice in acupuncture and herbal medicine in 1983, after several years as a shiatsu therapist and macrobiotic counselor in Denver, Colorado and Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1984 to 1988, as President of the Acupuncture Association of Colorado, he helped spearhead the drive that established acupuncture licensing in that state.
For twenty-three years, Z’ev served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Herbal Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego, where he now holds the title of chair emeritus. He continues to teach in doctoral programs at the Academy of Chinese Health Sciences in Oakland, Five Branches Institute in San Jose, and Yosan University in Marina del Rey. He also directs the Alembics Institute, an educational institution based in San Diego, and serves on the Krupp Endowment Committee advisory board at the University of California San Diego Integrative Health Center.
Z’ev is the author of four books published over the past decade: Returning to the Source: Han Dynasty Medical Classics in Modern Clinical Practice (2018), Ripples in the Flow: Nan Jing Vessel Diagnosis (2019), Afterglow: Ministerial Fire and Qi Transformation (2022), and A Ring Without End: Nan Jing and Ling Shu Channel Dynamics, co-authored with Stephen Cowan, M.D. (2025). His writing and teaching center on the classical medical texts — particularly the Nei Jing, Nan Jing, and Shang Han Lun — as living clinical resources.
L.Ac, DAcCHM
Faculty
Nina Saraceno, L.Ac, DAcCHM is a licensed acupuncturist with a private practice in Santa Rosa, California, specializing in orthopedics, pain management and stress-related conditions. As a lifelong dancer, she brings an embodied understanding of biomechanics and the role of movement in health and recovery. She previously served as a faculty member at the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences and has more than a decade of experience in the pediatric nonprofit sector. Dr. Saraceno is also the co-founder of New Rivers Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit expanding access to preventive acupuncture services for individuals facing financial and insurance-related barriers to care.
PhD, LAc
Faculty
Phil Settels, PhD, LAc, is an acupuncturist, educator, and program leader whose career has focused on advancing the practice and teaching of Chinese medicine within both traditional and contemporary healthcare settings. His work combines a strong foundation in classical Chinese medicine, an ongoing interest in neurological and orthopedic care, and the development of clinically relevant educational programs.
Dr. Settels completed his masters and doctoral level education at ACCHS. He also pursued advanced training in Nanjing, China, where he studied under Dr. Huang Huang, an internationally recognized scholar and clinician known for his work in classical formula medicine (Jing Fang). This experience has had a lasting influence on his approach to clinical practice and education, particularly his emphasis on connecting the classical literature of Chinese medicine with careful observation of the individual patient.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Settels has been actively involved in Chinese medicine education, curriculum and program development, and the creation of learning experiences designed to bridge theory and clinical practice. His teaching interests include the history and development of Chinese medicine, and Chinese herbal medicine with an emphasis on the Shang Han Lun and classical formula traditions.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Settels maintains an active clinical career. He practices acupuncture within the Sutter Health healthcare system as well as running his own private practice, Sacramento Family Acupuncture, where he provides integrative care to patients with a broad range of health concerns.
As an educator, Dr. Settels emphasizes intellectual curiosity, clinical reasoning, and lifelong learning. He is particularly interested in preserving the depth of Chinese medicine’s traditional knowledge while encouraging students and practitioners to continually refine, question, and expand how that knowledge is understood and applied in modern healthcare.
PhD, LAc
Faculty
Dr. Philip Suger is a practitioner, educator, and scholar of Chinese medicine whose career has taken him across the United States and China. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, where he majored in neuroscience, minored in Mandarin Chinese, and competed as a Division I athlete.
After graduation, Dr. Suger moved to China to study at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Two years later, he returned to the United States to complete his master’s degree at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine before returning to China to pursue his doctoral degree at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. Over the course of twelve years of higher education, he studied with internationally respected practitioners and scholars, gaining extensive training in both classical Chinese medicine and its modern clinical applications.
Dr. Suger began his clinical career in Houston, Texas, treating patients in a busy medical center while teaching at the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He has published numerous articles in professional journals and translated Essentials of Saam Acupuncture.
He later moved with his family to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he practiced in oncology clinics and urgent care centers. During this time, he also served as a professor at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College and the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences.
Dr. Suger now practices in New England at a busy integrative healthcare center. He is pleased to bring his international education, extensive clinical experience, and commitment to compassionate, patient-centered care to the Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy.
MS, L.Ac.
Faculty
Marintha Tewksbury has been practicing acupuncture in the Bay Area for over 30 years. She received her Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1993 from the Academy of Chinese Culture & Health Sciences. Marintha has an insatiable curiosity when it comes to healing arts and continues to study a variety of modalities. She spent five years in apprenticeship with teachers of the Lauren Berry method of bodywork and four years studying Craniosacral Therapy through the Upledger Institute. She has spent 10 years studying with Sharon Weizenbaum and is certified in her White Pine Institute’s Graduate Mentorship Program. She recently completed Mazin Al-Khafaji’s Diplomate Course in dermatology in Chinese medicine and has a specialty certification from the International TCM Dermatology Association. She is a devoted follower of Toby Daly and is honored to be one of a few designated teaching assistants in Saam acupuncture for Toby Daly. She deeply enjoys her role as clinic supervisor at her alma mater, ACCHS, where she has a chance to dive into the diagnostics of Chinese medicine and nurture new acupuncturists. She is excited to take on this same role in the newly emerging Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy.
Marintha’s understanding of the body and its complex systems is also informed by the 20+ years she spent as a modern dancer and performer. She also draws inspiration from her experience of child rearing as well as her relationship to her small garden in Oakland, California.
PhD
Faculty
Sabine Wilms, PhD, is the author and translator of more than a dozen books on Chinese medicine. In addition to writing, translating, and publishing her work through her company Happy Goat Productions, she maintains an active teaching schedule around the world as a popular speaker at conferences and universities and runs the world’s only rigorous intensive training program on classical Chinese for practitioners of Chinese medicine (translatingChinesemedicine.com). Together with Leo Lok, she also hosts the “Pebble in the Cosmic Pond” podcast and runs the “Golden Koi School” as an online community to advance understanding of traditional Chinese medicine and culture throughout the world. Some of her favorite topics are gynecology, pediatrics, medical ethics, and “nurturing life.” Her publications include books on Sun Simiao’s writings on pediatrics (Venerating the Root) and ethics (Healing Virtue-Power); on the Divine Farmer’s Classic of Materia Medica (Shennong Bencao Jing); on Wang Fengyi’s system of “Five Element Virtue Healing” (Let the Radiant Yang Shine Forth and Twelve Characters); on the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, Suwen Chapter Five (Humming with Elephants); on the Fuxingjue zangfu yongyao fayao aka Tangyejing (Celestial Secrets) and on Qi Zhongfu’s Hundred Questions on Gynecology (Channeling the Moon). Two books on Sun Simiao’s teachings on pregnancy care and cultivation are forthcoming. Dr. Wilms is known for her historically and culturally sensitive approach to traditional Chinese Medicine, but also sees it as a living, effective, ever-changing, and much needed response to the issues of our modern times. She lives happy as a clam with her goats, geese, and other wild and domesticated creatures on Whidbey Island near Seattle.
Chalk art spotted in the wild ✦
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The Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy is dedicated to delivering high-quality, clinically rigorous education in Chinese medicine while providing financially sustainable and accessible approaches to professional training. We honor and preserve Chinese Medicine's intellectual and clinical traditions, support student success through thoughtful innovation, and serve the general public by cultivating skilled, ethical practitioners.
The Chinese Medicine Benevolent Academy will welcome its inaugural cohort in Fall 2027, launching a three-and-a-half-year professional training program designed for a new era of medical education. This program is built on a radically reconceived model that preserves the depth and lineage of Chinese medicine while rethinking how that knowledge is delivered, supported, and sustained.
At its core, the curriculum maintains the rigor expected of classical and modern Chinese medical training. Over three and a half years, students will progress through foundational theory, diagnostic methods, herbal medicine, acupuncture, and clinical reasoning, integrated with supervised patient care.
What distinguishes the Academy is not what is taught, but how the institution itself is structured. Rather than relying on a traditional fixed-campus model, with its significant financial overhead, the program is designed to operate through a distributed network of learning environments. Didactic instruction is delivered through a hybrid system combining live seminars and small-group mentorship. Clinical training will occur through flexible, pop-up clinic sites developed in collaboration with existing practices and community health settings, enabling students to engage diverse patient populations in real-world contexts. The Academy intends to establish clinical training relationships in hospice and end-of-life care settings, as well as observational and integrative experiences within hospital-based environments. Specific clinical training sites will be confirmed prior to the start of each cohort's clinical phase.
Administrative infrastructure is designed as AI-first. Core operational functions, including scheduling, student services, documentation management, and regulatory tracking are handled by AI-assisted systems capable of maintaining high accuracy with minimal human oversight. This reduces administrative burden while increasing responsiveness, allowing faculty to focus on teaching and clinical mentorship rather than institutional maintenance.
The result is a program that is both lean and resilient. By eliminating the cost structures that have historically burdened acupuncture schools, the Academy is designed to offer a more financially sustainable path for students while preserving the integrity of the medicine itself. The institution's current planning targets tuition of $15,000 per year for the full three-and-a-half-year program. Final tuition, fees, and the complete schedule of charges will be set forth in the enrollment agreement, school catalog, and School Performance Fact Sheet provided to prospective students upon issuance of the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education's Approval to Operate. No enrollment agreement or financial commitment will be solicited from any student before that approval issues.
This model is a direct response to the current pressures facing Chinese medical education. As legacy institutions struggle under declining enrollment and rising operational costs, new structures are required. This program represents one such structure: a viable, scalable alternative designed to ensure that the transmission of Chinese medicine continues as a living and evolving clinical tradition.