Our new program will offer courses that fill crucial gaps in practitioner knowledge. The focus will center on topics related to herbal quality control and cultivation, with additional courses on clinical and cultural topics. Courses on quality control will cover identification, quality discernment, and safety concerns related to Chinese herbal medicines, with attention to traditional macroscopic assessment as well as microscopy and analytical testing techniques.
Five Branches University is honored to announce that we have partnered with three prestigious institutions from China, and Hong Kong to inaugurate the first TCM Pharmacy School in the United States specializing in Chinese herbal pharmacy and quality control.
On May 31st of 2016, the inaugural ceremony of the new school was held, formalizing a cooperative agreement between Five Branches University, the Beijing Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine Company, the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Beijing Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (IMPLAD).
In an era marked by global concerns about herbal quality, safety, and ecology, issues related to herbal pharmacy represent a critical missing link in current Western training. Although many schools cover clinical Chinese herbal medicine throughout the United States and other Western nations, comprehensive programs focused on topics related to herbal pharmacy and quality control have thus far remained inaccessible to Western students.
Targeted towards the needs of Western students, the new program will offer courses that fill crucial gaps in practitioner knowledge. The focus will center on topics related to herbal quality control and cultivation, with additional courses on clinical and cultural topics. Courses on quality control will cover identification, quality discernment, and safety concerns related to Chinese herbal medicines, with attention to traditional macroscopic assessment as well as microscopy and analytical testing techniques. The broad discipline of traditional materia medica knowledge will be explored via courses that focus on bencao literature, the culture of Chinese medicine, and issues of TCM ecology such as natural resources and current progress in cultivation. New delivery forms such as granules and other prepared medicines will be covered, as well as regulatory issues related to the production and distribution of herbal medicines. Additionally, clinical topics such as specialized training on the use of herbal combinations (yao dui) and Western herbal medicines will be introduced.
The planned curriculum focuses on 14 subjects that represent an interdisciplinary balance between tradition, culture, and science. In addition to live training and field trips opportunities in California, Hong Kong, and China, online courses and continuing education courses will be available.
