Introduction by Yun Kim, CEO Emperor’s College
Yun Kim, CEO Emperor’s College
It was a pleasure to sponsor the American Association of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine Student Organization Leadership Conference that took place in May 2012 in Chicago. As an acupuncture school, Emperor’s College is committed to advancing the profession and actively shaping the future of the medicine.
We share those goals with the American Association of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) which is dedicated to the promotion and advancement of high educational and professional standards in the practice of acupuncture and Oriental medicine in the United States.
It’s exciting to see that so many acupuncture students are passionate about the future of the profession and take time out of their busy study schedules to make sure that the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM) will continue to evolve in the US and become more accessible to patients.
Passionate about advancing the profession
Erika Schultz, who serves as a board member of the AAAOM Student Organization, was among the students that traveled to Chicago for the first ever AAAOM Student Organization Leadership Conference. Here’s her insider report:
By Erika Schultz, Graduate Intern at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine
Erika Schultz
As a student I have completed just over two-thirds of my formal training, and I devote numerous hours to advancing my knowledge in the health care field. Outside the classroom, I reflect and often write about the importance of advancing the acupuncture & Oriental medicine profession during this time of health care reform.
As a former leader in corporate America, I appreciate the dedication and skills required to effectively organize and build a budding profession in order to make the medicine available to more people and provide safe and quality care to patients.
Serve patients better
That’s why I was very excited when I had the opportunity to join over 25 other students from various AOM schools at the AAAOM Student Organization Leadership Conference in Chicago. I was blown away by the bright, talented and warm-hearted people who are the future of this profession.
These emerging leaders took the time out of their busy graduate program schedules and found the resources necessary to make it to this event to further develop their skills. They showed true commitment and passion to developing themselves in order to serve patients better.
Likewise, the efforts of the numerous professionals who donated their time to lead students through sessions covering research, ethics, marketing, finance, insurance billing, and Chinese herbal medicine were phenomenal. Professional leaders from AAAOM and other national professional organizations shared invaluable knowledge with students. Many schools and organizations, like Emperor’s College, sponsored the event in order to make the conference more accessible.
Acupuncture as an essential health benefit
The meeting of AOM students and leaders comes on the heels of another significant accomplishment made by the AAAOM’s Essential Health Benefit (EHB) task force. The AAAOM set up an EHB task force to pave the way for making acupuncture more accessible to patients.
After running a national letter-writing campaign to the office of Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA), the group was able to deliver over 23,000 letters to the Department of Health and Human Services advocating for acupuncture as an essential health benefit.
With acupuncture as an essential health benefit, patients would have access to more treatment options and medical specialists that can address a wide range of conditions, including disease prevention.
Without doubt, the future looks bright for both practitioners and patients, who ultimately benefit from the care provided by these dedicated professionals.
Erika Schultz is a graduate intern at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine in Austin, Texas. She can be found on Twitter @AcuInternErika, on LinkedIn and at Paramount Wellness.