LCTA ESTABLISHES COLLABORATION WITH LEADING TCM COLLEGE IN ARIZONA

24/02/2010

LCTA recently signed an agreement with the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture (PIHMA). Strategic Development Director, Susanna Dowie, explains:

“One of the projects I have been working on since I changed roles, is the development of relationships with TCM colleges abroad. The world is getting smaller and TCM is a common language, crossing language and geographical boundaries. Many of our students either come to study here from abroad, or express a desire to practice in other countries once they qualify, but often they need additional qualifications to be able to set up practice. Our aim is therefore to facilitate the transfer of expertise internationally through collaborations with foreign colleges.

“We visited PIHMA in July and I was astounded by how similar it is to LCTA. It is a bright, interesting and modern college that was set up 14 years ago (not long after LCTA) by President and Founder, Catherine Niemiec. PIHMA shares our views and teaching ethos and it was fascinating to travel so far and discover a college with a set-up so close to our own and in such vibrant surroundings.

“Earlier this term, Catherine visited us and we agreed on an open exchange of policies, procedures and curriculum. We are working together to develop an exchange programme for students and ultimately aim to create a mechanism to enable our graduates to obtain the necessary State qualification to practice over there and for PIHMA graduates to do likewise in the UK. We are also looking at the possibility of a collaborative TCM research initiative.”

“We are very excited to be working with an institution that is so in tune with us and we look forward to developing a close relationship with Catherine and her team.”

Information on PIHMA can be found at www.pihma.edu.

Traditional Herbal Medicine College LCTA Teams Up With Leading American School

One of the UK’s leading schools of acupuncture training, LCTA have teamed up with the only nationally accredited school in Phoenix, the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture (PIHMA) in an exciting bid to develop relationships with foreign schools which teach the same methodology.

Strategic Development Director, Susanna Dowie, explains: “The world is getting smaller and TCM is a common language, crossing cultural and geographical boundaries. Many of the students at LCTA either come to study here from abroad, or express a desire to practice in other countries once they qualify.  Our aim is therefore to facilitate the transfer of expertise of traditional Chinese medicine internationally through collaborations with foreign colleges”

The visited PIHMA in July and were astounded by how similar PIHMA is to LCTA. The schools share views on cultural ethos and teaching philosophy; emphasizing the advantages of interactive teaching and practical hands-on experience with the Chinese medicine courses. The team was fascinated to discover a college with a similar set-up to their own and in such vibrant surroundings

Both schools have signed an agreement involving an open exchange of policies, procedures and the curriculum. Their current project is developing an exchange program for students who would like to pursue careers in Chinese medicine abroad. Long term, this will hopefully enable graduates to obtain the necessary State qualification to practice herbal medicine in the United States and for PIHMA graduates to do likewise in the UK.

This is an exciting an innovative move for both institutions, helping to promote the study of acupuncture, tui na massage, herbal medicine and qi gong training. A spokesperson for LCTA says that they “look forward to developing a close relationship with Catherine and her team at PIHMA, the potential to spread the knowledge and methods that we teach is exciting for us as such a minority institution”.

For more information on courses available at LCTA visit the website on www.lcta.com. The team can also be contacted via telephone on +44 (0) 20 8446 3332 or email college@lcta.com.