Texas Health & Science University

Very good professor (no doubt) but it is just too old facility. If you are not okay studying at 80 degree during 102f outside… Do not register this school. But i love the professors in this school. They are so good !

I’m writing this review as a student of Texas Health and Science University.
I will begin by saying that the faculty do have the very best intentions. However, their execution is lacking in many important ways.
1. Faculty are more concerned with making sure you are comfortable and having an «easy» experience than really challenging you to learn. Very little –if any– work is assigned outside the classroom. Any learned educator knows how critical hard work is to mastering a subject. At the very least, faculty should assign readings that correspond to their lectures, but they don’t.
At the beginning of the term they encourage you to spend $ 500-​$ 600 at their bookstore, piling up foundational texts for modern TCM, only to ignore their existence for the remainder of your term. These books *are* useful, but they are not being put to use by the educators, who rely exclusively on powerpoint. A better approach would be a synthesis of lectures, readings, assignments, and challenging work that forces the student to *engage* with the material. A graduate school that doesn’t require research, papers, homework, or reading is not really doing its job.
2. You will be memorizing things you don’t understand. It is more important at this school that you retain information than that you truly understand it. This is reflected in the teaching from day one. There is very little discussion of «why» TCM medical theory operates as it does. Why does Blood house the Mind? Why do Clean Qi and Food Qi combine in the Lungs to produce Pectoral Qi and how does that actually aid respiration and heart activity? Either the professors don’t know, or they’re worried they’ll confuse you — either way, you have to know that Clean Qi and Food Qi combine in the Lungs to produce Pectoral Qi — you don’t get to ask «why?» or «what does that even mean?»
3. For an acupuncture school there is actually very little health conscientiousness compared to other schools I’ve visited. I’ve been to many schools (not as a student) and this is the only one I recall not having a functional cooking area, or an air of collective appreciation for healthy food. This is partially because we’re in Austin, and partially because cultural differences in the emphasis/​importance we give to health-​foods. A good many students at this school are from China or Taiwan — Papa John’s pizza parties and Americanized Chinese take-​out are norms here, whereas other schools I’ve been to have a greater emphasis on bringing and sharing healthy food from home.
Here’s what’s great about the school:
1. The facilities are beautiful — simple — elegant — homelike. It’s satisfying to walk into this school. The classrooms are comfortable, functional, and transitioning to higher technology.
2. The faculty do care about you. Like I said, sometimes this isn’t enough. But it is more than you will find at some other schools.
3. The board passing rates are quite high — well above the national average.
4. It is one of the cheapest acupuncture schools in the U.S. — and in its price range it is among the absolute best.
5. There are some really fantastic students here. All students take breaks together one an hour — a great time to meet up with friends.
6. The student clinic is beautiful. It has a separate facility down the street from the school and is a beautiful place to work and practice your skills.
7. The student practitioners are top-​tier. Acupuncture is a craft that can take decades to master — the fact that the students are as proficient as they are in the clinic says something about them and the instructors.
8. Five-​dollar acupuncture treatments for all students — that’s an amazing deal. Plus 15% off herbal formulas.
My advice to faculty:
— Integrate more real-​world, real-​life experience into your lectures. Make the information relevant to us. Stand up more often. Move around the room. It’s hard to feel inspired when you spend entire three hour lectures sitting at a computer reading from a powerpoint.
— Realize that your students have come to TCM school to be awed and inspired, and that that will drive their success. Try to meet students with the same enthusiasm they are bringing to you. Even if you have been doing the same thing for a decade, TCM is probably new to most students.
— Share your own love and experience with the students.
— Be up front about TCM’s limitations — Chinese Medicine was originally deeply connected to Daoism, one of the most fascinating and scientific lineages of spirituality ever on our planet. Modern TCM is completely devoid of that. There’s a world of difference between board eam material and real TCM — its your responsibility to make those differences clear.
— Provide more real-​world modern-​language explanations for things. It takes blind faith or real understanding to understand how «phlegm mists the mind.» Clarify!
New Students: CAM is your Board Exam book — it is the skeleton of TCM. Giovanni is more flesh and blood. Read the latter.

I think this university is awesome! Great faculty, staff, and students! It’s a great place to grow!

As a graduate from TCTCM, I can say I believe I was blessed with a great education and believe I had absolutely wonderful instructors in TCM. For acupunture treatments, unless you go with community treatments it’s a great price and it gives students a chance to perfect their skills. I liked trying treatments from different people. It gave me an idea of who I might refer clients to but of course when you find someone that gives an excellent treatment for yourself it’s hard to change. Keep in mind, as each clients needs are different so are the skills of the practioner. Everyone has different gifts to offer and we just have to find which ones match up the best ;) Enjoy!