Guest guest Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Good points. I always advise students to go for the best learning situation, whether an accredited institution or individual mentorship. But students often have other constraints, such as family ties, jobs, etc. But one thing is evident from this - just because a school is accredited does not mean one will receive a quality education. And I was responding to Marnae's implications that accreditation guarantees a minimum standard. If so, the minimum is pretty low. Roger > Rory Kerr <rorykerr >Re: Re: teaching aids and CEUs > >At 3:01 PM -0700 1/26/05, rw2 wrote: >>Perceiving that having an acupuncture license will make it easier to >>display credentials, he has enrolled in a well-known TCM college. >>Periodically, he contacts me to agonize over his decision. The >>clinic is run by practitioners who make basic mistakes in assessment >>( " diagnosis " ), errors that anyone who completes the first semester >>of my program would simply not make. There is no thoroughness, and >>what seems like a complete lack of understanding of differential >>diagnosis. He debates whether to continue. He is spending far more >>money on this " accredited " program than he ever did on tuition for >>my courses, and he is angry that it seems to be a waste of time, >>except for the magical piece of paper held out as a reward at the >>end. >-- >Roger, > >Clearly this person has enrolled in a poor program. Having discovered >that, and having you to advise him, why doesn't he apply to a higher >quality program? > >Frankly, if he attended the school I am fortunate to teach in, Touro >College, he would not find the problems you describe, and where he >disagreed with a teacher, would have ample opportunity to explore the >differences. I imagine that's true of other schools as well. > >Rory > ---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/ Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Bob - No disagreement here about the issues you raise regarding Mercy. Advertizing is definitely a very different issue when working within a larger institution than it is as a single subject institution. We definitely suffer from some of the same issues that Mercy probably experienced. A new learning curve for all of us. As for your earlier e-mail, I did receive it and responded to it but I guess you didn't get it. I would love to talk to you about your proposal. Give me a call at my office (631) 549-6755. Marnae At 11:35 AM 1/26/2005, you wrote: >Marnae, > >As usual, a great reply. However, I would like to respond about Mercy >College. > > " Witness Mercy College, a program that had an excellent reputation >but because of its entry requirements and the necessity of being a >full-time day student, and for all I know other things as well, the >program was not able to get sufficient students to make money. They >are now in their last year of operation, teaching out their current >students but not admitting any new students. This was not a fly by >night Mom & Pop. This was an program within a larger institution that >began with a commitment to maintaining the program whether or not it >was financially viable. " > >Having had great hopes for them and having worked a bit with them, one >of their big problems was lack of sufficient and the right >advertising. From a marketing point of view, they sucked big time. I >believe they could have made it if they had known how to promote and >publicize their program properly. They simply did not know how to sell >their unique product. Honora and I tried to talk to them about this, >but what we had to say fell on deaf ears, or they simply did not know >what to do with our advice. I also believe they hired the wrong >administrators. > >In terms of a Blue Poppy endowed Chair of OM Theory, nice idea. But >please don't think Blue Poppy has that kind of deep pockets. Perhaps >some herb and needle suppliers have, but we don't. Like most people in >this niche market, we just barely cover our cash flow keeping 11 >employees fed and housed and donating a percentage of profits to >various charities. > >(I hope everyone saw our Fall push for Heifer International. We raised >$5K for them. thanks to everyone who helped make this a reality. >Heifer was thrilled. In 2005, we'll be helping several different >organizations. For instance, this month we're underwriting an >acupuncture training course in Guatemala.) > >But I will make this offer: Honora and I would both be willing to >teach for one semester per year at a college such as Touro (in NY, LA, >or SF) if we were paid a decent wage for our time. Same semester, same >time for both of us; one school per year. For me that would mean the >pro-rated equivalent of $75K per year. You'd have to ask Honora her price. > >BTW, did you receive the e-mail I sent you last week? I sent it via >the e-mail address on the CHA list. I have another proposition for you >I'd like to discuss. > >Bob > > > > > > >Chinese Herbal Medicine offers various professional services, including >board approved continuing education classes, an annual conference and a >free discussion forum in Chinese Herbal Medicine. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 >In terms of a Blue Poppy endowed Chair of OM Theory, nice idea. But >please don't think Blue Poppy has that kind of deep pockets. Perhaps >some herb and needle suppliers have, but we don't. Like most people in >this niche market, we just barely cover our cash flow keeping 11 >employees fed and housed and donating a percentage of profits to >various charities. I just used your name as an example - I certainly understand the economics of your business! >(I hope everyone saw our Fall push for Heifer International. We raised >$5K for them. thanks to everyone who helped make this a reality. >Heifer was thrilled. In 2005, we'll be helping several different >organizations. For instance, this month we're underwriting an >acupuncture training course in Guatemala.) > >But I will make this offer: Honora and I would both be willing to >teach for one semester per year at a college such as Touro (in NY, LA, >or SF) if we were paid a decent wage for our time. Same semester, same >time for both of us; one school per year. For me that would mean the >pro-rated equivalent of $75K per year. You'd have to ask Honora her price. This sounds like a great idea - unfortunately I don't think anyone has gotten to the place where we are paying these wages yet. Maybe someday! marnae >BTW, did you receive the e-mail I sent you last week? I sent it via >the e-mail address on the CHA list. I have another proposition for you >I'd like to discuss. > >Bob > > > > > > >Chinese Herbal Medicine offers various professional services, including >board approved continuing education classes, an annual conference and a >free discussion forum in Chinese Herbal Medicine. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 All this griping has gotten us no closer to solving this perceived problem. What we need to do is create a list of the subproblems and various ways to solve them. We might even want to expand this to become a book that will help current programs as well as to be used as a handbook to start any new or future program. There is nothing like this and yet this would be both beneficial for the profession and for us as well. Later Mike W. Bowser, L Ac > " Bob Flaws " <pemachophel2001 > > >Re: teaching aids and CEUs >Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:43:05 -0000 > > >Rory, > > " Just to be clear, I'm not in favor of weeding people out at entry. >People deserve the opportunity if their desire is strong. " > >Point taken. However, once in, there should be real academic >standards, at least for those pursuing Chinese internal medicine. > >Bob > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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