Message from the President
Lixing Lao, Ph.D.
To the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine Community:
It is my great pleasure to serve as the next president of the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine, starting October 2019. Since its founding in 2004, the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine has grown from a single-classroom and a small community of students to an institution nearing 400 enrollments. Members of the VUIM student body are provided an opportunity to select from amongst two Master-level degrees focused on Traditional Chinese Medicine (the Master of Science in Acupuncture or the Master of Science in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (MAcHM)), with each degree further offering three different languages of instruction (students are able to select coursework to be taught in the English, Chinese, or Korean languages). Moreover, students are also granted the opportunity to continue their academic pursuits – beyond their entry level professional Master’s Degree training – should they be interested in completing one of the institution’s three Doctorate degrees programs (the Doctor of Acupuncture, Doctor of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, or Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine), all of which serve students who have graduated from Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine programs from across the globe.
Over the past decade I have had the unique opportunity to observe the University’s development as a member of its Board of Trustees, lending a practictioner and academic’s perspective as the University has successfully achieved its institutional accreditation with the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. I can proudly state that we now command a strong instructional faculty with excellent backgrounds in Acupuncture, Chinese medicine and the Western biomedical sciences, who have cultivated a rich background of teaching experience over time.
The mission of the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine is to “To produce educated healthcare practitioners highly skilled in Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine, trained to provide the community with affordable healthcare services while fostering the growth and practice of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine.” Our teaching strategy is to adapt a student-centered, outcome-based approach to prepare our students to be capable and knowledgeable practitioners who are able to contribute meaningfully to the modern constructs of medicine and society at large. As the concepts of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine continue to cultivate general appeal and popularity, a main purpose of our University is to produce practitioners who not only hold the skills relevant to Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, but have also been trained in the broad-reaching concepts of the modern biomedical sciences to meet the challenges and opportunities available in today’s modern medical landscape.
In addition to our education programs, VUIM also provides clinical services to the residents of our immediate geographic region through the student interns and supervising of clinical staff at the University’s Teaching Clinic. Coupled with the professional treatment options delivered directly by our professional practitioners and their faculty colleagues, the University Teaching Clinic serves to contribute to the health and wellbeing of our local communities.
As I prepare to join the VUIM ranks this year, I look forward to working with all of you and contributing to the bright future of Integrative Medicine in this nation.
Sincerely,
Lixing Lao, Ph.D.
President, VUIM.