Delivery of TCM services to Patients in the Acute Care Setting
ICIM designed and implemented the first Traditional Chinese Medicine Residency at Highland Hospital in 2012. In 2023, these inpatient services will be offered at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland. Through the TCM Residency program, Integrative Medicine clinical services are offered to populations that otherwise might not be able to secure them.
In Highland Hospital our all-volunteer team of licensed acupuncturists treated 720 inpatient (bedside) and clinical patients, the vast majority of whom were low-income and receiving government-assisted healthcare. Our pioneering efforts earned us the accolade of being the first Integrative Medicine Program in a public hospital in the United States and established a new set of hospital protocols designed explicitly for acupuncture treatments in a western hospital setting.
In January 2023, ICIM in partnership with Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, California, is offering a two year TCM Integrative Medicine Residency Program. Alta Bates serves a population of 587,090 in the Northern Alameda County region, where close to 17% of residents live in poverty, a higher proportion than in Alameda County overall. Our patients experience shorter hospital stays, fewer re-admissions, and decreased patient pharmaceutical consumption. Our patient-care services increase patient satisfaction and improve quality of life while stretching scarce hospital resources exemplifying how integrative Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine form a powerful partnership that significantly benefits patient and community health.
Qi Gong for People Living with Cancer
ICIM has been offering Qi Gong for People Living with Cancer at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2009. These classes are taught by Grandmaster Dr. Alex Feng PhD, OMD, LAc every Tuesday at 6:30 pm by Zoom. To register and receive the link, please send an email to info@thetaoistcenter.com.
Classes are free and suponsored by Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.
Qigong is a gentle, mind/body exercise integral within Chinese medicine. Theoretical foundations include Chinese medicine energy theory, psychoneuroimmunology, the relaxation response, the meditation effect, and epigenetics. Research supports that Qi gong has positive effects on quality of life (QOL), fatigue, immune function and cortisol levels, and cognition for individuals with cancer. There is indirect, scientific evidence suggesting that qigong practice may positively influence cancer prevention and survival. The elements of Qi Gong include slow mindful exercise, easy to learn, breath regulation, meditation, emphasis on relaxation, and energy cultivation including mental intent and self-massage.
Dr. Feng builds on a lifetime of studying and practicing Qi Gong and TCM. These approaches to health have existed over 4000 years; recent scientific studies have demonstrated broad benefit of regular Qi Gong practice to physical, spiritual and mental health.
Qi Gong Classes at Alta Bates Summit Comprehensive Cancer Center
