We are very pleased to announce that Emperor’s College has signed an academic affiliation agreement with the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration (VA), one of the largest VAs in the United States, serving 80,000 veterans. Under the supervision of Dr. Jeremiah Krieger, an Emperor’s College alumnus who is the first licensed acupuncturist to be hired on staff at the Greater Los Angeles VA, Emperor’s College DAOM students will treat patients in the PTSD/Mental Health Clinic starting in 2023. Deans Jacques MoraMarco and Bruce Gustafson will also supervise the DAOM students. This is a historic partnership that we have been working toward for over a decade. In 2017, the VA system launched its “Whole Health” initiative, bringing complementary and integrative health (CIH) therapies to veterans. To date, the VA has approved eight CIH therapies as part of the standard VA medical benefits package: acupuncture, biofeedback, clinical hypnosis, guided imagery, massage therapy, meditation, Tai Chi/Qigong, and yoga. The VA stated that the decision to offer these therapies was based upon “mounting evidence of the effectiveness of these therapies for many conditions that, in turn has led to their inclusion in national pain management guidelines and strategies, increasing demand from Veterans, increasing need to offer non-pharmacologic pain management strategies to counter the opioid epidemic, and significant support from Congress and VA leadership.” The “Whole Health” initiative is truly a remarkable program for the largest integrated medical system in the United States. We express our gratitude to Dr. Krieger and to Dr. Kirsten Tillisch, Chief of Integrative Medicine at the Greater Los Angeles VA, for their commitment to bringing acupuncture services and the highest level of care to our veteran community. We also thank the numerous Emperor’s College faculty, staff, and alumni who have volunteered at the veteran outreach events over the years, including at the Los Angeles Veterans Standowns, the Women’s Veterans Summits, and the West Los Angeles Veterans Health Fair. Finally, we recognize all the veterans currently attending Emperor’s College who are dedicated to becoming brilliant healers and to bringing health and
Emperor’s College student, Ricky Williams, will be one of the contestants on CBS’s Celebrity Big Brother. Williams, college football’s 1998 Heisman Trophy winner, played professional football in the National Football League for 12 seasons, most notably with the Miami Dolphins. In 2015 Williams was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. After his professional football career, Williams traveled around the world and during that time realized that he was a “healer hiding in a football player’s body.” In 2017, he entered the Master’s Program at Emperor’s College, pursuing a graduate degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine. The CBS reality TV series Celebrity Big Brother is a competition series where contestants live together in a specially-constructed house and are continuously monitored by live television cameras. Contestants are unable to communicate with the outside world and during their stay engage in a variety of activities and tasks that are designed to test their individual abilities, their teamwork skills, as well as their community spirit. On a regular basis, one or more contestants are voted out of the house until only one remains and is declared the winner. Celebrity Big Brother airs in prime time on CBS several nights a week during the course of the competition. Follow Ricky Williams on Instagram at @Williams, and on Facebook at @TheRealRickyWilliams. #winrickywin
Emperor’s College interns (and Acu-Dude) were thrilled to participate in the first-ever Daniel Webster Middle School Health and Wellness Fair. Several hundred 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at the school learned about a variety of health and wellness topics from a number of healthcare providers, including about acupuncture and Oriental medicine from Emperor’s College clinical interns. The college was joined at the event with Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, St. John’s Child and Family Development Center, CCALAC Americorps Health Fellows, and others. “The children were engaged, having fun, and asking excellent questions!” Emperor’s College Clinical Education Coordinator, Janel Gehrke, LAc, said. “Community outreach events like this have such great value; the kids have the opportunity to learn about possible options associated with healthcare, and our interns get to get out into the community and share our medicine with a group that is unfamiliar with it. Learning to clearly communicate what we learn in the Master’s program is a great challenge for many interns, but is imperative for building an educated patient population and integrating this form of medicine into the current medical model. Webster Middle school was the perfect place for them to practice speaking about an ancient form of healing in terms that anyone can relate to.” Gehrke added. If your Middle School or High School is planning a health & wellness fair and you would like Emperor’s College to participate, please contact the college’s Public Affairs Department here.
Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine interns and alumni treated dozens of women military vets at the 2018 Women Veterans Wellness Summit held March 9th in Los Angeles. Emperor’s College was the only school of acupuncture and Oriental medicine invited to create and operate clinics at the event and is honored to have been selected to be of service to the amazing women that attended. The event was dedicated to the health and wellness of women veterans and featured keynote speaker Dolores Huerta, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association. To learn about opportunities for veterans to receive free and low cost acupuncture treatments in the Emperor’s College community acupuncture clinic visit www.emperors.edu/military-vets/ Emperor’s College is committed to serving the veterans community of Los Angeles and is the leading acupuncture and Oriental medicine service provider to military vets in the United States. For more information about the college’s veterans clinic, educational and community initiatives, please contact the Emperor’s College Office of Veterans Relations at 310.453.8300 ext.115.
