Mission  |  Board of Trustees  |  Accreditation  |  Strategic Plan  |  History  |  Publications  |  Facilities  |  Employment  |  Policies

The mission of Oregon College of Oriental Medicine is to transform health care by educating highly skilled and compassionate practitioners, providing exemplary patient care, and engaging in innovative research within a community of service and healing. 

In support of this mission, the college values:

Excellence – OCOM staff, faculty and students strive to set standards for and perform at the highest professional levels academically, clinically, and in the research program. 

Leadership – OCOM leads Chinese medicine education in the United States by developing outstanding programs of education, clinic, research, outreach and collaboration. OCOM leads by working to enhance social justice through its commitment to inclusive and diverse access to education and health care.

Healing – OCOM staff, faculty and students, consistent with the principles of Chinese medicine, understand health to be harmony and balance in Body, Mind and Spirit, and attempt to live these principles by embodying compassion, humility, passion and synergy in their daily lives and work. 

Innovation – OCOM staff, faculty and students use inquiry and discovery to support their individual creativity and inventiveness in the continuous improvement of the college and its clinical, academic and research programs.

Community – OCOM staff, faculty and students work together in a learning community that maintains traditions built upon supportive relationships, trust, heart, humor, and a commitment to lifelong learning. 

Service – OCOM provides the highest levels of effective, efficient and practical service to its students and the public.

Board of Trustees

Officers
Karen M. Williams, JD (Interim Chair)
Travis Kern, MAcOM, LAc (Secretary)
Michell M. Hay, BS (Treasurer)

Trustees
Gene G. Hong, MD, DABMA 
Brad Beavers, MBA
Laura Quinn Bueermann
Margo A. McGehee-Kelly, MD
Leah R. Yamaguchi, MAcOM, LAc

Phil Lundberg, PhD (President/CEO)

Non-voting Members
Michael Berletich, DAOM, LAc (Faculty Representative)
Maddie Foley (Student Representative)

Accreditation

Strategic Plan

2022-2027 Strategic Goals and Objectives. View PDF

History of the College

Founded in 1983, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) is a single-purpose professional graduate school that offers specialized degree programs: Master of Acupuncture (MAc), Master of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (MACM), Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM) and Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM). The college was founded by Satya Ambrose, LAc and Eric Stephens, DAOM, LAc, who first met in 1982 and discussed the need for a high-quality training program in acupuncture and Oriental medicine in Oregon.

In 1986, OCOM graduated our first class of 11 master's students and was admitted to candidacy status by the National Accreditation Commission for Schools and Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NACSCAOM). The college's first president was hired in 1988. In 1989, OCOM became only the third acupuncture and Chinese medicine college to be accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).

OCOM purchased its first campus property in southeast Portland in 1991. The college built a stand-alone clinic in 1997. In 1999, OCOM established a Research Department, becoming one of the first AOM colleges to offer research. That same year, the college was awarded the first of a series of research grants from the National Institutes of Health. 

In 2002, the college was granted permission by ACAOM to offer a Clinical Doctorate program, enrolling our first doctoral (DAOM) students in 2003. Throughout the 2000s, the college continued to build our patient base in its campus clinic and in a number of off-campus clinics and community health internship sites. The number of community partnerships in Portland and beyond continues to grow.

OCOM completed one of the most ambitious strategic goals in 2012 with the relocation of our campus from our former southeast Portland home to the historic Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. The current campus, an LEED Gold certified remodel of a historic hotel building, places at OCOM in the center of Portland, providing multiple opportunities for students, staff and faculty to partner with and explore the Portland community.

Since the college's inception, its MAcOM program has graduated more than 1,500 students, and currently has alumni practicing in 50 states. OCOM's DAOM program, with more than 130 alumni, has educated many leaders in the field of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, including a number of academic officers at other institutions.

Recently ranked the number one college in the nation for earning a degree in acupuncture (by thebestschools.org), OCOM's academic programs provide students with a solid foundation in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, therapeutic massage, and qi cultivation, as well as a focus on collaboration between Chinese medicine and Western biomedicine.

 Publications Archive

Learn more about OCOM, acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the pages of our college publications. Browse the online Publications Archive containing our Viewbook, academic catalog, OCOM Bulletin (subscribe to our newsletter!), and annual reports.

 Facilities

The college’s campus was originally built in 1910 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Renovated in 2011, the LEED Gold certified project incorporates aspects of feng shui and energy efficient features to create a more intentional learning environment to support the well-being of our students, staff, faculty, and patients.

• OCOM Clinic is a 17-room teaching clinic on the 4th floor of our campus building, serving patients who live and work in the downtown area, as well as individuals who commute into and through the central city.
• OCOM Herbal Medicinary is the largest traditional Chinese herbal medicinary in the Pacific Northwest and serves the college’s teaching clinics, practitioners and their patients, students and the public. Like the OCOM Clinic, it is conveniently located in our downtown campus building.
• Along with our primary clinic and medicinary, the college's campus houses classrooms, the OCOM Library, our Research Department and all administrative staff and faculty offices. Our ground-floor KPC Community Room is an accessible, multipurpose space dedicated to large-group events and classroom activities. The KPC Community Room and other campus spaces are available for short-term rental on an as-available basis. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• OCOM Hollywood Clinic serves our Northeast Portland and eastside residents.

 Employment Opportunities

Oregon College of Oriental Medicine is an Equal Opportunity employer, dedicated to the science of medicine and the art of healing. Explore current employment opportunities available at the college.

 Policies and Consumer Information

Public statements on OCOM's policies of Nondiscrimination, Title IX, FERPA, HIPAA, Informed Consent and Patient Privacy Practices, and others. Read more