A doctoral program in acupuncture?!

Yours truly recently read an article on PCOM’s website, titled:  Pacific College’s Doctoral Program gets Glowing Reviews in First Semester (link:  https://www.pacificcollege.edu/acupuncture-massage-news/articles/591-pacific-colleges-doctoral-program-gets-glowing-reviews-in-first-semester.html).  A doctoral program in acupuncture? ? ?  I’ve never even heard of such a thing in China, where acupuncture originated.  This must be something incredible, amazing and wonderful all rolled into one!  I’m going to put on my thinking cap and go over this with you.  Maybe it’s worth $32,000 of additional [worthless] debt.

Ok, so the article starts off with praise on how excited students are about the program and how skilled and versatile they are.  Then they interview Greg Sperber, MSTOM PCOM ’97, who is one of the first students in the program.

Greg who?

Greg Sperber, you know, the former president of California State Oriental Medicine Association (CSOMA).

Why should I know him?

Oh, there was an article about his lame response to very serious allegations of financial improprieties way back when in Acupuncture Today:  http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/CSOMA/

What makes you say his response was lame?

Check out the letter he wrote:  http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/CSOMA/CSOMA_ATQuestions_060623.pdf

Getting back to the topic at hand…

Ok, ok.  So, Greg Sperber says that the MSTOM doctoral holders will have more clout with the FDA.

HAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Maybe Robin Tiberi, PCOM ’95, is a more credible interviewee.   According to her, she feels like she can communicate with anyone about Chinese medicine.

Robin needs to pay $32K for a doctorate degree on top of her Masters before she feels confident enough to speak about Chinese medicine?  This is a really sad woman.

Jack Miller, the President of Pacific College is also interviewed.

Well, honestly, what’s he going to say other than rub his hands together that PCOM will be earning MORE money from these suckers and charlatans?  It would have been more credible to interview people from the FDA to confirm/deny Greg Sperber’s hyperbolic statements.

After reading the article, there’s not a lot of critical thinking that goes into introducing the doctoral program.  What did these people really learn for $32K?  How much did it improve their income?  Do patients really lean towards doctoral degree holders vs. regular acupuncturists?

Plenty of UNPAID internships to go around at PCOM. Paid jobs? Does Minimum wage count?

Plenty of UNPAID internships to go around at PCOM. Paid jobs? Does Minimum wage count?

A friend of mine recently received an e-mail blast from ‘career’ services at PCOM offering paid massage positions in NJ.  I’m blogging about this because paid positions from PCOM are almost unheard of.  My friend responded and received a curt response from Cynthia Neipris that the position is only open to current PCOM students.  Is that why it was sent to the alumni distribution list?  I guess even though she graduated PCOM, has an NJ massage license and is eminently qualified doesn’t count for much when PCOM has to parse out jobs because career services sucks.  

That being said, I’d like to bring your attention to the NYT article that recently came out regarding the pushback employers are receiving when they depend on unpaid internships.  People who peruse the PCOM NY job boards probably have to scroll for a few hours before finding PAID (minimum wage) jobs and then scroll until their computer equipment gives out to find anything remotely above minimum wage.  Why would students pay $200K for a degree that only nets them unpaid internships and minimum wage jobs? 

That brings me to my next topic:  Gluttony.  I think there are 2 kinds of gluttony in this world.  Honest gluttony (where you treat yourself well from the fruits of your labor) and repugnant gluttony.  Repugnant gluttony is what I feel PCOM NY engages in because they scam students into believing that they’ll earn a decent living when they graduate while charging them an arm and a leg.  Employees at PCOM (I really hold the career services department to be the main culprits) are really fat (metaphorically, if not physically…but sometimes both) from repugnant gluttony.  

From the horse’s mouth

From the horse’s mouth

Check out the CAM series on bliptv on the realities of acupuncture school and the earnings potential upon graduation.

I always thought that the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine was one of the shittiest schools (disclaimer:  I’ve never attended any other acupuncture schools for comparison) but apparently, Oregon is providing some stiff competition.  I’m not sure if the granola coast has anything on NYC when it comes to living expenses but if these students are talking about 6 figure debts (100K or more) OCOM must be raking it in.

 

Actually, this entire series is worth watching:  http://blip.tv/community-acupuncture-network

 

How terrible that this woman, on top of trying to make a living, also has a social justice imperative to save people from the clutches of acupuncture school.

Bananas for acupuncture school

Bananas for acupuncture school

Has anyone read about Henry Gribbohm?  He’s a 30 year old who spent his life savings trying to win an x-box Kinect (retail value is roughly $300) at a carnival.  So, some $2600 later, he walked away with a giant stuffed banana with dreads.

Yes, you guessed it.  I am comparing acupuncture students to Henry Gribbohm; poor saps who are spending the equivalent of a home mortgage to get a degree that is worthless.

Who wins in the game of acupuncture:

• Acupuncture schools
• People in the continuing education racket
• accrediting boards
• purveyors of acupuncture related materials
• NOT YOU

I saw an online exchange recently that made me just shake my head.  Poster 1 posted her shock at how much she owed in student loans.  Poster 2 advised her not to worry and just sign up for IBR — that she did it and her payments are less than $200/month.

Photos of Poster 2 showed a woman in her late 40s/early 50s.  Is Poster 2 aware that she is announcing to the world that she earns less than $20K/year??  Don’t be THAT WOMAN ( a majority of acupuncture students are female).  Run, don’t walk, from acupuncture school if financial security holds any meaning for you.

 

An acupuncture school with tuition at $6K per year

I just learned of some very inspiring news!  The folks over at POCA are getting together to start up their own acupuncture school in Portland, OR.  Tuition (not including biomedical clinical science prerequisites) is targeted to be a set $6000 per year.  Check out http://www.pocatech.org.

Hopefully, the success of this program will enable it to be replicated and brought to NY.  This model school makes one wonder where all the $$$ padding is going at schools such as Pacific College of Oriental Medicine…$6K in tuition at POCATech versus $20K+ at PCOM.

Now that’s money in your pockets, folks 🙂

I liked this co…

I liked this commentator’s view from the trenches so much that I’m reposting as an public service message.  Keep in mind that acupuncture schools will pretty much accept ANYONE with money — even if they clearly can’t cut it intellectually.  I find this to be absolutely ‘ABHORRABLE’*!

Posted by goodmedicineforbadschools on July 2, 2012 at 5:59 pmedit

Thank you for the blog post. I think it is worth mentioning the behavior of those people in the acupuncture business making the largest incomes. These slicksters are engaged in businesses that have very little to do with the work of practicing medicine.

When the slicksters nominally practice acupuncture, they aim to hold onto wealthy clients who come in for relaxation, the quest to look younger, and their egomaniacal belief that they should be giving birth to children at an age when AARP is inviting them to join. They also sell their own lines of supplements, and work the seminar circuit for the sake of fleecing acupuncture students, other acupuncture practitioners, and the general public.

A very clear picture emerges when one spends enough time spent observing this profession. The person who has made a killing through acupuncture spends very little time treating disease and a great deal of time lifting wallets.

Real medicine is real work, western or eastern. The acupuncture schools, the (non-community) practice of acupuncture, and all the associated slimebags charging a fee to the student who has suckered themselves into this hell, are definitely not preparing people for work. The environment at acupuncture schools tells all. These businesses are demonstrating the parasitism, lack of professionalism, lack of regulation, and generally unhealthy environment that is the acupuncture business.

Denial of reality among students and acupuncturists is intense – and self-serving for the schools. Many students seem unable to accept that the schools are private businesses making money off of them. Basic reality is that acupuncture schools give their scam victim students, most of whom are unprepared for work in medicine, an abysmal education and a license to enter into a profession full of sleazy Sinophile con-artists. And then we all get to pay off the loans we took out to buy this bridge.

*’abhorrable’ is a made up word a PCOM acupuncture student used because she didn’t have the vocabulary to properly express herself.  For more details, see my post titled Katie Tintz’s response when I followed up on Jason Morris’s suggestion.

Updates from the trenches — how real acupuncturists are living

I count myself very fortunate in that I got fed up with the garbage classes being shoveled out by Pacific College of Oriental Medicine [relatively] early.  You know it’s bad when you’re paying over $1,000 per class and you can’t help but compare it to the Learning Annex/University of Phoenix Online in course quality.  On top of that, you’re in a class environment where ‘western’ medicine is the big, bad bogeyman out to trample on the underdog that is Eastern medicine.  Even one defense of western medicine or questioning this line of thinking is enough to turn the wrath of the fanatics upon you, as they sagely nod and agree over how the evil ‘that establishment’ is.

Acupuncture is not a cure-all (despite one teacher actually telling the class that it can cure cancer — HONEST TO GOODNESS!).  It’s neither mystical nor magical.  If you gave the average Chinese or easterner a choice between western medicine and Chinese medicine, they’d probably go for western medicine.

In any case, I’d like to share with you 3 real life stories of L.Acs I know and how they’re living (I am protecting their identities so am being purposefully vague):

1)  35 year old acupuncture grad — got incorporated, business accounts set up, and seriously looked into starting her practice.  Unfortunately, after the 6 month grace period, student loans became due and she had to find a real job to afford the $800 or so a month to pay them back.  If she didn’t have a partner helping her out financially (that’s right, she is NOT financially independent), she’d be in default.

2)  28 year old acupuncture grad — spent the first year or so trying to make a living in NYC before giving up.  He had a small handful of clients but not enough to sustain him.  After selling as much of his belongings as he could, moved out of state to try and practice acupuncture in a less crowded location but still can’t make a living.  He is thinking about going back to school.

3) 40 year old acupuncture grad — not earning enough to live on as an acupuncturist so subsidizing with work as a massage therapist and also selling products on the side.  Even all of these activities are not enough to rent her own space.

If you think that having a massage license on top of the acupuncture license will give you an edge that you can fall back on, think again.  While my massage therapist friends are faring better than the acupuncturist friends, not a single one of them can afford their own apartment.

New updates from the trenches — more reasons to avoid attending acupuncture school

I just read the updated POCA articles below (thanks Shauna!).  Can we say u-g-l-y?  People who invested a  fortune in an education with the goal of helping others are having a hard time getting by.

I define a good standard of living as being able to live a life relatively free of financial stress,  feeling prepared should misfortunes fall and being able to look after oneself.

The majority of acupuncturists don’t have this standard unless they work at exploiting other people (think acupuncture schools, the way I’m thinking about Pacific College of Oriental Medicine).  How many school administrators are laughing their way to the bank as earnest students and graduates mortgage their futures to an overpriced education with zero job prospects?  I say zero job prospects because $35K per year, which seems to be the average annual salary of an acupuncturist in 2012 (according to the posts below) DOES NOT AFFORD ANYONE A GOOD STANDARD OF LIVING (the reason for working in the first place).

Let’s say it again:  AVOID ACUPUNCTURE SCHOOL.

https://www.pocacoop.com/james-restons-appendix/post/guest-blog-dollars-and-sense-information-for-prospective-acupuncture-and-or

https://www.pocacoop.com/james-restons-appendix/post/dont-go-to-acupuncture-school

https://www.pocacoop.com/james-restons-appendix/post/replicability-and-the-economics-of-practice

Student Loan Debt and a Lifetime of Poverty

Can you imagine being 24 years old and owing $70K?  That’s what Chelsea Grove owes for her aborted education at Bowling Green State University.  Please read the NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all) and see how people need to live in order to pay their student loan debts.  Now imagine doing it at 28…or 34…or 45…and then imagine living that way for 10 years or longer.  Then imagine that once you’re free from student debt, you’re pretty much starting from scratch…at age 38…or 44…or 55…when your peers have passed this point and are so much ahead of you.  Is this a reality that’s appealing to you?

As unfortunate as this scenario is, it’s a very likely future for Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) students.  If you’re set on pursuing this dead end future, ask the hard questions:  what job postings are available for acupuncturists?  how many postings for paid internships are there?  What’s the backup plan if I can’t make a decent salary as an acupuncturist?  How will I fund my retirement?  Read the POCA acupuncture community forums and see what they say about jobs, salaries and the profession (https://www.pocacoop.com/).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Protect Your Money: Did you know?

This posting is for the PCOM massage students as a brief addendum to the previous ‘Protect your Money’ post.

The PCOM Massage program costs approximately $30K for a 4 semester, 64 credits program.

Did you know that you can complete the same program at Queensborough Community College (part of the CUNY system) for about $6K?  It’s a 60 credit program which also prepares students for NYS licensure.  That’s $24K in SAVINGS (the equivalent of a nice car, a down payment on a home or a great start to an emergency savings account).

Though I am unsure, the credits MAY be more easily transferred or applied to other programs since CUNY is a GREAT school system.