Reservations:

Course Overview: 

• Approved 8 hours NCCAOM PDA credit

• 9:00am-6:00pm (1 hour lunch)

With proper organization, western physiology and eastern physiology combine seamlessly to advance our understanding of human physiology overall.  Ancient Chinese and modern scientists all observe the same creature, so the systems of both medicines would be expected to be compatible when understood properly. Through the lens of evolutionary biology, and through more robustly developed language, we can raise the level of discussion about classical Chinese medicine from ungrounded theorizations back to the level of the scientist-philosopher-physician.

The purpose of this seminar is to present a model for the integration of Chinese and Western physiologies that will help practitioners find language and a solid basis from which to express the core concepts of Chinese medicine, and yet not lose the complexity and elegance of the system.  Biomedical models for acupuncture’s mechanisms tend to hinge on sub-cortical, reductionist mechanisms including local neuronal connections, endogenous opioids, local chemical mediator release, or placebo mechanisms.  Practitioners of Chinese medicine often yield to ‘energetic’ justifications of the practice in order to avoid facing questions that demand more concrete explanations of the physical basis for acupuncture.  This class will bring the worlds together to empower the practitioner in all aspects of care, and help raise the level of conversation about how powerful classical theory is, and how it can inform all of medicine moving forward.

Objectives: 

 ·       Frame Chinese medical theory through the lens of evolutionary biology.

·       Recognize postural correlates to the acupuncture channels, and synthesize these correlates with functional neuroanatomy.

·       Apply this foundational knowledge to the primary channels and organs, and recognize how western neurology predicts the presence of the acupuncture channel system.

·       Improve treatment protocols by application of the model both through qi gong exercises and clinical scenarios.

Bio: 

Dr. David W. Miller, MD, LAc is the founding Medical Director for Pediatric Integrative Medicine with the University Hospitals Connor Integrative Health Network and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.  He is one of the only physicians dually board certified in Pediatrics (American Board of Pediatrics) and Chinese medicine (NCCAOM - National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine).  Prior to joining the UH Connor network, Dr. Miller was in private practice with East-West Integrated Medicine, LLC in Chicago, Illinois for 15 years, and saw patients of all ages for holistic and integrative care. 

Dr. Miller has designed curricula in masters and doctoral programs in integrative physiology, pediatrics, medical communications, and public health and is an active participant and leader in numerous state and nation medical associations.  He is the founding Chair, and now Immediate Past Chair, of the American Society of Acupuncturists www.asacu.com, and immediate past-Chair of the NCCAOM board development committee on Biomedicine. 

Dr. David W. Miller, MD, LAc