Neijing Nature-Base Medicine:

Graduate Training Program (2023)

with Dr. Edward Neal, MD

AN IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION OF THE THEORETICAL AND CLINICAL FOUNDATIONS OF NEIJING MEDICINE AND THE PRACTICE OF NEIJING CLASSICAL ACUPUNCTURE

About the Program

The Neijing Nature-Based Medicine Graduate Training Program has been taught and continually refined for over fifteen years.

In the course, a variety of teaching approaches are used to capture the best aspects of online learning with in-person traditional mentorship and text-based training. The entire course consists of one year of online learning experience with fourteen days of in-person clinical teaching divided into two clinical retreats.

Developed in collaboration with experts in online medical education, the online lecture series consists of four academic quarters with ten learning modules in each quarter. Each academic quarters covers a a different topic.

1ST QUARTER

Introduces the basic principles and terms of Chinese medicine by studying the Neijing descriptions of nature and the cosmos

2ND QUARTER

Introduces basic clinical principles, including Neijing models of anatomy and physiology

3RD QUARTER

Basic clinical principles are introduced, such as Neijing needle techniques and diagnostic approaches

4TH QUARTER

Special topics are discussed such as the treatment of emotional diseases and guest-host pathogens and the special concerns of practicing medicine in the time of climate change

Each week a one-hour recorded lecture is released on our Canvas LMS learning environment to be studied at the student’s own pace. During the week students participate in online forum discussions, and each Sunday a one-hour live session is conducted via a Zoom meeting with the teacher to discuss the week’s lecture and address questions that arose during the week. All classes and meetings are recorded for those living in a different time zone or whose schedule precludes attendance.

Dr. Edward Neal teachingTeaching is focused on learning through text readings using translations provided by the teacher. During the class an emphasis is placed on the understanding of language and the study of important characters. No previous knowledge of Chinese language is necessary. For a complete summary of the course curriculum see the Curriculum tab below.

While theoretical skills and principles are learned in the Online Lecture Series, practical skills are learned in two 7-day Clinical Retreats. These include an in-depth study of Neijing anatomy through direct evaluation of the twelve rivers systems of the body, the study of specialized diagnostic skills and an introduction to beginning level Neijing needle skills and clinical problem-solving. The clinical retreat training is offered in both the United States and Europe and students may take the course in either location interchangeably.

While it is possible to register for the Online Lecture Series and Clinical Retreats separately due to scheduling or other constraints (for example by taking the Online Lecture Series one year and the Clinical Retreats the next) it is emphasized that successful completion of the full training requires participation in both of these sections.

The Neijing Nature-Based Medicine: GRADUATE LEVEL TRAINING PROGRAM is accredited for 80 PDA POINTS (CEU) FOR CLASSROOM TIME and 84 PDA POINTS (CEU) FOR CLINICAL TIME through the NCCAOM.

This course is formerly known as “Neijing Studies”

Schedule

  • Course Begins: September 3, 2023
  • Early Start Access registration opens July 16, 2023
  • approx. 24 months to complete

Objectives

  • Learn a detailed understanding of the key concepts and theories of the Huangdi Neijing.
  • Learn a strong foundation for lifetime learning in the Chinese medical classics.
  • Learn a detailed overview of the clinical and diagnostic techniques of Neijing classical acupuncture.
  • Learn a solid foundation for advanced clinical studies that begins in the second and third year of training.
  • Build a solid foundation for advanced Neijing research and teaching (if desired)
  • Engage with instructors and other students from around the world in a dynamic, online classroom environment.
  • Build lasting relationships with like-minded students and colleagues interested in Neijing classical medicine.

Program Information

Curriculum & Schedule

Full curriculum details and week by week schedule

Cost, Payment Information & Scholarships

Tuition information, payment plans, and scholarship opportunities

Clinical Retreats

Learn about our 7-day in-person clinical retreats to support your studies in the Online Lecture Series

Policies, Instructors & FAQs

More about our course policies, who is teaching, and some frequently asked questions

Sign up to stay informed

The course is expanding to a 2-year program! The updated information will be released soon. Stay tuned – add your name to our list.

THE NEXT TRAINING BEGINS SEPTEMBER 2023
EARLY START REGISTRATION BEGINS IN JULY

Apply for a Scholarship!

Scholarships are available for those in need and who meet the criteria. Please explore the pricing page for more information and to submit your application once registration is open.

What People Are Saying

PRAISE FROM STUDENTS IN PAST COURSES

I found this course to be very inspiring to my career in viewing Chinese medicine as both art and science. I also have been looking for more depth and width in my understanding and practice of Chinese medicine. This course has helped me to recalibrate my thinking and perceptions with the natural world’s processes, rather than the mechanical view I was indoctrinated in since childhood. Needless to say, it has been the much desired paradigm shift I was looking for.

Robert N., acupuncture practitioner, Neijing Studies, 2020-21 course

We highly recommend studying Neijing Nature Medicine with Dr. Neal!

Every week we looked forward to a new lecture. Dr. Neil is a remarkable one-of-a-kind teacher and his research, translation, and application of Huangdi Neijing is awe inspiring!

It was a fantastic class! Not only did we learn a lot about health and illness, in unexpected ways it helped us to become grounded in this time of pandemic, global warming, and rampant chaos.

Hirsh and Jennie D., Neijing Studies, 2020-21 course

This class is full of big ideas. Dr. Neal has pulled together so much information and somehow put it together into a digestible format in this class. For me, this class has nourished my soul in a way that I didn’t know it was longing for. Over the years, as an acupuncturist, there have been times that I wish I could go through school and relearn things through the lense of my 20 years of experience. This class gave me that and so much more. I was hesitant, at first, to commit to a full year of Sundays. Now being on the tail end of this, I am so grateful that I took the plunge. It was easy to make the space for the class, because it was so interesting that I really looked forward to it every week. Dr Neal brings a wealth of experience to this forum and graciously shares it with his students.

This class has deepened my understanding of what I am doing, as well shifted my paradigm to one that makes more sense. I look forward to attending the next practicum, as well as continuing my studies of Nei Jing Nature based medicine.

Jill B., acupuncture practitioner, Neijing Studies 2020/21 Course

This course gave me back the wish of studying Chinese medicine for the rest of my life. I was looking for something like this years before I knew this course’s existence.

Luciano S., acupuncture practitioner, Neijing Studies, 2020-21 course

This was the most comprehensive acupuncture training I have ever participated in but the course goes well beyond that into a reframing of the entire medicine (and view of the world) through the lens of the Neijing. This class has renewed my appreciation of the depth of our medicine and given me new ways to view the world around me from cosmological, to environmental, political and personal events to the day to day experience of working with patients in clinic.

The time spent in this class has deeply changed how I see the world and medicine and I believe it is something that is very needed right now both for our profession as well as in the world at large.

Eli S., acupuncture practitioner, Neijing Studies, 2020-21 course

Early Start Access

EARLY START ACCESS is a way to gain advanced access to the online classroom and the foundational material months before the course begins.

Your Early Start Access registration deposit is applied to the tuition cost, regardless of the payment option you choose. You’ll gain access to an academic semester’s worth of foundational lectures (the first 10 recorded lectures from the previous course), and then proceed with fresh material and lectures when the full program begins.

EARLY START ACCESS BEGINS AT REGISTRATION

Note: Early Start Access deposits are non-refundable.

More Testimonials

PRAISE FROM STUDENTS IN PAST COURSES

The clinical practicums in Spain and France 2019 changed my practice of acupuncture completely. I enjoyed the link between the 2,000 year old Neijing and modern anatomy. I loved learning old needle techniques. I felt well supervised when I treated myself and I experienced the big effects of the treatments that I received. It was great to spend all this time together with Ed and the wonderful group of all very professional practitioners. I am very grateful for this special experience.

Claudia H., acupuncture practitioner, 2019-20 course

The Nei Jing Level 1 class is a magic school bus ride into the roots of Chinese Medicine and the Universe at large that will blow your mind! Dr. Neal is the Kung Fu Panda Papa Smurf I never knew I needed. Fundamental questions about the Universe that have been subversively itching my brain for years have been answered but in such a way that just gives me the tools to understand them. I still have to do the work which is how real learning is done. The kind of learning that imprints in your bones and permeates through your every breath. This allows you to breath the medicine and treat with your whole being not just solve a puzzle. Dr. Neal and his assistants have made me feel throughout this process that they are absolutely invested in me personally understanding these principles of life and medicine. They are supportive, kind, dedicated, and simply amazing people. I feel blessed to have found them and have them as part of my community.

Amituofo 阿彌陀佛
(in recognition of your infinite light)

Lukas

Taking this course has fundamentally changed the way I look at acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, and the human body. Neijing medicine is a beautiful and grounded explanation of how the laws of the natural world influence our health and offers a tangible clinical understanding of how our bodies are an extension of our environment. The material, while expansive in nature, is presented in a well-organized and accessible way. Taking part in this program goes far beyond learning a few tools to add to your clinical toolbox; it’s given me a new perspective of what it means to be a practitioner of Chinese Medicine and an incredible community to explore this profound medicine alongside.

Lina B., acupuncture practitioner, 2019-20 course

The Neijing Medicine program has transformed my view of the human body all together and how truly revolutionary the practices of ancient Chinese medical physicians are for modern day society.

Dr. Neal’s translations and understanding of the Neijing text gives practitioners in the field of Chinese medicine a differing perspective on how to treat illness in the body that produces remarkable results.

I look forward to continuing studying Neijing Medicine theory and utilizing the treatment approaches in my future practice. Thank you to Dr. Neal and the unparalleled work he has done to help us understand the Neijing text and how to better ourselves as healthcare practitioners.

Stephanie H., acupuncture practitioner, 2019-20 course

The Neijing Practicum provide indispensable knowledge and understanding about the “Neijing body”, practical skills and needle techniques.

Back home in my practice I started to look at my patients with Neijing eyes.

Franziska K., acupuncture practitioner, 2018-19 course

Studying the Neijing with Dr. Neal has been like peeling back a curtain. His translation of the Neijing is remarkably straightforward, yet shines a new, modern light on what I’ve come to realize is a rich and still-relevant classic text. I came away from the course with a deeper understanding of the very basic principles of Chinese medicine and also its vast complexity. I think this richness and beauty of our medicine can too easily be undervalued or even dismissed altogether in any modern practice–no matter how successful—and what I once viewed as somewhat archaic and cryptic has instead become an inspiration and axis around which my work now revolves.

A.G., acupuncture practitioner, Acupuncturist, Member - Oregon State Medical Board; 2018-19 course

I have been in practice for over 15 years as well as teaching Chinese medicine philosophy, theory and practice. Dr Neal”s course has been an eye opener, as he talked about many areas I had wondered about, but mostly as he combined my interests in philosophy and classical Chinese and rooted Chinese medicine firmly in the classics. He then proceeded to apply it… Amazing!

D.W., Acupuncturist, Teacher

Dr. Neal has a gift for teaching. From the first 5 minutes listening to him, I could tell that I was about to have my whole world flipped upside down. His lectures are beautifully crafted as he takes unbelievably complex material and relays it in a way that a 6-year old could understand it. I began this class looking for ways to hone my treatment skills, but what I got out of it was so much more. Dr. Neal opened my eyes to how nature works and how the universe patterns itself and that is a gift for which I am forever in gratitude. He is absolutely inspiring. He is definitely an inspiration to me.

Joseph, acupuncture practitioner, 2017-18 course

This class brought it all together for me. I got plenty of techniques and protocols in school, but there has been a gaping hole in my soul craving the “why?!” and this class cuts right to the heart of it all. Dr. Neal doesn’t shy away from the “why?!” question for a moment; instead he goes right into it. Everything is explained in a way that is rooted and makes sense, and somehow because of that it all becomes even more magical! The ancient Chinese were looking at the same body that we are looking at today! Why in the world would we not approach Chinese Medicine like they were looking at the same thing we are looking at? Where did we get so far off-track that most Chinese Medicine graduates can’t confidently answer basic questions like “What is qi?” and “What are the jingmai?” Dr. Neal is rocking the Chinese Medicine world right now by asking the “why?” question and I am so glad that he is. Chinese Medicine theory and practice has never made more sense than it does now and I can very confidently look patients and other practitioners (Western and Eastern) in the eye and tell them exactly what I’m doing and why it makes incredible sense. Thank you so much, Dr. Neal. You have completely changed my practice and opened up a whole world for me. I’ve never been more excited about practicing Chinese Medicine.

J.F., acupuncture practitioner, clinic director, 2019-20 course

As a student I can say if you are feeling like school is becoming rote and Chinese medicine is a prescription based, automatic procedure, please, take this course. It will revive and nourish the very reason that brought you to school. In my second year I found myself doubting the medicine I had once loved. Where was the elegant and complex theory of our earth and cosmos? Where was the intricate vision of how we are inextricably bound to its subtle and vast movement?

When I saw Dr. Neal’s introduction to this course I knew I had rediscovered what originally brought me to this medicine. The most powerful techniques available to us reside in our mother text. The Neijing is at once pragmatic and cosmic. Each class is an illumination.

Dr. Neal is an unparalleled lecturer. He does not waste time in unhelpful tangents. He is clear, concise, and artful in his explication of incredibly difficult concepts. He is a treasure to our medicine.

Finally, the practicums accelerated my ability far beyond my expectations. It is incredible to watch Dr. Neal as a clinician. His skill and grace with patients imparted a sense of confidence that I lacked. Now I I am able to see critical issues in patients that I previously overlooked. And this is only the basics of the first year!

This course will change your life. It will revive in you the possibility of being the practitioner you always wanted to be.

P. G., acupuncture practitioner

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