Location

Main Campus Building

SIEAM is based in one main campus building in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. The low-cost student clinic and all in-person classes are held here.

Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine
6363 7th Avenue South

Seattle, WA, 98108

Externship Clinic Sites

Students have the opportunity to work at a few different clinic locations in the greater Seattle area.

Trimester Schedule

The Master’s schedule is full-time, and SIEAM is on the trimester system. Each trimester is 15 weeks long.

Fall — September to December (15 weeks)
2 Week Break

Winter — January to May (15 weeks)
2 Week Break

Spring — May to August (15 weeks)
3 Week Break
There is no long Summer break.

All classes are taught in-person unless some classes and herb clinics are migrated online for Covid or other safety precautions.

Weekly Schedule

Students are in scheduled class and clinic time for about 25 hours total per week. The estimated amount of time that students spend on studying and homework is about 15-25 hours per week. This adds up to about 40-50 hours per week spent on SIEAM studies total.

The schedule varies by the term. Students receive the schedule for the following term about 6 weeks before the next term starts. Most scheduled class and clinic times fall between 8am-5pm on weekdays, with some weekday evening clinic shifts and 1-2 weekend workshops (9am-5pm) per term.

Here are sample schedules for a recent Fall term.

Working During School

Many student choose to work while they’re in the Master’s program. Some find it difficult to work while in school and keep up with the curriculum. This depends on the individual student’s circumstances. Students who maintain work during the program often work about 4-8 hours per week at a low-stress job where the schedule can flex around SIEAM’s fixed schedule.

SIEAM has some limited work-study positions for clinic Patient Care Coordinators (PCCs) who help patients check in and out during clinic shifts in SIEAM’s low-cost student clinic at the Georgetown campus building.

Year 1

The first year of instruction focuses on students gaining insights from experienced faculty in clinic and academic instruction, and introducing students to the fundamentals of both classical and contemporary traditions of East Asian medicine.

For the MAcEAM and DAHM students, this training continues throughout the remaining years of the program to enable them to utilize Chinese herbal formulations and to access Chinese medicine texts.

Year 2

Clinic — All students in the second year participate in clinical practice with acupuncture and related modalities. Student interns practice in a team approach to provide acupuncture, herbal medicine and bodywork under the supervision of key faculty, who have been their mentors in their academic instruction. They will have weekly clinical preceptorship with experienced herbalists on the SIEAM faculty.

Year 3

In the third year of SIEAM programs, the learner engages with the various clinical conditions and diseases commonly seen in contemporary clinics from both eastern and western perspectives.

Clinic — The clinical internships include offsite training assisting patients in community clinics, drug treatment centers, and other specialized patient populations. At this point, interns largely practice “solo”, being responsible for all aspects of patient care with oversight by SIEAM’s clinical supervisors. Students work in integrated clinics combining acupuncture and herbal medicine and have coursework on herbal therapies for the range of clinical conditions likely to be seen in clinical practice.

Courses — Students broaden their understanding of the health care system, its histories, and the legal and business necessities of practicing in the field today. They continue their Chinese language studies through the translation of case studies and texts relevant to the clinical conditions they study.

Accreditation

All programs offered at SIEAM are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM) and lead to licensure in Washington state as well as states around the country.

SIEAM graduates are not eligible to sit for the California state board exams. SIEAM is in process of seeking California state approval. Approval of the application is not guaranteed. Graduates are currently eligible to sit for the NCCAOM board exams, enabling them to work in any state except California.

What makes SIEAM unique?

Abroad

SIEAM does not have any study abroad programs at this time. However, some SIEAM faculty visit local and international communities regularly to provide care.

After Graduation

What do students do with their degrees?

• Start a private practice.

• Work at a small bodywork clinic.

• Work in a mainstream hospital.
  If you’re strongly considering working in a mainstream hospital, check out the doctorate program.

• Make an herbal product line.
  Highlight! Check out SIEAM graduate Gabi Masek’s herbal products.

• Teach qi gong.

• Educate.

• Write and translate.

• Provide other public health services.

• Work on a cruise ship.

• Volunteer locally.

• Volunteer abroad.
  Highlight! Check out this program started by SIEAM graduate Grainne McKeone.

Tuition

Students are eligible to receive financial aid loans for all SIEAM programs. To see specific tuition rates, visit Tuition & Financial Aid page.