Career Prospects – in the Acupuncture & TCM Profession
Since we started the College in 1983, interest in alternative forms of healthcare has grown dramatically in Ireland and elsewhere. Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine (and latterly Medical Qigong) have attracted great attention from both the established medical profession and the general public.
The demand for fully trained, fully qualified, fully insured, professional practitioners of TCM is still growing.
The undergraduate-level Acupuncture Training Course is specifically designed to provide graduates with the skills, knowledge and confidence to set up a TCM Clinic immediately after graduation and, over time, develop a thriving professional practice in Acupuncture and TCM.
Setting up a TCM Clinic
Graduates can
- practise from home on either a full or part time basis
- work in a joint practice with other healthcare providers or GPs
- work in their own private Clinical premises or within a Hospital setting.
For most graduates, Acupuncture and TCM eventually becomes their only profession and enables them to be financially successful. They can enjoy both job security and job satisfaction. Some practitioners have successfully established more than one TCM practice, spending one day a week in clinics in different locations while others prefer to work part time. Some combine part time work as a TCM practitioner with their current career.
Becoming a Member of a Professional Body
Graduation from the Lic.TCM grants automatic eligibility for entry to the Professional Register of TCM (PRTCM), the first Register of its kind in Ireland, providing support to the profession.
Other Career Opportunities
- Working Abroad – Some graduates have used their Lic.TCM as a stepping stone to working in Chinese Medicine in places such as the USA, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland and Australia.
- Teaching TCM – Some dedicated and committed graduates are offered the opportunity to train with the College as a Teacher of Chinese Medicine and may eventually progress to the role of Clinical Supervisor and have the chance of working alongside the College Director and benefitting from his many decades of TCM experience and practise.
- Chinese Herbal Medicine and/or Medical Qigong postgraduate programmes – Acupuncture TCM graduates can extend their Clinical fields of expertise by taking post-graduate programmes available through the ICTCM.