Our History

The Reason for Founding the Institution

The Chicago College of Oriental Medicine was founded by Dr. Yong Gao Wang. This college was his response to the limited exposure in the Midwest to the centuries-old practice of Oriental Medicine and its contemporary applications. Both the East and West coasts have experienced an increased trust and demand for this alternative medicine approach to support holistic health and promote healing. Both areas of the country have responded with the growth of several Eastern Medicine colleges, while Chicago currently has only two.

As CCOM’s Chancellor and Founder, Dr. Wang has experienced the positive effect of Eastern medicine firsthand. He was both a student and a physician in China, and is currently a practicing acupuncturist in Chicago. He felt compelled to expand Eastern Medicine as an alternative practice option to support wellness as a complement to western health care delivery. The vehicle needed was trained practitioners.

Dr. Wang and his colleagues incorporated the Chicago College of Oriental Medicine. He began assembling subject matter faculty and developing the partnerships needed for both acupuncture and Oriental Medicine degree-granting programs. He has been building a solid educational organization that promotes wellness through the practice of clinical diagnosis, acupuncture, and other forms of alternative therapy.

Rooted in Chicago’s Chinese Medicine Community

CCOM’s story extends beyond its founding vision. Long Huynh, L.Ac., CCOM’s Vice President of External Relations, is a third-generation Chinese medicine practitioner whose family has practiced acupuncture and dispensed Chinese herbal medicine in Chicago for over forty years — through Nam Bac Hang, the family’s Chinatown herbal pharmacy that has served as a trusted community resource for four decades, and Acupuncture Healing Center, Long’s own acupuncture practice in Chinatown.

Long’s decision to invest in the school was personal. When his family began studying at CCOM, watching them walk their own path in Chinese medicine gave Long a clearer sense of what he wanted the family’s legacy to become — not something to pass on within the family alone, but something to share with every student ready to walk the same path. Where Nam Bac Hang and the family clinic bring Chinese medicine directly to Chicago patients, CCOM does the same for the next generation of practitioners. Long’s commitment ties that longer arc together: helping new students discover TCM the way his family did, and inspiring them to bring it into their own communities.

“Flexible class time will not interfere with your current job. There are expert teachers and helpful admission officers. We engage in supervised clinical practice within the first year. The teachers help prepare us for the NCCAOM license exams. Acupuncture has good prospects. Right now is the best opportunity to come learn at CCOM.”

— Current Student