Our Strategic Pillars
Colorado Chinese Medicine University’s strategic pillars articulate the core principles that define our educational mission, medical framework, and institutional direction.
Together, these pillars express how CCMU understands clinical excellence, how it is taught and evaluated, and how it is sustained over time.
They are designed to function as a coherent framework—guiding long-term decision-making while remaining adaptable to evolving educational, clinical, and regulatory contexts.
Pillar 1 – Clinical Effectiveness as the Core of Education
CCMU defines the success of Chinese medicine education by clinical effectiveness—measured through root-level resolution, long-term stability, and restoration of internal regulation rather than short-term symptom relief.
Pillar 2 – Qi-Based Medicine System: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention
CCMU advances a Qi-based medicine system in which diagnosis, treatment, and prevention are guided by the continuous assessment of Qi regulation, with pulse-based evaluation serving as a central clinical feedback mechanism.
This Qi-based medicine system provides the clinical framework through which CCMU’s commitment to root-level, long-term clinical effectiveness is operationally supported.
Pillar 3 – Education and Clinical Training
CCMU develops an education and clinical training model, anchored by doctoral-level (DAOM) education, designed to cultivate advanced clinical judgment and integrative reasoning, ensuring that students are prepared to deliver root-oriented, long-term clinical effectiveness in practice.
Pillar 4 – Clinical Practice and Research Integration
CCMU integrates clinical practice with reflective research and outcome observation to continuously examine, refine, and strengthen its commitment to root-level, long-term clinical effectiveness.
Pillar 5 – Institutional Capacity and Sustainability
CCMU strengthens its institutional infrastructure, governance, and faculty development to ensure that its educational mission and commitment to long-term clinical effectiveness can be sustained and advanced over time.
Statement on Scope and Application
These strategic pillars are intended to articulate CCMU’s institutional orientation and long-term priorities. They do not prescribe specific clinical techniques, instructional methods, or individual practices.
Rather, they serve as a shared framework through which educational programs, faculty development, research initiatives, and institutional decisions are aligned with CCMU’s mission, accreditation standards, and professional responsibilities.
Learn how these strategic pillars shape our academic programs, including the DAOM and master’s degrees.
