Acupuncture and TCM students
Your programme asks for hundreds of pages of theory. This course turns them into a path you can walk a little every day, and tests you along the way, right up to your theory exams.
Study course in Chinese medicine theory
Understanding TCM is one thing. Remembering it is the challenge.
From Yin-Yang to recognising patterns, one picture at a time. Every lesson centres on one diagram, you practise with cases and explained questions, and the flashcards plan your reviews for you.
Free trial, no account needed. Then a one-time payment, no subscription. Works on laptop, tablet and phone.
The Five Elements, as in module 1. Point to an element: green is the generating cycle, red the controlling cycle. Every schema in the course works like this.
103one-hour lessons
1,744practice questions with explanations
2,157spaced-repetition flashcards
8modules, each with a practice exam
How a lesson works
The picture first, then the core, then practice until it sticks
Lesson 1 Practice
A long fever has left someone dehydrated and thin; now their hands and feet feel hot at night. Which Yin-Yang relationship do you see?
Pick an answer.
Every question explained, every lesson a caseTry lesson 1
The picture first
Each lesson opens with one schema that carries the whole lesson. Made for people who would rather see than read.
Know by heart
At most seven lines you really need to know, each with a mnemonic. Everything else is reference.
Flashcards that come back
What you find hard comes back more often; what you know, ever later.
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Further reading
For every lesson, the pages to look up in the reference book, with the reading time.
Red flags first
When to refer to a doctor first, and where students most often go wrong.
A visual lab
Yin and Yang on sliders, the Five Elements as a network, tongue and pulse, the twelve channels and a consultation simulator. Plus a daily planner for the time you have, tests and a certificate on successful completion.
Who it is for
For anyone who wants to know TCM and remember it
Practitioners
Refresh your theory, sharpen your pattern differentiation, or finally learn the language your colleagues use. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to keep it alive.
Doctors, physiotherapists and other clinicians
Understand how your TCM colleagues or patients think. Every lesson has a bridge to physiology, with an evidence grade for each claim. Read TCM alongside your own field without mixing the two up.
The method
Learning that sticks
Rereading feels like learning; testing yourself is what sticks. That is why this course is built on how learning demonstrably works, and does the planning for you.
Retrieve, don't reread
Practice testing and spaced repetition are the two study techniques with the strongest evidence (Dunlosky et al. 2013; Cepeda et al. 2006). That is why every lesson ends with case questions and every flashcard returns after ever longer intervals; what you got wrong, more often.
One picture per lesson
Once you have it as a picture, you can retrieve it; the text around it is reference.
From complaint to pattern
Not cramming lists but reasoning: why the same complaint can point to different patterns, and which finding tips the balance. Every module ends with a practice exam drawn from all its lessons.
Your reviews are already planned
No need to track what is due. Every day your stack is ready with exactly today's cards; a wrong answer sends a card back to day one. The complete course adds an exam trainer with mock exams and the same cards as an Anki deck.
The path
Eight modules, from the fundamentals to the clinic
Pick the modules you need, or take all eight together at a bundle discount.
- 1Available
Foundations 基
How does an acupuncturist think, and in what language? 21 lessons plus a practice exam.
- 2Available
Organs 脏腑
What exactly does each organ do, and what goes wrong when it fails? 12 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
- 3Available
Causes 病因
What throws someone out of balance, and how does a cause turn into a clinical picture? 4 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
- 4Available
Diagnosis 诊
How do you get from looking, asking, feeling and listening to a pattern? 9 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
- 5Available
Patterns 证
Do you recognise not just the 19 core patterns but the whole field, and do you see how they shade into one another? 19 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
- 6Available
Points 经穴
Why does an acupuncturist choose this point, and what can it do? 20 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
- 7Available
Treatment 治
How does a pattern become a treatment plan, and how do you defend that plan? 9 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
- 8Available
Clinical practice 临床
Can you think a complaint through in TCM language from start to finish, with the red flags and the evidence alongside? 9 lessons plus a practice exam. Buy this module ($49)
Pricing
The whole course for $2.42 a lesson
Pay once, everything included, and fourteen days to decide whether it is right for you.
Launch price until 28 February
TCM Campus complete
$249 one-off
From 1 March $299. Bought separately: 8 modules at $49 plus the print set is $411.
- All 8 modules: 103 one-hour lessons, from the fundamentals to the clinic
- 1,744 practice questions with explanations and 8 practice exams
- Bonus: smart exam trainer: remembers what you got wrong and has you practise exactly that, with timed mock exams
- Bonus: Pattern lab: recognise over 200 patterns by tongue, pulse and signs, and tell neighbours apart
- Bonus: Point atlas: nearly 300 points to look up and practise
- Bonus: 2,157 flashcards, also as an Anki deck
- Bonus: print set with every summary and card (separately $19)
- A test for every module and a final test, with a certificate on successful completion
- Continually improved and expanded, at least five years of access
- 14-day money-back guarantee
Module 1: Fundamentals
$49 one-off
First an overview of the whole subject, in 21 lessons. Upgrade later: what you paid counts.
- Yin-Yang, substances, Five Elements, Zang-Fu
- The 19 core patterns, tongue and pulse
- Channels, point categories, thirty core points
- The visual lab, a practice exam and a module test, with a certificate on successful completion
Single module
$49 per module
Modules 2 to 8, for when you only need the part you are studying now. You buy by topic; a module has 4 to 20 lessons.
- Every lesson of that module plus the practice exam
- Certificate on successful completion of the module
- Upgrade later; what you paid counts
Prices in US dollars. Gumroad, our reseller, handles payment and adds sales tax or VAT where it applies; you get a receipt straight away. Pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal. You receive your personal link by email within a minute. A study companion alongside your programme.
New
Tongue and Pulse
A standalone course of 36 lessons in tongue and pulse diagnosis, with illustrated tongue examples, animated pulse models and a visual trainer. You don't need any other course for it. Try two lessons free.
Old and new
Centuries-old wisdom, with the knowledge of today.
For two thousand years TCM has looked at the whole: how sleep, digestion, mood and season hang together, and which pattern lies underneath. Today's physiology looks at mechanisms: the nervous system, hormones, inflammation, and when something needs a doctor today. The two do not explain each other; every lesson shows where they meet and where they do not. Whoever studies or treats now needs both. With only one you miss the whole; with only the other you miss the risk.
That is why every lesson has two sides. First classical TCM, with the terms programmes and the literature use: clear enough to understand, deep enough to prepare for your exam. Then the bridge to physiology: what research does and does not show today, with an evidence grade for every claim, and the red flags you must never miss. Accessible, without dumbing down.
The material is continually improved and expanded based on feedback. Missing something, or see something that could be better? Email us: once checked, it goes live for everyone.
FAQ
What people want to know first
Do I need a textbook?
No. Everything you need to know is in the lessons, and every lesson stands on its own. If you want to read further, the course introduction tells you which book is useful as a reference, and every lesson shows the pages that go with it.
Does this replace an acupuncture programme?
No. This is theory. There is no needling technique, point location or herbal dosage in it, and the course does not qualify you to treat. Pulse and tongue are learned under supervision.
Will it help with my theory exams?
It covers the theory of the foundations in depth and trains recall with cases and spaced repetition, which is what theory exams test. It is not an official exam preparation of any board or school.
Which devices does it work on?
Any modern browser: laptop, tablet and phone. You get one personal link; bookmark it.
Where is my progress stored?
In the browser you study in, not on a server. There is no account and we cannot see what you do. With one button on your overview you save your progress as a small file; with it you restore it on another device or after clearing your browser data. The course reminds you now and then, and the lessons always stay available through your link.
Are all modules available?
Yes. All eight modules are ready and you get access to what you buy right after payment. The material is continually improved and expanded based on feedback; updates appear in your link automatically.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes, on successful completion. Every module ends with a 15-question module test, and the complete course with a 40-question final test. Pass every test with at least 70 percent and mark every lesson as done, and you create your certificate in the course: with your name, the date, the study load and a reference, to print, save as a PDF or add to your LinkedIn profile. You can retake as often as you like, each time with different questions. It confirms you successfully completed the course; it is not an accredited qualification.
How long do I have access?
As long as TCM Campus exists, and at least five years. Improvements and additions are free.
Can I upgrade to the complete course later?
Yes. Right after buying module 1 you are offered the upgrade for the difference. Later works too: email us and what you paid counts.
Is there a group or class discount?
Yes. Ordering with five or more classmates? Email us for a 15 percent group code. Teachers can request a code for their class.
What about refunds?
Within 14 days of purchase you get your money back, no questions asked: reply to your receipt or email us. Not sure yet? Start with the free trial: three complete lessons.
Free
The 19 core patterns in one overview
Recognition, tongue, pulse and principle for the patterns every student needs to know, as a PDF. Plus a note when a new module is out; nothing else.
Start with lesson 1 today
Three complete lessons and a taste of the visual lab, free and without an account.