Master of Acupuncture Student
September 2005

"One day during an acupuncture treatment, lying on the table with needles in, in one millisecond I thought, 'Wow! I want to do this in retirement. Wow! I want to do this now.'" That was a breakthrough moment for Dr. Warren Morganstein, dentist and former associate dean of the University of Maryland Dental School.

"Originally I didn't believe in acupuncture - how were acupuncturists trained, anyhow? But when my asthma got so bad and my meds weren't working, someone finally recommended an acupuncturist who was also a doctor and neurologist and who satisfied the 'Western scientist' in me, and I decided to give it a try!"

Wondering what he could do with acupuncture as a dentist, Warren asked his practitioner, "Do you treat anyone with temporo-mandibular disorders? How much success do you have?" "Not good," his acupuncturist replied, "about 70 to 75 percent." "Not good?" thought Warren. "It's great!"

Then came his next question: "I want to start practicing acupuncture as soon as I can - where can I be trained?" The first answer was to go to Beijing; but with a family here, Warren decided against training in China. His acupuncturist suggested another option: the Medical Acupuncture for Physicians program at UCLA Medical School. "I'd also heard about Tai Sophia from many people - that it was a great school - and it was close to where I lived," Warren says. "So nine years ago, when I was looking into acupuncture, I went to an Open House at the Institute. I met Bob Duggan and talked to him about practicing acupuncture and getting the training I needed. When I asked if I could do Tai Sophia's program by coming in one day a week, he explained that it wouldn't work with the structure of the program. Then he said, "Go do the UCLA program. You'll be here when the time is right and you're ready."

Warren immediately applied to UCLA, the first step in a journey that now includes Tai Sophia - a journey greatly enriching both his professional and personal life. With a chuckle he reports, "My wife, a psychotherapist, said she was glad I was getting in touch with my 'yinner' self."

After completing the UCLA Medical Acupuncture program, Warren began teaching in that program and practicing acupuncture. He also continued his work at the University of Maryland Dental School. Several years later, in July 2005, when he retired from his 34 years as the school's associate dean, Warren determined it was finally the right time for study at Tai Sophia. He now spends Wednesday and Thursday in classes at the Institute; Monday and Tuesday in his new role at the University of Maryland Dental School as director of the Dean's Faculty program to bring in volunteer faculty members; and Friday mornings in Towson, Maryland, in his private acupuncture practice (mainly for oral and craniofacial pain and disorders). He also serves as a clinical faculty preceptor in the UCLA Medical School Acupuncture program. To top it off, he is a proud husband, father, and new grandpa.

"Tai Sophia is already helping with my teaching at UCLA and my practice," Warren says. "I look more at health, more on what's working right than on what's wrong - and I project that to my students, fellow faculty, and patients. Also, I'm imparting to them the importance of being a teacher with one's patients, to helping patients become better observers of their own life."

Warren says that even though he knew where the acupuncture points were when he entered Tai Sophia, "I've learned an incredible amount in point location classes." Then he points to his most challenging learning at the Institute: "It's how and where I embody my responses to both phenomena and stories. I'm a beginner at using my senses. My body has been asleep for 60 years, and now I'm beginning to nudge it awake.

"After graduation, I hope to be able to maintain a relationship with Tai Sophia," Warren says, "perhaps through teaching or in some other capacity."

Lincoln Tran

Master of Acupuncture Student
January 2005

"My acupuncturist was a great inspiration for my choice of acupuncture as a career. She showed me that I didn't have to go to medical school to make people better, and that I could be in control of my practice and free time." Recalling that she was a graduate of Tai Sophia, Lincoln went to the Institute's website and submitted an application from Germany. Three weeks later he was enrolled. "The admissions staff was terrific," he says. "They were able to answer my questions, and happily and promptly sent me all the information I needed. I felt tended, as though I was their highest priority. 

"I love what I'm doing, and I am continually grateful to have the opportunity to study here. I value this community. Everyone is like family, and I know that my voice is heard in any circumstance. Being at Tai Sophia has brought me back in touch with my body and with nature. My perspectives have widened, and I am enjoying this voyage - a voyage in self-learning and in the art and mystery of healing."

Tangela Bass

Master of Acupuncture Student
September 2002

While Tangela Bass earned a biology degree, she helped pay her expenses by babysitting for an acupuncturist. In that job she was introduced to acupuncture and also discovered that she wanted to continue working with children. She was curious about acupuncture, and when she asked her employer to explain it, he told her the best way to find out was to have a treatment.

And so the seeds were planted . . . After completing her degree in South Carolina, Tangela moved to Arizona, and within a year changed her mind about becoming a physical therapist or physician's assistant. She decided she wanted to go to acupuncture school and, later, to specialize in pediatric acupuncture. When she went online to research possible places to learn the skill of acupuncture, Tai Sophia Institute kept popping up. On the Institute's website she saw the quote, "Find your inner strength." It made her think, "I want that for myself." She applied on the spot. Without having seen the school, she decided to move to Maryland and become an acupuncturist. Tai Sophia's admissions office advised Tangela to visit the Institute, and she did so, attending a Redefining Health weekend workshop. A little unsettled by the seminar, she thought, "Oh, my, this means I have to change the way I think." Yet as she reviewed what she had learned that weekend, along with other information about the program, she reaffirmed her decision - she was eager to begin classes. Tangela says that she "opened up a lot" during the first two weeks of school, especially during the SOPHIA intensive segment. "I thought, 'This is exactly what I need. How can I help others if I don't even know me?'"

Tangela had always enjoyed the lab work in biology classes, and she enjoys the hands-on approach at Tai Sophia. "It's not just learning from a book - you really have to try things, experiment to learn these skills and get another perspective." Classes in point location and diagnosis provide these opportunities, along with her work in the clinic and the Community Health Initiative sites. Another aspect she appreciates is how "tightly knit the whole school is," how it's "one big family" that includes the students in all the programs. She knows she can count on her schoolmates. She also appreciates that she has gained perspectives and skills that she can use in every area of her life, not just the treatment room. Tangela says she's now much more aware that she has choices - for example, a choice about how she will respond in a situation. "Before, I wasn't awake to what the choices were," she says. Always friendly, she now has taken her work in customer service to a higher level. She also has become a peacemaker for her family, helping quell ongoing family conflict by offering to her sisters and mother other options for handling their differences. To prospective students, Tangela offers this suggestion: "Don't decide to go to another school before visiting Tai Sophia."