Yao Shan Herb Program

Evan teaches how people learn best!

Self-Paced between Modules - this course is for you and should fit your busy life. Study at the times which suit you best!
Online Videos- High Quality recordings and productions overlays. Visual cues and signatures to help you remember, and lessons on how to study and (gasp!) memorize herbs
Segmented Lectures- divided to make the material easily accessible and digestible. View the material in succession or look up individual topics. You can study a larger volume of material, without being overwhelmed.
Easily Referenced- The format provides an easy reference tool for students and practitioners for future practice. Watch it again!
Mentoring via Synchronous Monthly Meeting - Monthly meetings for Question and Answers, clarifying explanations with case studies and ongoing mentorship. Busy on Sunday evenings? The sessions are recorded for your review if you cannot attend. You can submit questions ahead of the session as well. Supportive Cohort- Really! Encouragement is there not just from Evan but you will be in a culture of like-minded practitioners studying along side you
Over 112 PDAs (NCCAOM) - Professional Credits for US Practitioners in 9 months of study.

Essential Knowledge

What will you learn?

Fundamental Frameworks of Chinese Herbalism - the basics, but taught well! After 23 years of teaching, Evan understands where people misunderstand or get confused, so he lays it out right from the foundation
Diagnostics Keys and Logic- Although a complex medicine, Chinese herbalism does not have to be difficult or discouraging. In fact, with clear logical instruction, it can be simply inspiring. Evan teaches in a straightforward logical way that empowers the diagnostic process and gives confidence.
Clinical Integration - clinically relevant integration for your healing practice through training in precise diagnosis and treatment strategy refinement
Plus....

Herbs for the Channel Systems- to treat the sinew, luo, divergences, and the eight extraordinary vessels-reaching beyond the primary channel model
Herbal Indication for specific Psycho-Emotional & Spiritual healing - detailed, differentiated profiles of herbs and formulas to reach these aspects our lives
Pao Zhi- explaining the subtle ways that herbs are processed and prepared to emphasize specific qualities or functions
Herbs in the Natural World- insights through examining where the medicinals grow and the ecology that supports them
Herbs to Engage the Spirit - applying herbs to awaken our consciousness, pointers toward the long history of use for spiritual cultivation and alchemy

Advanced and Special Topics

Clinical Integration Rooted in Diagnostic Skills

Diagnostics are demonstrated throughout the course. Each month students meet online with Evan as a cohort for Q&A and mentorship.

The discussion includes case studies using tongue and pulse presentations to apply the month's online material. The class pulls apart diagnosis into subtle distinctions in diagnostics.

That precision makes this program different.

From the very beginning you are able to integrate the knowledge into your clinical practice and know how to apply the knowledge.

Formulas as Teachers

Formulas have architecture. Their structures teach us about proper relationship of qi and substances. Formulas function as teachers of treatment strategies. They are transmitters of specific healing intentions/yi 意 and reveal subtle clinical distinctions. Once this is decoded, it allows us greater clarity in diagnosis and treatment and it then becomes easy for us to become skillful modifiers of the formulas.

Evan takes a deep dive into the physiology and pathodynamics behind each formula. Although the teachings are herbal, they are bound to make you think differently as an acupuncturist as well!

Herbs as Living Beings

A naturalist approach lends insight into aspects too often overlooked as herbs are stuffed into categories and abstractions. We study with a focus on how their qi 氣 is expressed through form. This gives greater intimacy with the herbs and it makes memorization easy!

Herbs are not limited. They address more than the physical. Evan looks at the classical texts to to understand the specific resonance various herbs have with disharmony within the psychological and emotional parts of life.

is the former Director of Chinese Herbal Medicine at the Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) where during his 8 year tenure he helped create the University's Masters and Doctorate programs in Oriental Medicine. Currently, he is a professor at Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts, Asheville. He is a lecturer at Georgetown University School of Medicine's Integrative Medicine Program, Washington, DC. He was formerly an instructor and Chinese herbal supervisor at the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, Gainesville. Evan has an active private teaching schedule offering continuing education for practitioners across the country and internationally. Evan has been studying extensively with Jeffrey Yuen for the two decades. He is the founder of Yao Shan Center for Chinese Medicine in Washington, DC. where he has maintained his clinical practice for the last 20 years. He is a graduate of the George Washington University (B.A.), Traditional Acupuncture Institute (M.Ac.) and Maryland University of Integrative Health (D.Ac.).

Dr. Evan Rabinowitz

What past students say about studying herbs with Evan

Learning Chinese herbal medicine with Evan has been nothing less than profound and ripe with the depth and richness inherent in both the philosophy and practice of Chinese medicine. His transmission of the teachings are steeped in both historical context, relevance and homage to the great scholars and masters from which they originated. If you are looking to deepen or reawaken your knowledge and love of Chinese medicine, I highly recommend you take this program. You will thank me afterwards.

-Bart Beckerman, L.Ac.

Brooklyn, New York

Evan has a way of making herbs come alive. When I learned from Evan I never felt like it was just about memorizing functions and characteristics. It was about getting to know these plants as friends and family in a way that was relational, embodied, and heart-centered. I’ve found that what I have learned from Evan, I’ve incorporated into my life in a deeper and also more practical way than other herbal classes I’ve done. His teachings are suffused with a clarity and confidence that is contagious.

Hannah Dwertman, D.O.M

Salt Lake City, Utah

Evan was my teacher during the beginning of my Chinese herbal journey. I recall being intimidated and overwhelmed with the depth and complexity of study that was before me. It was Evan’s deep wisdom of Chinese medicine and his clarity of teaching the wisdom that motivated and empowered me. His lectures always demonstrated a great respect for the power of herbal medicine while also presenting the knowledge in a lighthearted, personal and approachable manner. There was such direction and purpose to how he explored the herbs in class. I immensely enjoyed learning with Evan and really valued his ability to take complex topics and break them down in bite sized pieces - often explaining things in many different ways until he had the sense his audience understood. Evan’s teachings are the foundation of my Chinese medicine practice and I could not imagine a better guide and mentor on my journey. My studies with Evan affirmed the reason I fell in love with Chinese medicine and gave me so much confidence as a practitioner.

-Lindsey Kehrer, L.Ac.

Redding, CA

It’s said great leaders and teachers point not to themselves but to the greater source that inspires them, and with humility. I say this is true of Evan’s teaching in Chinese Medicine. I’ve studied herbs, pulse diagnosis and many other aspects of Chinese Medicine with Evan since 2011 through the various programs he has offered at MUIH and Yao Shan Center in Washington, DC. His teaching style truly integrates mind, body, spirit as One and in relationship with our natural world as our greater teacher and source. His keen observational skills also makes him aware of each student in the class as an essential participant within our larger order. No one gets left behind and we live it 3D and multi-dimensionally with Evan! With kindness and good humor he lays the foundations, conveys this essential knowledge, teaching sensory awarenesses and this great tradition for human care, as he has come to know it. His expertise and teaching style gives opportunity for our confidence to grow for the sake of our unique CM practices and all the connected relationships we have beyond the classroom, within the larger realm(s), so we may pass it forward too. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to listen and learn with Evan through the years.

-Kate Rodriguez Mahood, L.Ac.

Annapolis, MD

Evan Rabinowitz is one of those rare teachers who can bring incredibly dense subject matter to life. His teaching style is extremely organized and richly textured. I appreciated how skillfully he designed a curriculum rooted in the classics, yet applicable to the modern clinic. While I learned practical applications of herbs and formulas, Evan also taught me to cultivate my ability to observe resonance and nuances in prescribing. He taught us to think in terms of the energetics of herbs and formulas rather than just the mechanics of them. I am so grateful for my herbal studies with Evan, it has truly deepened my understanding and love of Chinese Medicine as a whole.

Becky Thoroughgood, L.Ac.

Harrisburg, PA