Acupuncture Ireland Faculty Members


Acupuncture Ireland Faculty members are all successful professionals, with backgrounds in a variety of fields including: Acupuncture,General practice, Massage Therapy and Education.


CMATCM Faculty Members with His Excellency Sha Hai Lin and Chinese dignitaries in Shanghai.


Dr. John O. Bourke - Principal and Medical director.

Dr. Bourke is the leader of the Acupuncture Ireland Faculty, being both the Principal and the Medical Director. As well as being a general practitioner he is a practising acupuncturist and among his many advisory posts has acted as Medical Advisor to the Association of Irish Acupuncturists.

CMATCM was in fact his brainchild. Without his enthusiasm for the concept and his consistency throughout the developmental stages, it is unlikely that the work could have been completed.

His idea was to first set up a tight-knit team of thoroughly experienced clinicians from both the TCM and Western medical backgrounds. With this in place, he felt that by using the WHO guidelines, it would be feasible to design a suitable syllabus and present the subjects of Traditional Chinese Medicine and applied Western medical theory as a cohesive structure. In this way he hoped to contribute to the formidable task of straddling the gap existing between those two medical models. This was especially the case in the late 1980’s - early 1990’s when we were developing the project in China and in Ireland. In those days TCM was still considered to be a fringe medicine and China was still relatively inaccessible. We are very happy to have been involved to such a degree in envisioning and the actual process of bringing together two such powerful forces for good. We are all very grateful to Dr. Bourke for his steadfast, foundational support of the college and the exemplary principles upon which it is based from day one.

Presenting the basic medical sciences module of the course, he brings a very clear and down to earth approach to the presentation of anatomy, physiology, diagnostic methods etc. The fact that he teaches these subjects in a clinical context, that is to say by describing and illustrating how they apply on a daily basis, demystifies what for many becomes rather daunting when taught as blind theory. As well as being an eminently practical approach, it is at the same time thoroughly refreshing and enjoyable.

The safe and practical integration of the Western & Chinese medical models is the underlying foundation of the work we do at CMATCM and is embraced by all of the Acupuncture Ireland Faculty members.


Mr. Sang Man - Lecturer in TCM and Tuina.

Mr. Sang Man lectures in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Tuina and as our foremost expert on advanced needling technique, spends a lot of time teaching the clinical section of the course and Tuina.

A native of Hong Kong he has been living in Ireland for many years and is very much at home here. After graduating from CMATCM, he went on to do post-graduate training at our affiliate, The Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in China. Among his other achievements, he has developed the skill of traditional Chinese needling techniques to a high level and Tunia and TCM lecturer and one of the foremost authorities in this area in Ireland. We are very proud to have him on board as another of our Acupuncture Ireland Faculty members.

Sang has practiced Acupuncture and Tuina for nearly 25 years and runs his own private clinic in Shannon. He has been much sought after for lectures with various universities and colleges. Due to his skill and knowledge of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).



John Cooke - Lecturer in TCM.

John Cooke has joined our faculty to lecture TCM and is a graduate of CMATCM. He hails from County Tipperary and his interesting background includes having spent many years as a headmaster in Colleges teaching total immersion courses in the Irish Gaelic language in Connamara in the West of Ireland. So as well as being fluent in one of the most fascinating of the world's languages, he is a very accomplished teacher in his own right.

John completed the full two-year internship with the Welcare Foundation Clinic, 50 Merrion Square East, Dublin 2. This is a very thorough system of training that is designed to familiarise the intern with every aspect of the management of a large acupuncture and complimentary medicine practice. He currently holds the position of Clinical Manager and is responsible for the practical, day-to-day management of a very busy practise.

We were very happy to welcome him back to the college as an Acupuncture Ireland Faculty member and he has quickly established himself as an excellent communicator and has become a favourite with his students.



We are fortunate to have such a wealth of experience in the extensive academic and clinical background of our Acupuncture Ireland Faculty members. Furthermore, we have found it a great advantage in maintaining continuity in the course work, to have a common training background through the Nanjing University and CMATCM, as well as having been working and training together for many years here in Ireland.

Traditional acupuncture theory, basic sciences, specialised medical subjects and practice, are all taught by professionals who are actively in practise, understand the relevance of theory in a practical context, know each other's perspectives into each area and in a format that is both comprehensive and integrated.

This addresses one of our fundamental purposes for establishing the college so many years ago, which was to try to address the problem of confusion between fundamental essentials and supportive theory which was particularly rife in students of acupuncture world-wide during its early introduction into the Western world.


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