The new Five Branches San Jose location will include both the college and clinic at 3031 Tisch Way, behind Santana Row off of Winchester Boulevard.

During its two decades of operation, some of the institute's disciplines have become well known and mainstream: acupuncture, herbology and dietetics. Not as immediately recognized are tuina, a traditional Chinese message therapy, and energetics, a combination of movement and meditation such as tai chi or qi gong.

The expansion came about, according to Donna Meyer, marketing director, because "the board of directors thought it would be good sense, business-wise, to go toward a more metropolitan area.

"As alternative medicine becomes more accepted by Western medicine practices, this puts us in a position to be more connected with places such as Stanford."

Ron Zaidman, president, CEO and founder of Five Branches, is an MBA graduate of Stanford. He hopes to have his students take some classes at Stanford and vice versa to "integrate both Eastern and Western medicine," Meyer says.

While the Santa Cruz campus now has about 180 students enrolled in its four-year program for a master's degree, the first San Jose classes starting in January will have room for just 35 students.

The Five Branches faculty of 37 will teach at both campuses and the clinic will open in San Jose in early 2005. Initially, the clinic will be a small one, staffed by interns from the Santa Cruz campus.

Eventually, as the San Jose campus grows and the students start their own internships, they will work in the clinic as well.

Meyer says the clinic has been a valuable community resource in Santa Cruz as it often treats patients who do not have medical insurance. She envisions the same thing happening in San Jose.

Tuition at the institute ranges from $10,000 to $11,000 a year, so getting a degree is an investment of around $40,000, Meyer says.

There is no typical student, she says.

"Some of our students are just starting out in life with an associate or bachelor's degree in nursing and want to learn Chinese medicine," she says. "We get a lot of career changers who want to do something more significant and healing. We've had a former blackjack dealer, an attorney, psychiatrists, psychologists and a lot of former teachers. They're not all science folks; a lot are liberal arts or philosophy majors."

Meyer encourages anyone curious or interested in Five Branches Institute to attend one of the two upcoming open houses on Dec. 5 or Jan. 9.

At each session, there are presentations on the growing professions of acupuncturist and oriental medicine in the United States; a demonstration diagnosis and treatment by a licensed acupuncturist; admissions requirements; financial aid and the master's degree program in traditional Chinese medicine.

Spring semester classes will start on Jan. 31, 2005.

Five Branches Institute College & Clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 3031 Tisch Way, Suite 605, San Jose, 408.261.0608, www.fivebranches.edu. Open houses are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Dec. 5 and Jan. 9.