
Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine was founded in 2001 by physician and educator Leon Hammer as a school focused on acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Its educational identity has been closely associated with Hammer's approach to Chinese pulse diagnosis.
Historical accounts place the college in Gainesville, Florida, while the location associated with this profile is Bradenton. Because those cities are far apart, prospective students should confirm the college's current operating address, enrollment status, and location of clinical instruction before relying on an older catalog or arranging a move.
Dragon Rises is a specialized graduate-level college, not a university with multiple undergraduate schools or a broad selection of majors. Its academic focus is acupuncture and related Chinese medicine training.
Prospective students should use the current catalog to identify the exact credential offered, its course sequence, clinical training requirements, and whether herbal medicine is included. These distinctions matter: acupuncture education and herbal medicine education can have different coursework and professional implications. A program title alone does not establish eligibility for a particular state license.
Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine is associated with Bradenton, Florida, in the Sarasota-Bradenton region. Students considering attendance should verify the address of both classroom instruction and any student clinic, rather than assuming all training takes place at one site.
Older descriptions of the college identify Gainesville, Florida, as its location. That discrepancy has practical consequences for housing, transportation, and clinical scheduling. A prospective student should obtain the current campus address and confirm how often in-person attendance is required before calculating a commute.
Dragon Rises was established to educate practitioners of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, with particular attention to diagnostic methods associated with its founder, Leon Hammer. That is a description of the college's educational focus, not evidence that any particular treatment or teaching method produces a guaranteed result.
Applicants evaluating this approach should compare the current curriculum with their goals: the balance of classroom science, Chinese medicine theory, supervised clinical practice, and any herbal training will be more informative than a general mission statement. The current catalog is also the appropriate place to check how the college describes its mission and educational objectives today.
Name of the institution
Dragon Rises College of Oriental MedicineLevel of institution
Four or more yearsControl of institution
PrivateSetting type
Suburb: LargeInstitutional Category
Degree - granting, graduate with no undergraduate degreesInstitution size category
Under 1,000Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine is institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation confirms that the school meets quality standards and is required for students to receive federal financial aid.
Master's degreeData last updated on November 2, 2026
Data sources: IPEDS 2024-25, Peterson 2026, College Scorecard 10/2026, Clery 2024 (2023-24), OpenAlex 2026
Figures on this profile come from federal and third-party datasets in the editions listed above and are refreshed periodically, so they may differ from what the institution currently reports. Confirm costs, deadlines and requirements with the school before making decisions.