The ABORM was founded and is sustained by leading professionals in Chinese Reproductive Medicine who have come together volunteering their time with a resolve to meet the patient and physician demand for a demonstration of knowledge and proficiency in this field. We have recognized the need for a certification to assure that practitioners who are treating patients with Chinese Medicine in the field of Reproductive Health are doing so with an advanced knowledge in integrative evidence-based care, and to allow practitioners to demonstrate their knowledge through the process of voluntary examination.

The ABORM is a non-profit 501(C)6 corporation devoted to:

TEACHING:

Many of our Fellows have advanced doctoral degrees in Chinese medicine and teach at Chinese medicine schools, hospitals, and conferences throughout the world.

RESEARCHING:

We are dedicated to understanding the science behind our medicine and using that knowledge to deliver quality patient care.  Our Fellows’ research studies have been published in major peer reviewed journals and are helping to define industry best practices.

PRACTICING:

ABORM Fellows are dedicated clinicians and many also practice as medical doctors, naturopathic doctors, nurses, physical therapists and more. Our skills reach beyond Chinese medicine and our practices integrate the unique perspectives of many different branches of medicine.

Our History

The ABORM was founded in 2007 when the late Ray Rubio, Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, recognized the need to ensure fertility patients receiving acupuncture and Chinese medicine obtain the highest level of care from qualified practitioners. At the time, treating infertility with Chinese medicine in the United States was in its infancy. Dr Rubio wanted to broaden the awareness for patients and physicians and establish a minimum level of competency for those specializing in this field. He also understood the significance of Chinese medicine practitioners making their voice heard in how this medicine should best be applied in the treatment of infertility.

As with many innovative visionaries, Dr. Rubio’s efforts to create board certification for Chinese medical practitioners in the field of reproductive medicine was initially met with resistance.  But his tenacity in elevating education, training, and overall standards for acupuncturists in this niche paid off.  Dr. Rubio led the successful effort to establish a fellowship program that merged the biomedical science of reproduction with the principles of Chinese medicine.  Thus the ABORM standardized examination was created and first administered in 2008.  Today, ABORM certification represents the highest standard for Chinese medical infertility practitioners.  There are over 350 board-certified fellows worldwide, and ABORM continues to steadily adapt and grow.

Dr Rubio’s vision paved the way for a global organization; a diverse cadre of experienced professionals that are a part of an open and vibrant community, sharing their expertise, knowledge and research with one another and the world.

Ray Rubio

Our Founder

Dr. Ray Rubio

February 21, 1962 – March 4, 2017

Dr. Ray Rubio was a true pioneer. Until shortly before his death, Dr. Rubio served as the Executive Director of ABORM: the Acupuncture and TCM Board of Reproductive Medicine and continued to fulfill his role as Chair of the Reproductive Medicine Department, and related doctoral program, at Los Angeles-based Yo San University. Dr. Rubio also ran a private practice in Westlake Village, California.

Over the course of two decades passionately practicing Chinese medicine, Ray emerged as a leader in the treatment of male and female reproductive disorders. According to Katherine Alexander Anderson, current President of ABORM, , “Ray truly was a visionary. He conceived a way to provide better care for fertility patients and became a formative advocate for them, as well as practitioners worldwide, through both his direct teaching and the reaches of the ABORM. He was a mentor to so many in our field. It is amazing how one man spread so much awareness”.

During the time Dr. Rubio was actively founding ABORM, his then wife, Tatiana Rubio, an acupuncturist herself, explained his motivations: “He always wanted to raise the bar for acupuncturists. He felt many acupuncturists weren’t taking advantage of the tools western medicine had to offer”. By creating the ABORM, Tatiana further added, “He gave many people the language and skills to better communicate and collaborate with reproductive endocrinologists. Ray has helped hundreds of women—even the most difficult cases—get pregnant. He was always his best with his patients. He loved them and they him.”

Ray graduated from UCLA in 1987, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Following graduation, he became a trainee at the William Morris agency in Beverly Hills, working his way up to an assistant role for a major television literary agent. Sometime during this period, Ray had a change of heart about his career. He took an interest in Chinese medicine, an interest originally piqued by a long-time martial arts practice. He eventually enrolled at Samra University in Los Angeles, graduating in 1996 with a Masters Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dr. Rubio enthusiastically continued his education afterwards; he was a personal student of John F. Shen, a master of pulse diagnostics, who was well-known for his ability to accurately detect the most subtle health changes simply from his interpretation of the Chinese pulses. As Tatiana Rubio recalled, “patients traveled from all over the world to see him, and he helped many complicated cases that were even turned away by western MD fertility specialists, that he helped to successfully conceive naturally.”

Ray also helped to create and administer the acupuncture program at the Toluca Lake Health Center (now the Eberstein Center), an integrative clinic operated under the Motion Picture and Television Fund. He worked at both locations, and taught and supervised clinic interns at Emperor’s College in Santa Monica, California. In 2004, Dr. Rubio entered the newly formed doctoral program at Emperor’s, receiving his Doctor of Acupuncture Medicine degree in 2006.

Caylie See, founding Vice-President of ABORM, remembers Ray this way: “A formative, investigative and playful addition to the lineage of Chinese medicine, Ray touched the lives of innumerable patients and colleagues. He will always be a touchstone for our continued endeavors in the field of truly integrative approaches to fertility care. Ray dedicated his life to helping those around him, and we will be sharing his stories and wisdom for much time to come”.