Kana Moll draws inspiration from Chinese philosophy and experiences abroad.  

Kana Moll was in her third year as a student at the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) when she decided to step outside her comfort zone and apply for a scholarship. 

It was an exercise in learning how to ask for help, said Moll, who came to NUNM for the Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine (DAcCHM) program. 

She added that it never felt natural for her to pursue money as a healthcare practitioner, but considered how she could apply it to the right places. 

“It’s just like energy,” said Moll, who was raised in both Japan and North America. “We learn that when things get off balance in our holistic system, it’s usually that our energy is allocated too much in one place and not enough in another and so we find ways to balance that.” 

In 2024, she was awarded the Innovation in Wellbeing Scholarship, which recognizes students who have a desire to apply innovative methods or approaches in their career to improve healthcare and wellbeing. 

The scholarship is granted to full-time students for an academic term and made possible through the generosity of Michael Chilton, a long-time benefactor of NUNM. Chilton’s contributions also include funding to create the campus Minh Chau Garden and ongoing support for outreach programs run by the Food as Medicine Institute.

When it comes to the idea of innovation, Moll said it helps to be able to think differently toward a solution. In her own experience, she was driven to reassess both her own mindset and career goals.  

Before applying to NUNM, she had worked for 25 years in massage and structural bodywork as a holistic practitioner. 

Although she had trained in multiple advanced therapeutic techniques, as well as yoga, Qi Gong and Taiji, she said it felt like something was missing. 

“I could only get a person so far by manipulating people’s bodies and have always had this strong desire to go a little further with it,” Moll said. “I discovered what I really wanted to know was the medicine itself.” 

The DAcCHM program at NUNM provided her that opportunity. 

Moll discussed with NUNM how she came to a deeper understanding of Chinese medicine, as well as what role innovation will play in her future career.

NUNM: Why did you decide to study Chinese medicine at NUNM? 

Moll: I’m a very curious person. I’m fascinated to know more about the many contributors to health, and why some people rebound more quickly than others. I’ve tried to incorporate my limited understanding of Chinese philosophy into my work, such as five element theory, but that just made me hungry to know more about the medicine. In one of my breathwork-focused yoga sessions, one of the instructor’s cues was, “What might you tell yourself you didn’t quite get done in life?” What immediately came up for me was that, throughout my adult life, I had been telling myself that “now is not the right time” to take that next step in my study. Now at NUNM, I am immersed in the philosophy and medical theory of Chinese medicine in a way that will carry me through the rest of both my life and career. 

What does “innovation” mean to you in your healthcare career?

Innovation happens when we step a little outside our comfort zones. Being competitive and trying to get ahead of somebody else is not the nature of holistic medicine. We came into this medicine wanting and believing we can guide people to better health by applying centuries-old Chinese Medicine based on the observations of natural rhythms. In order to differentiate ourselves in a saturated healthcare market, we can’t be doing the same thing everybody else is doing. That means stepping into uncomfortable places of uncertainty, knowing that we have millennia of tradition to draw upon. 

How did you incorporate innovation into the “Innovation in Wellness Scholarship” essay?  

I’d been discussing with a friend how studies show longevity is not so much about what you eat or how much you exercise, but about community. My parents, now in their 90s and still living independently at their home in Japan, volunteer at a neighborhood assisted living facility to prepare and serve food. Some days, the public can also come in and enjoy low-cost lunches, which creates this great social dining atmosphere where facility residents now have this random influx of visitors. It’s a stimulating, joyful and very organic community gathering. It sounds simple in theory, but it’s very innovative and much needed in our healthcare model. It would be nice to see this type of community model here in Oregon, where people of all ages can socialize and learn through a diversity of experiences 

How did it feel to receive the Innovation in Wellness scholarship?  

My mother would often say, “Money is called currency because it flows”. It flows out, and flows back in, but I think sometimes we just take it for granted and miss what it can do along the way. People who make scholarships available could choose to use that wealth for anything. Thankfully, they’re choosing to pour it into efforts and people who are striving to make the world a better place. I am very grateful for that spirit of generosity and investment in the future.   

Written by Ashley Villarreal, Marketing Content Specialist