SOPHIA CHANG, DACM, LAc

Integrative Sports Medicine

That same depth of care has made her a trusted provider for some of the most elite patients in the world. She works with Olympians, active and retired professional athletes, and amateur athletes chasing peak performance.

She is also a current provider for USA Rugby athletes in both sevens and fifteens and previously worked with Major League Rugby, bringing her integrative approach to some of the most physically demanding sports at the national and international level.

Her integrative sports medicine work brings acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, orthopedic assessment, rehabilitation support, and Western clinical principles together in one plan that works alongside the rest of an athlete’s care team.

Athletic departments and sports medicine programs can also partner with her to train and mentor their acupuncture providers and coordinate acupuncture closely with their medical staff, with injury recovery, performance, and long-term athlete health as the shared goals.

Training Across Eastern and Western Medicine

Her clinical training was anything but conventional.

She began with a pre-med foundation at UCLA, where she was also a research intern. At Pacific College of Health and Science, she earned a Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine and a Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, completing both in just three years, a path that typically takes four to five.

As a master’s and doctoral student, she completed rotations across UC San Diego and its affiliated sites, including RIMAC Sports Medicine, Moores Cancer Center, the Integrative Pain Clinic, the Neurology department, Veterans Affairs, and Rady Children’s Hospital, plus an integrative senior medicine clinic serving low-income communities downtown.

She also delivered care to veterans at the American Legion post and participated in Veterans Stand Down, providing acupuncture to unhoused and at-risk veterans in the field. That range of exposure, across age groups, conditions, and populations, built a broad clinical foundation early in her career.

After graduating, she continued at the UC San Diego Center for Integrative Medicine, assisting under a master practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine specializing in integrative neurology. Through interdisciplinary case reviews and collaborative care within one of the country’s leading academic medical systems, she deepened her understanding of the relationship between the nervous system and whole-body health.

Mentoring the Next Generation

Her clinical depth was further forged over a decade as a Teaching Assistant at Pacific College of Health and Science, inspiring the next wave of doctoral and master’s students. She has assisted in some of the most advanced coursework in the field, including Treatment of Orthopedic Disorders, Advanced Needle Techniques, Chinese Herbal Medicine and Internal Medicine, and Integrative Medicine Case Management.

Beyond her formal education, she has invested hundreds of hours in advanced sports medicine training, covering orthopedic assessment, injury rehabilitation, and the integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western sports medicine principles.

She has also mentored a generation of acupuncturists and passes on the same belief that guides her own practice.

Care in Guatemala

Dr. Chang has carried this work far beyond the walls of her clinic.

As a volunteer with The Integrative Health Project, she traveled to Guatemala to deliver Traditional Chinese Medicine to underserved communities. She worked shoulder to shoulder with Western medical practitioners and local healthcare providers to address everything from type 2 diabetes and hypertension to a wide range of acute and chronic community health needs.

She used auricular acupuncture protocols specifically developed to help patients manage blood glucose levels, along with other forms of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Together, the team created a model of care that was collaborative, culturally grounded, and built around the people it served.

Some of her most formative clinical experiences happened in those communities, with the people in front of her.