Ivan Zavala, L.Ac, DCCM, LMT is a licensed Chinese medicine physician and a renowned international professor and lecturer of Chinese medical theory and diagnostics. He was the head of the advanced diagnostic department at Chicago College of Oriental medicine where he currently teaches, and has taught Diagnostic Foundations at Pacific College of Health Science. Ivan’s specialty is what Chinese call “knotty diseases”, these are often systemic and chronic conditions where all signs and symptoms are conflicting, yet through tailored treatment and diagnosis can untangle and allow the body to heal.

Ivan focuses on these systemic conditions because he himself had autoimmunity that no one had the answers or even a diagnosis for, but Chinese medicine was. He understands the suffering that illness can bring on all levels and his goal is to listen and work together with his patients to improve their quality of life, as he understands the ravaging effect that illness can have on someone’s life.

Ivan has been studying Chinese medicine for almost 12 years. Since before graduating high school Ivan knew he wanted to be a Chinese medicine doctor as Chinese medicine provides the eloquence, the history, and a depth that few alternative medical systems possess. Having treated several thousands of patients in Chicago, Ivan has also treated overseas in Latin America and Europe and that has given him a deeper perspective on healthcare and the strength of Chinese medicine. 

He specializes and teaches Canonical or Classical Chinese Medicine, abbreviated as CCM.  CCM is unique because it emphasizes on an empirical practice rooted in Chinese cosmology and science that has been used to treat a multitude of diseases for more than two thousand years. TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine) is a system of medicine created in the 1950’s based on Canonical Chinese medicine ideas, but does not fully expound on the entirety of the tradition of Chinese medicine often borrowing ideas in a reductionist way.  

Canonical Chinese medicine encompasses all facets of a person’s life, it is not just about disease, but the interweaving of a person’s life’s transformation as they pivot through the cycles of life, such as the seasons, emotions, weather patterns, living conditions, aging, etc. Chinese medicine is one of the oldest forms of systems approach. While Ivan’s focus is the modalities within Chinese medicine, his philosophy is to understand and integrate all types of medical knowledge. This allows him to have a breadth of working knowledge of different diagnostics and suggestions to offer to each patient.

While Ivan constantly seeks to refine his medical knowledge, he also believes its important to have a good bedside manner, honesty in prognosis and outcomes, and most importantly doing his best in delivering you results.

Looking forward to working with you.