Manual of Acupuncture author, Peter Deadman, on iPad apps, community acupuncture & more

on 05/14/2012 by Eric Grey in Acupuncture, Herbs & Other modalities

Update: If you’re going to comment on this post, please just remove the vitriol. There’s just absolutely NO reason to react to anything anybody has said with anything but respectful dialogue. I’ve had to delete several comments that just crossed the line. I’m the only one allowed to cross the line, here, folks.

Given a choice between practicing only Chinese herbs or only acupuncture, I would quickly choose the former.

That should be no surprise to anybody who has visited Deepest Health for any length of time. That being said, I have immense respect for acupuncture and find myself fascinated by it daily. My great hope is to someday have enough time to begin to devote myself to a deeper study of this modality that I use almost every day.

This is why, when it was released, I picked up the new iPad version of the iconic Manual of Acupuncture by Peter Deadman (and team). At $35.99, it’s cheaper than the both paper text and the interactive DVD, while preserving some of the best features of each. However, for an iPad app, it may be a little rich for some people’s blood.

For the record, I think it’s a steal of an app – particularly since I know it is under active development. I’ll provide a more robust review in a future blog post, though, because I’d like to focus on something else here.

While working with the iPad app, I ran across a bug, and pressed the in-app support button to shoot an email to the tech team. I had no idea the bug report would end up in front of Peter Deadman himself! I’ve never met him, nor heard him speak, so it was a treat to be introduced in such a roundabout and unexpected manner.

Ever looking for opportunities to come up with information my readers might find interesting, I asked whether he would be willing to answer a few questions. To my surprise, despite his busy life, he agreed. So, thanks to his kindness, I offer below his thoughts on an array of topics. He focuses particularly on the development of the Manual of Acupuncture in all its forms as well as the pros and cons of community acupuncture. I’m sure you will find the information as enlightening as I did.

Thanks, again, to Peter for offering his time to reach out to Deepest Health readers.

1. Could you please introduce yourself to the readers? Your name, where you’re from, where/how you were educated in Chinese medicine and your current/past work (teaching, books, clinic, whatever you think is relevant)

I was born and brought up in England, the second child of a Russian Jewish mother and an English/Scottish father. Both were committed socialists and atheists. After travelling and living the hippy life to the full, my first career was the co-founding of a natural foods restaurant, followed by a shop (Infinity Foods), bakery, warehouse distribution unit, and charitable natural health education centre.
I went to acupuncture college between 1975 and 1978 and followed that with acupuncture studies in Nanjing, China in the winter of 1981-82, and herbal studies in Nanjing in 1993. In 1979 I set up The Journal of Chinese Medicine which I still run. I have had a 30+-year career practising, lecturing on and writing about Chinese medicine. I also practise and occasionally teach qigong and have had parallel careers as violinist in a klezmer band and a creative writer.

In 1998 I completed the co-writing of A Manual of Acupuncture.

2. You are the man behind possibly the most iconic English language book in the realm of Chinese medicine and acupuncture that is currently published. What pushed you to release the book – and were there any surprises in its creation/publishing?

I was originally asked by a publisher to produce a points book but declined as I felt there were too many out there already. Then I realised that the fact there were so many meant that there was a hunger for a good points book and I felt confident that with the right partners I could produce something better. I have/had a great passion to communicate and in this case I felt that the Chinese medicine profession needed a book that reliably laid down as much of the tradition as possible before it spiralled off into ever more distant realms of imagination and wishful thinking.

Dedication to detail characterised every different aspect of the book, from text to illustrations, to design … and that’s why – instead of taking eighteen months as planned – it took eight and a half years. However it has paid off with the respect and even affection that the book has generated, some of which is down to probably unnoticed details that make the book user friendly (e.g. the lengthy work we did in the layout stage to try and get the point illustration on the same page as the location text).
Apart from the length of time it took, the main surprise was that its success meant I could cut down on work after many years of hard slog and a few years after publication I stopped practising – at roughly the same time I joined a working band (hard to come back at 3am from gigs and be in a clinical frame of mind.

3. You recently released a new version of the text – are there plans for future revisions? What might we expect?

The new version was just a tweak and there are no plans for any further changes.

4. What other books on Chinese medicine and acupuncture are interesting to you – what would we find on your bookshelves?

I am fascinated by the yangsheng [ed: "nourishing life"] tradition – not so much the esoteric aspects but the down to earth wisdom about behaviour and lifestyle. This is something I lecture on a lot and I am always amazed how bang on the ancient teachings are in the light of modern research.
To give one example from hundreds, it is only now (astonishingly enough) being acknowledged in scientific medicine how much the quality of life of the mother during pregnancy affects the future health of the child.This has been known in the Chinese tradition for a good two thousand years (how pregnancy conditions may affect the pre-heaven jing) – specifically under the heading of foetal education. So although I have handed on a lot of my clinical practice books, my shelves groan with qigong and health preservation texts.

5. You recently released an iPad application that is, essentially, an enhanced version of the textbook. What got you interested in creating this?

Technology seems to create its own demands. Once it becomes possible to do new things the imagination is easily caught. In the case of our digital publications, a lot of the credit goes to Tom Kennedy – a young practitioner with IT skills – and his wife Kate who has a BBC film production background. Tom pushed us into producing the initial DVD, and the point location videos we made for that found their way onto the iphone/ipad app.
We also wanted to replace the point card study set which we originally published alongside the textbook. That was because when I studied points and later herbs I found the best way to memorise was to write out cards and go for long walks. In a digital age, the smart phone can serve the same function.

6. What should people expect in future iterations of the iPad app?

We are working on a totally new version of the DVD (kickstarted by Apple whose new Lion operating system meant the DVD unexpectedly no longer worked – to our and our customers’ dismay). This will have several new features but additionally it will be ipad compatible so users can either opt for the cheaper, cut-down app version or the full text/full functionality multimedia/DVD version.

7. How do you see technology like the iPad and similar mobile devices changing the way that Chinese medicine is practiced and learned? How do you feel about it?

Traditionally Chinese medicine was learned by memorisation, which is why Chinese medicine books produced in China still have lousy indexes. I feel memorisation is still fundamental to good practice. Digital publications offer the best of both worlds … imaginative tools to help memorisation, but maximum searchablity for reference also.

8. If there is one thing you wish would be brought to mobile technology in the realm of Chinese medicine, what would it be? (eg – Bensky’s materia medica, a complete version of the Ling Shu in English, etc…)

The Bensky materia medica and formulas and strategies would be a good start.

9. Any advice you would like to offer to new students in Chinese medicine? What do you wish you would have known when you began?

The hardest thing is to get a rewarding (emotionally and financially) practice. So many new practitioners never get a practice off the ground – at least one that can give them a decent living. In my mind there are two answers. The first is the work being done in the field of community acupuncture … matching patients who simply can’t afford high fees with practitioners happy to work in multibed clinics. The other is the development of the highest level of skill and knowledge allied with a degree of specialisation.I think these two strands can find a way to co-exist.
There is a buzz about multibeds right now, and lots of patients benefit from the affordability, the communal atmosphere and the ability to have more frequent treatments. They are a pragmatic solution to a particular problem. However, I don’t think they represent best practice and I feel very strongly that best practice (which is almost inevitably more time consuming) risks being diminished by the need to offer quick treatment.

In fact I think that lots of practitioners need to raise their game – continuously studying to build on their initial education. How many practitioners for example know the diagnostic tests, natural progression and prognosis of the hundreds of different musculoskeletal disorders the human body can suffer from? This despite the fact that musculoskeletal problems probably form the majority of the cases we treat.

I also feel that acupuncture – having its roots in the Chinese medical tradition – has a lot to offer patients in terms of understanding cause of disease and what are helpful and unhelpful behaviours. The way I was taught, this was part of the job and Chinese medicine has extraordinary wisdom in this respect.

When community acupuncture offers three-minute consultations and tacitly or overtly expects ‘the needles to do all the work’ I think this is a betrayal of acupuncture as medicine. After all, much dismay accompanied the transition from the old-style GP who lived in a community, knew their patients and their lives, relationships, strengths and weaknesses, to the modern rushed GP whose main preoccupation is to find a way to stop their patient talking so as not to exceed the few minutes allotted to each consuation

Yet even they spend considerably longer than three minutes.

–

Thanks again to Peter for his time, not just for this brief interview, but over his long career. We’ve all benefitted from his dedication. If you’re interested in accessing his work, please visit the following links:

Journal of Chinese Medicine
A Manual of Acupuncture, print version
A Manual of Acupuncture Multimedia DVD-ROM (V1.2)
iPad app for the Manual of Acupuncture

About Eric Grey

Hi - I'm the founder of Deepest Health. When I'm not writing here, you can find me reaching out to the Chinese Medicine community across the web and in my own backyard. I currently teach Chinese herbs at my alma mater, the National College of Natural Medicine. Additionally, I'm the founder of Watershed Community Wellness, a thriving local clinic in Southeast Portland in Oregon. No matter where I'm working, you'll find my focus on the Classical approach to Chinese medicine laced throughout everything I do.

View all posts by Eric Grey - Website: http://deepesthealth.com

Evan says:

05/15/2012

Is there an index, or is it searchable, for the actions as well as the signs and symptoms and indications for the points? I (an intuitive) find the actions more useful but there isn’t an index of them in the print edition.

Eric Grey says:

05/16/2012

Evan – I assume you’re asking about the iPad app? There is an index by indication, if that’s what you’re asking. It is somewhat searchable – once you’re on the right letter of the alphabet, you can take a stab at what it’s listed under. Not perfect, but a start…

Tatyana R says:

05/15/2012

Mr. Deadman, I am afraid your assessment of community acupuncture is greatly misinformed. I think the real “betrayal of acupuncture as medicine” is creating the kind of practice that the real patients in the real world cannot access because they cannot afford the treatments. This is most people where I come from. Community acupuncturists DO know their patients’ lives and struggles intimately, DO build unbelievably strong relationships with their patients. The only thing community acupuncturists are “diminishing” is pain and suffering, while they do lots of treatments and develop their hearts and hands – so much more important than intellectual understanding of acupuncture theory.

Eric Grey says:

05/16/2012

I doubt Peter will be spending much time responding to these comments, unfortunately, but your perspective is certainly noted and honored.

As with most changes in a field, polarization can happen on both sides, which is unfortunate. I think Peter was trying to be pretty up front with his views on the matter, and believes there is a place for both in modern practice. I agree. I’ve seen both coexist quite nicely, understanding their relative roles and aims, and it is this kind of peaceful coexistence towards which I hope we will all reach.

I would caution you, however, from attacking “intellectual understanding of acupuncture theory.” Hearts and hands are good, and doing many treatments to hone the skills associated with hearts and hands are good – but thousands of years of scholarly tradition, intense community interaction & debate and the presence cultivated by careful study should not be brushed away as less important, in my opinion.

Tom Hirons says:

05/15/2012

Much as I respect Peter, I’m surprised at his characterisation of Community Acupuncture as being similar to the ‘modern rushed GP’ whilst at the same time praising the CA movement. Perhaps he is simply wishing to steer prospective acupuncturists away from ‘conveyor-belt’ treatments, but it seems a strange target for someone of his reputation and influence. I’d love to know what he was really getting at.

Eric Grey says:

05/16/2012

It’s hard to say, Tom. Certainly CA is something that arouses lots of opinions. As for alternately praising and finding fault, I think that’s pretty common with most of us about most things. He was trying to point out the things he feels CA does well, and the worries he has in the same, short paragraph. Hard to fault him for that.

Elma says:

05/15/2012

As a full time acupuncture student just about to qualify and a registered nurse of some 30 years currently working in hospice care, I have found Peters wisdom on the subject of health always interesting and stimulating. I totally agree with his take on multibed practice and feel that there is a potential for conflict over quality/quantity of care. Having worked as GP Practice nurse for seven years I saw how difficult it was for the doctors to give the full care they would wish to within the NHS constraints of a 7-10 min appointment. Many thanks for this article.

Eric Grey says:

05/16/2012

Elma,

Great to have you on the site – so wonderful to find people with long healthcare experience entering into the realm of Chinese medicine! I’d love to pick your brain!

Definitely the potential for conflict is there. Proponents of CA are going to have to be very careful to avoid the conveyer belt mentality that some have mentioned. However, I do feel that the gentle and holistic nature of the medicine and the positive intentions of so many acupuncture students and practitioners will help protect the discipline from some of the misuse. Let’s hope.

And you’re welcome!

Debbie says:

05/15/2012

Thanks to both of you for this insightful post. And thanks, Eric, for being an exemplar of a practitioner who raises his game. I appreciate your deep inquiries and thoughtful writing.

I use my iPad for note-taking in the treatment room, so this app will fit in perfectly. Whatever makes the process more seamless so I can be more present with patients, I’m all for.

Eric Grey says:

05/16/2012

Debbie,

Thanks for dropping by! And for the kind praise.

I do the same with my iPad, something I hope to discuss in upcoming articles. I hope you’ll share your experience there. If you use your iPad, as I do, in “landscape” orientation while taking notes, you’ll notice an annoying flaw in the software (the very thing I wrote Peter about in the first place). The app is only viewable in portrait mode. Yikes. Something they hope to fix in future iterations.

Peter Deadman says:

05/16/2012

Thanks to Eric for taking the trouble to arrange an interview and to respond to everyone’s comments. With regard to the discussion on community acupuncture, my Journal of Chinese Medicine published an article by Lisa Rohleder in our February 2012 issue. I have written a response – which will appear in the forthcoming June issue – where I take more space to spell out my concerns. Also in the June issue will be an article by Andrew Nugent-Head that challenges the level of most acupuncturists working today – both in China and the West. I think what he says also has relevance to the practice of acupuncture in community clinics. Let the debate continue …

Tom Hirons says:

05/16/2012

Great – thanks for taking the time to comment, Peter (and for your earlier response, Eric.) I look forward to reading both those articles and to the continuing debate – surely the crossing-point of excellence and access-for-all is an area most of us can find to agree on?

Eric Grey says:

05/16/2012

Tom,

I can certainly agree on that. And it’s something I strive for in my personal clinical practice – though I do not do it using the CA model. That’s what’s great – so many options available to us!

And, indeed, will be interesting to see the debate as it grows.

Thanks for your comment, Tom. I really appreciate it.

Rob Blackburn says:

05/17/2012

Hi all,
This is an interesting debate and one that reflects the polarisation in myself. I am studying acupuncture at the moment after three years of shiatsu practice because acupuncture was my first love but at the time I was unable to study acupuncture due to the enormous cost of doing a second degree, something I could never afford. I did shiatsu and love it but now thanks Jamie Hedger’s short course I can finally afford to study what I love.

This is where I become conflicted ! A short course like this enables me to practice a fantastic healing modality. The loophole that enables this to happen also means that physios, chiropractors and doctors can do ‘acupuncture’ after a couple of days training. As they are using a medicalised model of acupuncture, ‘this point for knee pain, this pout for headaches’ may mean that people feel like that they have had acupuncture and it’s not worked( because the points were inappropriate )

This where the CA model could be in danger if it becomes too rigid. Using a set of points for every patient and spending little time with them may mean we end with a very formulaic acupuncture. I have a great deal of time for the CA model and fortunately here in the UK in my experience it has not become conveyer belt and it is it’s affordability that means I can actually get treatment which I wouldn’t be able to get normally.

Personally when I’m practicing I know the power of back shu points ffeom doing shiatsu and would miss them dearly if I couldn’t treat them because of using recliners. I think moxa is massively under used and this doesn’t seem to be used much in CA nor cups.

To conclude this rambling post I feel that CA as practiced in the uk avoids some of the problems of the US model by using couches not recliners and spending more time with their patients than what I’ve heard in the US.

The other advantage is that it removes a barrier to acupuncture meaning that it promotes it in a way more effectively than medical trials which are difficult beasts.

I feel there is a middle way, but right now with the massive backlash against complementary therapies in the UK we need all the help we can get and CA certainly gets acupuncture to the people more effectively than anything else I have seen.
It is worth noting that there is a YouTube video of Peter talking about ye benefits of community acupuncture here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufw8qJUMP54&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sorry about the rambling nature of this reply I hope it stayed relevant!
A very interesting debate I know there are some acupuncturist who are very opposed much like they were to John Tindall when he set up the gateway clinic here in the uk which continues to do sterling work so I hear.

Robert says:

05/17/2012

Thanks Eric for getting the interview and sharing. Great job.

Eric Grey says:

05/17/2012

Thanks Robert – glad you enjoyed it!

Teri says:

05/18/2012

“Thanks so much for the interview. I purchased the iPad app and it is very useful as a quick guide, well done.

“Hearts and hands are good, and doing many treatments to hone the skills associated with hearts and hands are good – but thousands of years of scholarly tradition, intense community interaction & debate and the presence cultivated by careful study should not be brushed away as less important.”

I could not have said it better myself. I find many of these practitioners who rage at any criticism of their practice style to be very insecure, I think that they realize they could do more for their patients, but that it might impinge upon their ability to treat 6+ patients per hour, so compromise is made for the sake of lower prices and accessibility. They are left to trust that the patient will benefit, and as far as lifestyle advice or preventative medicine, forget it.

Perhaps they have never heard of practitioners like Miriam Lee who treated many patients but never compromised on the care delivered to each one. Quality and quantity can coexist, but it does require effort. Ignoring thousands of years of accumulated wisdom or pretending they have it covered when they are just a few years out of school is either ignorance or hubris.”

Lisa Rohleder says:

05/21/2012

2 blog posts on the POCA blog, James Reston’s Appendix, in response:

https://www.pocacoop.com/james-restons-appendix/post/best-practice-for-who

and

https://www.pocacoop.com/james-restons-appendix/post/re-inventing-general-practice-in-our-community-acupuncture-clinics

Teri says:

05/24/2012

Lisa,

You write beautifully but that does not change the fact that I can think of more than 6 examples from my own practice where patients were interested and did want dietary and lifestyle advice to help them reduce their symptoms and their pain.

I find it odd that you expect your patients to figure out the accumulated wisdom offered by Chinese Medicine for themselves — either you discarded what you learned in school as not valuable or you didn’t understand its value.

How are your patients going to gain that knowledge from practitioners who think it is not worth discussing with them? Osmosis?

I also think your thoughts about treating non-English speaking patients is interesting. I suppose the CA practitioners can now travel and treat freely in every culture of the world without bothering to learn the language spoken by their patients. Apparently unspoken communication is good enough for them.

For a movement based upon “class” assumptions, you seem to be making many value judgements on behalf of your patients.

Lisa Rohleder says:

05/25/2012

Terri, I think you missed my main point. If I spent more time talking, I would have to charge more. And then these patients would not be getting acupuncture at all. How do you propose that I dispense “the accumulated wisdom of Chinese medicine” (which is totally inappropriate in many, many cases, but never mind) — without charging more?

Teri says:

05/25/2012

Thank you for admitting that you are making compromises in patient care in order to reach more patients. Isn’t that what Deadman essentially said?

Lisa Rohleder says:

05/25/2012

He said that we were betraying acupuncture as medicine. I think this discussion might not go anywhere useful because you and I have very different ideas of what constitutes patient care — I think that it includes actually caring for the patient. As opposed to not caring for them because it’s impossible to meet a set of — as far as I can tell — arbitrarily chosen standards.

Angela Pauling says:

05/25/2012

I’m curious, Terrie, have you ever been in a community clinic? I think you would find that not only do our patients not feel any disservice is done to them but they are invested in the model because they can afford to get better. Access to acupuncture is a far larger issue than verbally sharing the thousands of years of wisdom. They want their pain to stop, and it does. They want to grieve and they do. They want access to health care and they get it when they walk through our doors. Come visit. You may be surprised what you find.

Eric Grey says:

05/25/2012

I have worked in basically every type of clinic that currently exists. In my experience, one thing and one thing only differentiates fantastic patient care from substandard care.

That thing is grounding in and practicing from the classics.

One does not need to speak the wisdom of the classics to practice from them. So, theoretically, a person in a community clinic could very effectively treat patients from that root.

The reality is that when people get riled up, they conflate issues. Conflated here is the question of degree & depth of education and type of clinical practice. Unfortunately, some community acupuncture proponents have taken on the time honored (by the GOP, particularly) tradition of attacking formal, intense education as “elitist” or – worse – “unnecessary.”

Not all community acupuncture folks take that perspective, and to them, I salute.

As a person who is many, many, many thousands of dollars in debt, I thank myself every single day that I went the distance for my education. If I never repay those loans, I care not. I do not price my services to repay my loans. I make a living, I pay my bills, and I help my patients. Every day, I learn more about medicine. I respect my teachers, my traditions, and I seek always to root out my own deficiencies.

I honestly have no idea why people get so freaked out about this issue. It’s frankly hilarious.

Eric Grey says:

05/25/2012

In other words – always learn, always read, always stay rooted in the classics, help your patients, and stop arguing.

Eric Grey says:

05/25/2012

One last point – I see one patient at a time, and take plenty of time with each, because I am aware of my own limitations. I am incapable of rapidly diagnosing the root & providing an effective treatment for that root in 10-20 minutes. I need time to connect, to feel the pulse, to palpate, to sit with the information. When I come from that depth of presence & deep well of teaching, my treatments are effective. If I try to see many patients at the same time (or even right after one another) I grow tired, my treatments grow crappy, and nothing good is the result.

Perhaps not everyone has this limitation. Dr. Tian, my teacher’s teacher’s teacher, certainly did not. Other contemporary practitioners come to mind. But all have an incredibly deep understanding, a respect for ongoing education, and have honed their skills over a long period of time.

Donna says:

03/24/2013

I am a CA practitioner and everyday, I continue to learn about Chinese medicine & acupuncture, and deepening my understanding of classical theory through seeing patients, observing nature, reading classic, and cultivation practices. If I have a “knotty case”, I dig deeper. I continue to learn about nutrition from both biomedicine and chinese medicine perspective. What makes you think that CA practitioners don’t continue to learn?
You need 15-20 minutes to connect? In CA setting, yes, you take maybe only 5 minutes to connect…EACH TIME. However, for chronic conditions, over months, and many treatments, you actually find yourself having spent quite a bit of time with them, OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, plus you treat their spouse and daughter, and friends and neighbors, so you form deep connection with them, and their community.
I don’t blame you and Peter Deadman for not understanding CA. It is only after thousands of treatments, and hundreds of patients telling me how CA has changed their lives, that I feel that I am finally scratching the surface of the potential of this model. If you have very limited experience in CA, then many of your opinions are based on assumptions, not reality. In all fairness, every single practice model has its potentials and limitation. I believe that a practitioner should just find the setting where they can really shine, and do the best they can at helping people in that setting. And no one setting, no one practitioner can claim to be able to “cure” every single person. Many patients had come because they had 1-2 private room acupuncture treatments before, found it too expensive to continue. So that door was closed to them. It didn’t matter how fabulous it might have been, the patient decided it wasn’t worth the $70-$100 per treatment to continue. What CA brings to the table is opening that door. When I do bump into my limitation, I have no problem referring people to other practitioners. I sometimes also give people hand-outs/ resources to read, and give lifestyle advice in small bite size (how many lifestyle changes can you make a week anyway, especially when you are tired, and stressed?). Do you know Dr. Young wei chieh? He treats 60-100 people per day, and he is very deep in his understanding of the classics, including the Yi jing.
For the love of people and chinese medicine,
Donna
p.s. I do read your blog sometimes and I appreciate your love of the classics.

Eric Grey says:

03/26/2013

Hey Donna!

Thanks for your comment. I definitely agree with what you’ve said, that practitioners need to find the setting where they shine. Similarly, patients need to find the practice type that helps them to come into balance. My personal problem with CA actually has to do with particular factions and individuals within that movement that politicize the issues and demonize all other practice models as “bad.” What a terrible tragedy when we cannot simply come into discourse around an important issue!

I hope your practice continues to thrive and your patients continue to get better.

As for Dr. Young – no I am not familiar with him. Many doctors, from antiquity to today, have seen different numbers of patients and practiced in different ways. Some of them were great doctors, and some were not. The best among them, who gained the most fame, typically achieved their reputations later in their lives. I have no doubt that the elders of my lineage were able to see hundreds of patients per day. However, I am nowhere near their skill or knowledge level. In fact, this is one of my concerns about abbreviated education and lack of time to sit and consider cases – I’m just not sure most graduates are at a level with their diagnosis and understanding to treat so quickly and so many. But, then, that’s my judgment based on my own limited skillset.

I know what I’m comfortable with, and what I’m not. This does not mean my understanding will not evolve in time.

Thanks again for your comment,

Eric

Rob says:

05/25/2012

Good comments Eric. I’m still not sure about what is exactly right here but the argument is definately unnecessarily combatative.

You point about gladly being in debt .. I see you’re passion. From where I’m standing there is no way ( having already done a degree ) I would be able to even get a loan to pay for the enormous fees for a acupuncture degree here. A herb degree would be another three years and another enormous loan that no one will lend me.

Hmm I jut want to practice and learn what I’ve loved for years and years now. It won’t stop me learning. I love this medicine and finding everything about it I can.

Emma says:

09/27/2012

This is a wonderful post. The Manual of Acupuncture is one of my favourite books, and my copy is old and falling apart due to all the “love” it has been given. I am so excited about this new iPad app! I have been waiting for this and am so glad that reading and referencing will be a little more portable. Thank you so much for sharing Peter Deadman’s wonderful wisdom. He is a superhero in the TCM world.

Eric Grey says:

09/28/2012

Glad you enjoyed it, Emma!

Jason Burke says:

10/28/2012

I worked for a year with Lisa Rohleder et. al. in 2003-4, my first year in practice. While learning their approach to acupuncture, I was often excoriated for being “goal-oriented,” when complaining that patients did not seem to get well. It was a relaxation clinic, nothing more.

Practitioners who push themselves to learn and improve know the stark contrast between effective and ineffective practice. Whatever benefits the community model imparts, they are undermined by Rohleder’s anti-intellectual proselytizing. (The sad thing is, it’s not really that hard to keep getting better. It’s fun!)

Jason Burke says:

10/28/2012

I should add, I don’t think all CA people share the anti-intellectual mentality. Still, there is a case to be made that with high-level practice, and more intensive treatments, many patients will heal faster for equal or less money.

Eric Grey says:

10/28/2012

Thanks for sharing your experience, Jason. It is the anti-intellectualism that I find so off-putting (in Chinese medicine as well as the rest of contemporary American culture) combined with an overall lack of focus on helping patients treat the root of illness. The folks I find that have the best benefit from CA are those for whom “just relaxing” actually DOES strike at the root of the illness… if the CA person is skilled at introducing true body-mind stress relief repeatedly… sometimes this can result in “cure.” But, that’s certainly not everybody, and I do the same with my patients, for similar costs overall.

Emma says:

12/01/2012

This is such an interesting debate. I’m in my first year of practice and co-pioneering a community clinic in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I’ve a long, long way to go in terms of reflecting on best practice (results and financial) and I know I HAVE to address both. I was inspired to CA by Lisa for which I am grateful, and yet I cannot find anything to disagree with in Peter’s article in the June 2012 JCM. Anderw Nugent Head’s article in the same was a refreshingly direct read. I think we need to be challenged! Anyway, how I’m going to tread the middle ground re CA is work in progress, but I suppose I just wanted to say that I support community acupuncture but I’m also a big fan of people like Whitfield Reaves, and I believe we do need to ‘raise our game’. I had 3 acupuncture treatments from different colleagues for neck pain until a physio friend addressed it with one well-placed needle. She’s not great at acupuncture but she knows her anatomy. So I’m currently working on mine!

Eric Grey says:

12/03/2012

Emma,

Certainly a measured, open minded approach is the best. Combining multiple practice models with great understanding of anatomy, Chinese medicine theory, and deep self cultivation seems like a good bet. Thanks so much for your comment and for your hard work there in Ireland!

Eric

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