For more than ten years, I’ve been operating as a practitioner of classical Chinese medicine. During that time, I’ve built up five clinic locations, closed three, taught for ten years at National University of Natural Medicine and started and stopped dozens of projects revolving around the professions of Chinese herbalism and acupuncture. I’ve read, studies and…
Renewal
The truth is I’m a little obsessed with the Gallbladder. Not in the intensely intellectually curious way – I’m not learning the intricacies of biomedical anatomy or thumbing through studies about the etymological analysis of the Chinese character dan 膽. This is visceral, personal. This is lived experience. Since I started school in Chinese medicine…
The culture of professional Chinese medicine in the US : the reality and use of nature-centrism as a value
While there are hundreds of issues under active debate by the community, many of which could have important consequences for patients, I chose to look specifically at one aspect of EAM’s professional culture – the ethical construct of the oath. Through analyzing that oath, I have tried to demonstrate that it can serve as a scaffolding for the formation of a robust professional culture, and have suggested some ways that this might impact practitioners and institutions in the profession.
A Chinese medicine oath serving as a foundation for acupuncture medical ethics
This is the second portion of the paper I read at the 2017 SPCW annual meeting. You can read the beginning here. I’ve not made many changes I would like to make quite yet, but wanted to get this second part up. I’ll make some changes to it in the coming weeks, and reflect the…
The professional culture of East Asian medicine in the US : an introduction
I recently gave a paper at the annual conference of the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World. It was a bit of a stretch for me, as I’d not done work like this since, at least, my thesis in acupuncture school. Careful thinking is hard, and I can’t say I even did that wonderful a…
Chinese medicine and liberation
Many of us come to this medicine to contribute to deep wellness in our communities. We may want to do more than simply execute protocols that remove pain. We may feel in our hearts that we want to do more than help a person run that next marathon. To go beyond the noble goal of…
Chinese medical symbolism: the organ clock
Alert : This is a reposted article from previous versions of the website. I’ve kept it up in mostly unmodified form as people have found it helpful. Newer content may be more complete, accurate, or may represent more matured theoretical and clinical understanding on my part. Proceed accordingly. Chinese language is symbolic – it uses…