Top 10 Ways Chinese Medicine Can Help You, Part 2

#6 It's InteractiveMedicine (read about that). This yields a mind-body
Chinese Medicine students learn about how everymedicine that integrates personality and physical
aspect of our lives (from bowel movements todisease.
emotions) relate to one another. We learn to relateFrom the patient's symptoms, we can understand
to every kind of person.their personality and what might help or hinder their
Patients Can Push Your Buttonshealing from an emotional and behavioral perspective.
Patients sometimes push our buttons, and this giveAnd vice versa, we can look at people's emotions
us the opportunity to interact with ourselves. This isand behavior and guess what kind of physical
not always easy. We don't always like what we find!problems they might have. This makes for a quicker,
But if you commit to growth through interaction,more comprehensive medicine, and helps patients feel
helping, and self-examination, you can deactivate yourunderstood and confident in the care they receive.
buttons, grow past your limits, and increase your#10 It can be a Lucrative AND Altruistic Career
usefulness to others.As former AMA president and Medscape CEO
More specifically:George Lundberg, MD says, medicine walks a thin line
* Some students may realize they came to medicinebecause:
for a selfish reason and decide to put helping others* It is supposed to be altruistic (selflessly concerned
first.for others), but
* Some students find they are people-pleasers and* It is also a business (and thus vulnerable to selfish
have to learn how to set boundaries and be moregreed).
assertive (not aggressive or passive-aggressive!).We could think of this as the yin and yang of the
* Others are more confrontational and aggressive bymedical business.
nature and need to learn compassion and patience.Insurance Coverage for Acupuncture and Herbs
* Some are analytical and live in their heads - theySome alternative medicine practitioners are happy to
need to learn to focus on their hearts, gaining rapportstay outside of the managed care system. It's
and loving their patients.valuable enough to patients to pay out of their own
Letting Go of Bad Habitspockets. Increasingly, acupuncture is covered by
Your bad habits are called into question. At one pointinsurance, HMO's and worker's compensation boards...
in my training, I went back to smoking cigarettes. Itsometimes the full cost of the treatment is covered
was a guilt-laden 6 weeks! It seemed hypocritical toand sometimes it isn't. Herbal medicine usually isn't
want to be a healer while destroying my health. Andcovered... but patients are used to buying herbs and
I felt like I had to hide it. I quit to be a bettervitamins without reimbursement.
example to my patients, and not to have to hideLundberg suggests that:
anything.* Proven preventive care should be financed by the
I also had to quit coffee. I knew from chinesegovernment,
medicine that it wasn't helping me with my* Proven catastrophic care covered by insurance, and
impatience and irritability. It was worsening my liver qi* Everything else paid for out-of-pocket.
stagnation! I had to give it up and take herbs instead.Grossing Gross Amounts of Money - Acupuncture
I had to practice what I preach.Salaries
When you know something is bad, it seems like funRegardless of who pays, acupuncturists can expect
to do it anyway (it gives you the illusion of poweran annual gross salary of between $40,000
and control). But eventually you give in to theand$1,000,000. I just heard about a hospital position
wisdom, do what is right, and get to feel evenfor an acupuncturist in Iowa that was paying $159
better. Then you can help others with the sameper hour (their medical doctor rate).
struggle.My wife made $100,000 her first year out of school.
Your Victory can lead to their VictoryOne acupuncturist here in San Diego grosses near
Occasionally, your own personal growth and$1,000,000 annually with worker's compensation
commitment to self-examination helps your patientscases only.
directly. At one point, I saw a woman with fears ofRight now in California, work-comp reimburses $120
abandonment. I had just discovered and confrontedper acupuncture treatment. Some acupuncturists see
my own similar fears 6 months before. She was able4 patients per hour...
to feel understood and heard and I was able to offerLet's do some quick math on an example. If you
her solutions, strength, and hope.averaged $80 per treatment (which is achievable),
In this way, we are trailblazers- pioneers in growth. Ifsaw 2 patients per hour, and worked 8 hours per
we remain shallow, so will our healing interactions. Ifday, 4 days per week (leaving a day or two to do
we grow deeper, we can lead people to greaterpaperwork), 48 weeks per year you could gross
healing.$245,760. If you spend 40% of your gross on
#7 It Benefits YOU Too!overhead, you earn $147,456 before taxes.
As was just explained, by helping others you get toWhat Makes for Making Money
grow too.How much you earn depends, as in all businesses,
Save on Health Care Costsupon your resourcefulness, initiative, marketing
By giving yourself the know-how and resources tosavvy, and - most importantly - the quality of your
keep yourself, your friends, and your family well, youservice. As in all service businesses, you must be
can save money. One acupuncturist said on an emailgood at what you do.
list that it saved her family tens of thousands ofThe Freedom to Give
dollars in medical costs. It can be practicedMaking all that money frees us to be altruistic. A lot
inexpensively - for many years it treated millions ofof volunteer care is given by acupuncturists. During "9
poor peasants in China who had no access to11,", New York students from the Pacific Institute of
western medicine. Chinese Medicine may be a largeChinese Medicine treated the firefighters. Likewise,
part of the solution to our healthcare crisis.students in San Diego from the Pacific College of
Professional CourtesyChinese Medicine treat Viet Nam veterans every year
Some acupuncturists trade treatments with oneat a special gathering. Of dozens of services, the
another to stay in good health. I've receivedacupuncture is among the top 3 requested. You can
hundreds of treatments from fellow students,take on a number of low or no-fee cases in your
practitioners, and my wife! It's helped me with anger,own practice. It's up to you.
irritability, migraines, light sensitivity, fear,#11 - There are so many options
over-thinking, colds and flus, and cold sores, amongIt's a varied profession.
other things.In California, acupuncturists are physicians and can be
#8 It's Traditional and Ancienta patient's primary care practitioner - they are
It's natural for us to look for reassurance, especiallyprofessionals on par with MD's, chiropractors, and
in dealing with our health. Biomedicine reassures bypsychologists. As an acupuncturist...
requiring studies of treatments for safety. Chinese* You could work with an MD, DO, DC, psychologist,
medicine has been tested for safety and efficacypsychiatrist, or massage therapist.
(especially acupuncture), and it has thousands of* You can work in a high-class office wearing a suit.
years of experience behind it to show what happensYou could practice at home wearing your slippers.
to the people it treats. It is inarguably a positive* You could do all acupuncture, or all herbs, or both.
influence in our world. Biomedicine, on the other hand,* You could treat just sports injuries, or workers
is only 50 years old, and the full scope of the sidecompensation, or acupuncture face-lifts, or
effect phenomenon (short and long-term) has yet togynecology, or psychiatry, or do it all!
be grasped.* There is room for new schools all over the U.S. -
Not every chinese remedy has been through the fullthere are still states without any Chinese Medicine
rigors of the Randomized Controlled Trialschools.
(biomedicine's gold-standard), but neither have all of* You could practice in California (where 1/3 of us
the standard biomedical treatments. The millions ofpractice), or you could have an 'insta-practice' in many
hours and patient visits through hundreds of yearsplaces all over the U.S. that don't have access to
establish traditional chinese treatments as safe andChinese Medicine.
effective. More and more studies are being done to* You could teach or be a clinic supervisor at an
confirm them and understand how they work inestablished school.
biomedical terms. I have written extensively on* You could see loads of patients, or spend 2 hours
acupuncture safety and how it works here.with each one. One herbalist in China sees 80 patients
#9 Its Theories have Broad Implicationsper day. You have to be good to get herbs right- to
Since it integrates many different disciplines andget them right and see that many patients per day,
realms, CM concepts could be used to reorganize andyou have to be stellar!
give insight to psychology and psychiatry,* You could create a business selling products to the
pharmaceutical medicine, and sociology. These insights20,000 or so acupuncturists in the U.S. (even more
could guide and suggest future research in all fields.internationally).
The 16 types of the Meyers Briggs personality typing* You can write books and teach continuing
system have been somewhat integrated with the 5education seminars.
constitutions and 6 temperaments of ChineseThere are so many options!