Comments on: 7 features of your Great Chinese Medicine physician

By: P. Veazey

P. Veazey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:07:09 +0000

An Excellent blog! The internet would be a better place if people could write as well as you. May your tribe increase!

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:21:34 +0000

Steven,

Oops – if I made that mistake, I sure didn’t mean to. I’ll check on it and fix it tomorrow! :)

Eric

By: steven

steven — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:58:08 +0000

Hey Eric, thanks for your great posts. There was one typo I noticed though, it was at the very beginning–the guy in the picture is named “Hua Tuo” 華陀, you have him spelled “Hua Tou” 滑頭, which means “cunning”, now it makes a huge difference!
:)

By: Oscar Sierra

Oscar Sierra — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:22:36 +0000

These are all great points. It’s probably implied somewhere, but I always recommend practitioners trained in the herbal tradition as well (as opposed to just acupuncture). Sense of humor helps a good bit too, both the patients and the practitioner, I’m sure this would be covered under #5, personal character.
As far as the basic business acumen, this is important too. There are only so many Zig Ziglar’s out there, and that’s ok, but just as we see signs & symptoms as part of a bigger pattern, an ineptitude in business points not only to an ineptitude at business, but a disbalance in some aspect of the practitioner that will undoubtedly affect the patient(s) somewhere along the line, even if it is not immediate. We don’t dismiss when a patient dissmisively reports “occasional” temper problems and dry red eyes “every once in a while.” In an effort to correctly diagnose a Liver Yang disbalance which, if left untreated, we know could easily progress to a more serious disease, we pay close attention to these symptoms, even if they’re not the chief complaint and may seem unrelated to the patient.
A sound business acumen is analogous to this. We may not be selling widgets, but an occasional examination into this aspect of of ourselves is worthwhile especially within the greater context of our health and our practice.

By: Ecstasy Pills

Ecstasy Pills — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:24:09 +0000

“A good doctor is a good student (the reverse is not always true)” – that’s well said. And it’s true for just any profession, not just medicine.

By: Eric Grey

Eric Grey — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:28:07 +0000

Tom,

Basic business skills are, of course, relative. In the US and most Western States, especially, a person who fails to meet their basic needs is probably lacking some business knowledge, skill, or acumen. This will limit their ability to see patients, in most cases.

Every CM doctor I know who has failed to grasp basic principles of business struggles. In different countries, in different circumstances, the skills required are different. For each person, what is required to “make a living” changes. A person need only maintain the minimum skill necessary to fit the bill as I’ve laid it out above.

I certainly have no “love of dollars.” Many of the physicians I know who have basic business skills and charge what they are worth within their socio-economic reality have no “love of dollars.” They do have a love of their health, their sanity, and their medicine. These physicians serve as my model.

Also – the working class acupuncture model is great, and totally fits the bill. These folks definitely had a basic grasp of business to make a low-cost model viable. The point is simply to know enough about business to, at least, thrive personally. What that means to each individual is surely up to them.

Thanks for your comment!

Eric

By: Tom Verhaeghe

Tom Verhaeghe — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:49:37 +0000

Hi Eric,

while the ideals that you suggest are certainly laudable (they’re ideals, right) I don’t really understand why the business skills have to be part of the equation.
I know, we all have to survive but I don’t think being able to make money is what qualifies a good therapist. I have met with some top doctors in China that declined bigger and better houses (and higher salaries) so they could keep on living on their concrete cube somewhere on the third floor. Some of those doctors were seeing 35 patients in a morning and were highly respected among their colleagues.
Perhaps the business skills are more a characteristic of the “great western chinese medicine physician”. And even then there may be many personal differences. I remember reading an article on Acupuncture Today in which a woman professed her fondness of dollars. It caused quite a stir. Then there is the working class acupuncture movement. To each his own, I guess.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:10:02 +0000

Completely agreed. I think you would only have to be treated by a few separate docs to get the feeling for the truth of this. Different docs using the same “system” feel completely different when they treat. It’s beyond technique, beyond knowledge – it’s about the energetic quality of that person and their willingness/ability to be there with you.

Thanks for your comment.

Eric