What is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?
Preliminary note: If you are really looking for a definition of TCM and want to learn more about Chinese medicine in general, please check out this page of articles written especially for folks who are new to the world of Chinese medicine and want to learn more.
——
I was just reading over some old journal entries from when Deepest Health began last year. One of the blogging techniques that I was taught by Yaro Starak during the Blog Mastermind training program was creating definition posts. I did use that format to define various things, including Qigong, acupuncture and herbal medicine. However, because I started to get interested in a lot of more complicated things and attracted some fairly sophisticated readers, I moved away from those basic types of posts.
I found a note that I should write a post about TCM - which really got me thinking. There’s a fundamental problem with my blogging purpose. I am interested in getting good information out there about Chinese medicine, it’s practice, power and philosophical foundation. I’ve been putting that information out as I learn it, revising points as I’m able and hoping that my good intentions and transparency will make sure that the good information overcomes the bad.
But, I’m trying to do too many things at once. How so? Well, consider terminology. When most people think about Chinese medicine, they think about acupuncture. This is so much the case that most people simply call all of Chinese medicine “acupuncture,” even some practitioners. One of my mentors even names his business using the word acupuncture and says nothing about herbs. Why does he do this? Because when most people think about contacting a Chinese medicine physician, the word that comes into their mind is “acupuncture.” It just makes good business and marketing sense.
Which, apparently, I don’t have. :) By talking constantly about Classical Chinese Medicine on this blog, I end up missing out on picking up on a lot of folks who are searching for information about this medicine. What do they search for if they are little more savvy? Maybe “Chinese herbs” or even “traditional Chinese medicine,” and if they’re REALLY on it, “TCM.” Those words appear very few times in any of my content. :D So, while I’m sitting here pumping out quality content, fighting the good fight, I’m missing probably half of my intended audience. In some way, I’m hoping to change the language around Chinese medicine. I honestly don’t care if the word “classical” makes it in there - simply calling it Chinese medicine would be fine.
So, if in the coming months and years, you see me using TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine or Acupuncture a little bit more in the way that I write - do forgive me. I’m simply using the common vernacular to try and get the information out to the people who are looking for it.
All that aside, I’m interested to know how terminology plays into your life around Chinese Medicine. If you have a business or work at a school, how is Chinese medicine discussed in your marketing materials? Do you think there is some value in trying to change the language through marketing, or is that just dooming one to failure? Do you find that your patients/students are confused about the language used to describe what we do? Please leave your thoughts in the comments and, as always, thanks for reading.
Eric
If you like what you read here, you may want to keep updated by using my RSS feed. Want to know more about RSS/feeds? - read more here. Thanks for visiting!
Tags: Blogging, Business, ccm, classical-chinese-medicine, language, tcm, traditional-chinese-medicineRelated posts
10 Things you can do to strengthen Chinese medicine as a profession
As a Chinese medicine student, my primary focus is learning the medicine. I spend most of my time reading the Classics, memorizing herbs and points, practicing my clinical skills and taking care of my self-cultivation. However, I also believe that I would be silly not to do what I can now to make sure that the profession I am entering remains viable. By viable I mean that the scope of practice remains sufficient for me to do what I am learning to do, that there are no government intrusions on my ability to obtain and use the tools of my trade and that it is able to generate for me an income that will support me and my family. These are all complex issues, depending on a variety of factors. However, I do believe that I am capable of supporting the continued viability of the profession as well as increasing its standing in the eyes of the public so as to increase the potential for growth and development of Chinese medicine as a business.
Here are ten things I have done, as a patient and as a student, to strengthen Chinese medicine as a practice and profession - and they are all things you can probably do as well. If you have other ideas - share them with all of us in the comments.
For everyone
1. Educate yourself about the prevailing issues in natural medicine in general and Chinese medicine in particular.
As the field of natural medicine grows, the issues that arise around it will grow. Research reports, news about use of the medicine, changing governmental policies and a variety of pop culture references are easily available and will all add to your knowledge of how health care is changing. I use Google Reader to keep up with most of this information, adding RSS feeds of my favorite blogs, frequently updated websites, and Google News feeds (you can follow the link and then click on RSS on the left side to add it to your Reader). I read this information daily. Sometimes I get multiple notifications of the same news story, or hear several different angles about one issue - but this all adds to the richness of my understanding. I also keep up with the latest journals in the field, and do literature searches using web tools like PubMed to find out about the latest research. You can acquire the information that is of interest to you… just remember that knowledge is power!
2. When an issue needs attention - write to your elected officials and other people in power who may be of assistance, encourage friends and family to do the same.
Sometimes your research is going to uncover an issue that needs attention. Perhaps your state legislature is about to enact laws that infringe on Chinese medicine practitioner’s ability to practice their medicine. Perhaps the FDA is removing another Chinese herb with little or no reason for doing so. Perhaps there is an Internet campaign to help obtain loan forgiveness for Chinese medicine school graduates through a federal program. Regardless of the issue or platform, you can take simple actions that will tell the appropriate people that you support natural alternatives to standard Western medicine. Email, phone and send “snail mail” letters to your elected officials, attend relevant rallies, and make sure to support candidates that support natural medicine. You can multiply your force by informing family and friends through conversation, email or even your own blog or website. Read more
Tags: aaaom, Acupuncture, Blogging, changing-the-world, chinese-herb, chinese-herbs, chinese-medicine, erics-habits, Learning, Personal Development, professional-development, revolutionRelated posts
-
-
What am I up to?
-
Subscribe to Deepest Health
