Technological teaching : social networking for natural medicine practitioners and a study update
I’ve been working with Saturday features these last few months. I like the idea of a links post, but they don’t get much traffic and they’re sort of boring to write. I figure it makes more sense to offer something of real value while enjoying the process myself. So, on this cloudy Oregon summer morning, I’d like to try something new. On Saturdays, until I find something that works even better, I’ll offer a technological teaching geared toward the natural medicine crowd. Remember when I wrote about why every healthcare provider should have a blog and the ensuing discussion about the apparent misgivings most natural medicine practitioners seem to have about technology? Well, I have a passion for bringing our profession up to speed - we belong on the Internet - people need us! Every week, I’ll try to think of something new to point out. It will still be links-based, but the links won’t just be stuff I think is interesting. Instead, the links will be part of the teaching.
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Before I continue with the technological teaching, I wanted to refer back to another post I made recently about studying Chinese medicine. As school approaches (my last year!) I find myself being forced to think increasingly of how to get myself back into the mindset for institutional education. I’ve also continued to notice my knowledge deficiencies while in clinic. Not to mention, I’m supposed to be working on the thesis required for my Classical Chinese Medicine degree at NCNM. I find that in the summer, I naturally turn away from intense study and towards other things (like blogging) but now it’s time to turn back. In the article referenced above, I decided to try a new method of studying that would allow me to cycle through topics each day. As usual, I bit off a little more than I could chew. In this case, I simply picked too many topics. I found that it was too difficult to keep the categories discreet, and often because of the natural flow of my weeks I was “into” particular topics on particular days.
To refine the process, I will suggest the following topics be studied each day - with the complete group to be studied at least every two weeks. This allows for a more natural decision making process when I sit down to study, yet still ensures that I actually work on each topic. This last part is important, because I find that sometimes I get a little too obsessed with one topic and my knowledge and skill in the other crucial areas suffers.
Topics:
- Formulas : names, dosages, signs/symptoms (especially pulses) and all associated information
- Points : mostly just location and categories for now
- Diagnostics : working more closely with pulses, tongues and other diagnostic information
- Pathology : six conformations/shang han, 19 lines/5 evils, Zangfu/TCM and Western when desired
- Physiology : working with the information I have to keep diving deeper into the physiology of Chinese medicine organ systems and their interrelationships
- Symbolism : working more explicitly with the information I’ve gleaned from Classical texts and my professors at NCNM
If this succeeds, I’d like to see how it works to share something I’ve learned from each topic each week. I know that some of you students out there have been missing the more basic posts I used to write, and my explicit study in these various areas might bear some fruit as far as sharable content is concerned. Stay tuned.
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Now, what about technology? To keep this post as short as possible, I won’t launch into any diatribes. I hope to just show people how valuable the Internet can be and how crucial it is that we, as healthcare providers, link into this rapidly growing method of connection and communication. Today, I’d like to talk a little bit about…
**Social networking**
Human beings are social animals. Some have lamented the invention of the computer, and then the Internet, claiming that it negatively impacts social relationships between people. Now, of course, I think this is a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg question since for our society to accept such a technology implies that we had already gone far afield. That is, of course, if this lamentation has any basis. I’m not ready to deliver a proclamation on that just yet, but I do believe that any such insinuation is probably overstated. Anyway, the thing has doubtless been improved by the invention of blogging and, most recently, the flourishing of social networking tools.
Both blogging and social networking tools share something in common - they encourage conversation among people. You are all mostly familiar with blogging, I assume. You may be less familiar with the various social networking tools. There are quite a few types, and those who are more detail oriented than myself could probably explain them in encyclopedic fashion. But, to keep it real, I offer these simple categories and definitions:
1. Social networking sites that are more about keeping people updated and sharing more static information: These sites are usually larger and more feature-rich. They invite people to develop a very full profile, often include advertising and other monetization, and frequently connect with other types of content (like static websites containing large amounts of information). Most of these do include aspects of the second type, but most people don’t use them that way. I’m thinking here of sites like Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace, Gaia.com and Rootdown.us (links to these sites that allow you to add me easily as a friend are below).
These sites require some set up to be most functional. You go in, set up a profile and add a picture, add groups and interests, find your friends and colleagues and gradually over time will build a group of people (a network) that is easy to connect with. In my experience, the social aspects of these sites are relatively deemphasized. What I mean is that there’s not much conversation going on and often, particularly among the over-25 set, updates are infrequent. They are still very valuable, however. I have found lots of long-lost friends using these tools, plus the integration of microblogging tools (see below) allow for more conversational interaction. The more robust nature of these tools allows for a wider range of functionality as well. For instance, on Gaia.com - a social networking site for “conscious living” - you can write blog entries, list your favorite books, search for information on a variety of alternative lifestyle topics and be informed of upcoming events you may be interested in.
2. Social networking sites that are more about conversing and sharing developing information : These tools are often grouped under the word “microblogging.” Microblogging is a way of sharing short bits of information (under 150 characters) frequently. Using these sites, you set up a small profile and add friends. You can easily update the services (eventually even using your mobile phone) and read others’ updates and in doing so, you have a good sense for what your contacts are doing in any given day. Lots of news bytes are shared using this service - it can be interesting to watch the unfolding of a given story as percieved by people all over the world in all different socio-political circumstances. It’s also an easy way to share links to your latest blog content or ask people for support for charity causes or for promoting your content on sites like Digg and Stumbleupon (which are also, technically, social media sites - but are very different so I won’t cover them here). Twitter and Plurk are the two most popular microblogging services. See links below.
Why should you get involved?
These sites are a great way to start establishing yourself as a presence on the Internet. The conversations you have with others will gradually introduce you into the online flow - which can be very helpful if you ever plan to promote yourself or your clinic online. It’s also a fantastic way to meet people from all over the world and to begin to see things through eyes other than your own. I also find it a very helpful way to keep up with friends, family and colleagues that I otherwise would need to have an hour-long “catching up” conversation with each time I met up with them. Some may say that this is degrading normal human interaction, but I’ve found it only to enrich the relationships I have with people “in real life.”
Join me in the social media revolution - add me as a friend!
Here are my links for the various social media sites. You can click here to add me to your profile and we will be able to see one another’s updates. If you have any questions or anything to share about social media, go ahead and leave a comment at the end of this post and I’ll answer any and all questions as well as participating in any ensuing conversation. I look forward to seeing you all there. :) Note: Some of these links are not going to lead you to my profile, but to the page where you can sign up for an account. Once you do that, you can add me - sometimes using the links below or just by searching for me by my username or password.
- Facebook (I think I’m found as Eric Grey in this service)
- Myspace (I should note that I don’t use this service as much as the others, I’m pylonian here)
- Gaia.com (I’m pylonian on this service)
- Rootdown.us (I’m deepesthealth on this service)
- Linkedin (I believe I’m just Eric Grey on this service)
- Twitter (I’m pylonian here)
- Plurk (I’m deepesthealth here)
It’s worth noting that there are a variety of social networking sites that are specifically aimed at particular groups of people or particular kinds of content. For instance, there is a social networking site for Muslims, as well as one just for sharing information about Travel. There are also photosharing social networks like Flickr. Rootdown.us (listed above) is one such type of site - geared particularly towards people interested in Chinese medicine. I should note that Rootdown isn’t a social networking site as such, but incorporates some of those elements - a practice becoming increasingly common on the Internet.
If you’re interested, here’s a Wikipedia list of most of the popular social networking websites.
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, education, fun, internet, links, student, study, studying, Technology, websitesRelated posts
7 Reasons why cool people don’t blog
One of the greatest benefits of blogging is the many relationships you build with other bloggers and blog readers. I believe this is the especially case in a small niche like Chinese medicine. There simply aren’t many active blogs (or even, really, non-blog websites) out there. This creates a pretty small pond in which for fishes of any size to swim. It’s a positive thing in some ways - it’s easy to get to know the folks in the field and the relationships built are pretty intimate. But, having more folks as part of the conversation makes for a more robust conversation! Further, when there are a lot of folks working in a given niche a kind of ecosystem evolves that allows for lots of fruitful cross-pollination, traffic building and ultimately more potential profit for everyone.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about why there aren’t more active bloggers in the world of Chinese medicine. In my research, I’ve discovered that there are a number of niches in the general category of “conscious living” that are bizarrely unfilled or under filled. While there are plenty of people searching for information about more “alternative” topics (like veganism, meditation and Eastern spirituality, simplicity, naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, eco-consciousness, local food, etc…) there aren’t that many people having robust and interesting conversations about these topics. In talking with my friends and reading through some forum and email exchanges, I think I have at least one (mildly tongue in cheek) reason why this phenomenon is occurring.
Simply - consciously living folks who are knowledgeable about these topics are too cool for blogging. :) What can I possibly mean by that? I’m obviously joking a bit, but I do encounter a quite perplexing attitude when I talk about blogging to people in the Chinese medicine and naturopathic community. They look at me as if I’m a creature from another planet, a traitor to my kind or some hybrid of both. After some long thinking, I think I’ve discovered some reasons that these wise, conscious and unbelievably cool people haven’t yet discovered the power of blogging.
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1. They don’t want to spend so much time with computers : I think this is the most crucial item on the list. There is a perception that, in order to be a blogger, you have to be married to your computer. Seeing me blogging probably doesn’t help that perception much. But many people have managed to create active, exciting and profitable blogs on around two hours of active work per day. Further, even creating a blog and posting your thoughts just a couple of times a week can do a lot to counter the weak and outright bad information out there about all the topics I’ve listed above. My point is simple - you don’t have to have your computer glued to your hands in order to be a successful blogger!
I think behind this is the latent idea in the natural medicine community that computer technology is inherently bad. I meet and greet this misperception nearly every day. I understand where it comes from. Many people who use computers frequently don’t lead very healthful lifestyles - long hours of sitting, staring, eating whatever is at hand, terrible posture, etc… it can be a detriment to balance, to be sure. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’d argue that it isn’t that way in the majority of cases. In my time blogging, my lifestyle has become MORE healthful - not less. I don’t believe that I am being invisibly eviscerated by rays of death emanating from my machine. I simply haven’t seen or felt any evidence that this is the case. I think it’s high time that we as natural medicine practitioners and supporters of all kinds of alternative lifestyles take another look at our perceptions of computers and computer technology. Let’s find a way to make it a boon, not a bane.
2. They don’t have time because they’re doing cooler things : A lot of us are very busy. I’m very busy. Oh man, you don’t even know. So very busy. A quick glance at my active project lists shows over sixty currently active projects pulling at my attention. I’m not exaggerating. I have an eleven year old daughter (going on sixteen), I’m in my intern year, I’m student body president at NCNM, active in a number of other organizations, working on projects for both of my main mentors, I’m starting a business and trying to keep up in a number of fields by self-educating. That’s just for starters and doesn’t include my personal projects. What keeps me alive? Self cultivation and the power of the relationships I cultivate both online and offline.
Regardless - this “reason” is related to the first — that blogging has to take a lot of time. It doesn’t. To be truthful, at first it does take some time to get set up and to get used to the work flow. After that, things get easier and only have to get time consuming if you decide to change or expand something. At the most basic level, it can easily be 5 hours or less of your working week. Easily!
3. They’re not self absorbed : As I discussed in a recent article, many people have the perception that you have to be very into yourself in order to project your thoughts to the universe online. I don’t think this is the case. When you’re blogging about a topic that you care about, even if you blog in very personal terms, your focus is the topic - not yourself. Even if you do a little self-promotion (like in promoting your private practice, or a lecture series or a product you just released) the focus is really on informing people about something that might be of interest to them. Further, if we keep in mind that the desire should be to get great information about natural medicine (or whatever topic) out there for people to find - you can have a very giving mindset and be somewhat ego-less in the whole process.
4. They communicate in other, cooler, ways : Some people don’t understand the blogging format and feel that their thoughts are better projected in other, more traditional, ways. Perhaps they have a mailed newsletter or publish articles in industry journals. Perhaps they are fortunate enough to have book deals or a regular newspaper or magazine column. All of these types of people can benefit from blogging. By leveraging this simple and powerful communication medium, they can help magnify the positive educational effects of their print media offerings. My friend and colleague, Abdallah B Stickley, provides a good example of this method with his blogging about his Chinese Medicine Times article.
5. They know it doesn’t make any difference what people say on the Internet: I have been on the Internet since the Internet was born. That’s just a simple truth that, I think, explains why I believe so much in the power of this medium of communication. From the very beginning, I saw how it was changing how people talked to one another (in good and bad ways) and when blogging first began, I rejoiced at how it might allow ordinary people to discuss their experience of life and how they live it. There is something very powerful in sharing one’s take on the world with others and something even more powerful about stumbling upon the works of someone from a very different background with whom you have some resonance. This is made more possible, in my opinion, by the Internet and blogging in particular. I have been changed by the things I read on blogs, and I know people have been changed by what I’ve written here. If that doesn’t matter, I don’t know what does.
6. They’re not techno-savvy because of number one and two above : I think the first two things I mentioned on this list keep people from becoming acquainted with the technology involved in blogging. At my school, NCNM, I would say about 50% of the student population gets confused by simply checking their email. Though it puts me at risk of offending them, I want to say that I feel like this is a kind of feigned helplessness. Because many have this ideological stance against technology (as I’ve said, I think its an erroneous stance) and because they believe themselves to be too busy - they do not learn the requisite skills needed to blog.
What are those requisite skills? Well, checking email is a good start. The ability to navigate a basic word processor is necessary - since most blogging software has similarities to basic word processors. You have to have some familiarity with how the Internet works and how to find information using search engines. From there, you can learn the rest as you go. As I mentioned in my article yesterday, there are training programs available for people who would like to learn to blog - and I can highly recommend Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind program. Please read those above linked articles if you want to learn more about the program.
7. Secretly, they don’t think they have much to say : I think the majority of people, at least in the United States, have been trained to think of themselves and their thoughts as fundamentally meaningless. The vast majority of public education in this country kills creativity, makes people question their ability to think and generally tries to produce a buzzing hive of listless worker bees. To put it mildly. Because of this, most people grow up thinking that OTHER people have important things to say and that noone could possibly want to hear what they are thinking or what they believe. It may be that you don’t have much to offer in the way of blogging content - but I doubt it.
Have you faced a major illness, whether in yourself or in someone else? Have you started a business? Do you specialize in something within your field? Have you travelled to a foreign country? Learned another language? Do you have a garden? Do you have any hobbies? Do you have strong political beliefs? Are you an avid researcher of one topic or another? Do you have a family with a strong tradition in something? Do you have allergies or particular food preferences that other people don’t have? Do you excel at finding interesting photographs or stories? The list of questions could go on - if you can answer yes to any of these and similar questions - you can be a blogger. In fact, you SHOULD be. Your adoring public awaits. :)
Note: I should mention that a subset of this last point is the group of people who may have something to say, but don’t think they can write. Yaro actually goes into some detail about the “but I can’t write” objection - but let me assure you - you don’t need to write the next Great American Novel. If you can get your point across, you can blog.
Thanks for reading,
Eric
PS: If you’re interested in blogging and even making some money at it, feel free to download the Blog Profits blueprint written by Yaro Starak, my blog mentor. Also, please check out the articles that I linked to above if you haven’t already. Finally, I’m always happy to talk with folks some more about my experience with Blog Mastermind - just email me at d e e p e s t h e a l t h @ g m a i l . c o m, with no spaces between the letters. Also, as always, feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments!
Tags: Blogging, Business, community, content, creativity, education, fun, internet, Technology, websitesRelated posts
5 Computer based tools no Chinese medicine student should be without
While I’ve been working on my January Year of Sagely Living goal, I’ve really had to increase my efficiency in a number of respects. I’m doing a fairly good job keeping to my basic commitment, but I’ve had to spend an unusual amount of time finding the holes in my various systems. It’s an interesting by-product of the whole thing, that while the focus of this month is scholarship, it has changed me in ways that will ultimately be beneficial for more than just my study of Chinese medicine. I think, in a way, that’s the point of the whole Year of Sagely Living. To show that the principles of Chinese medicine, when instantiated in daily life, have benefits far beyond what would initially seem likely.
I thought I’d just mention some of the tools that have come out on top as I’ve refined my system. I’ve mentioned a couple of these before, but it might be nice to have them all in one place. All of these tools are worth the time it takes to learn them.
1. Rootdown.us and TCM Assistant : When it comes to quickly accessing basic Chinese medicine information, no sites are easier to use and easier to trust than these. Rootdown includes the “community editing” features that make sites like Wikipedia so popular. TCM Assistant has the edge of something a bit neglected, but has a wider database of formulas, so I turn to it when I can’t find something on Rootdown. There are other Chinese medicine websites, but they are mostly badly designed and/or too infrequently updated to be of any real use.
2. Google Book search and Google Blog search : With these two tools, you can find pretty obscure information that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to find. The book search does full text searching of a number of books, with some having many pages available online. Even if you can’t read all of the information you desire, you have at least a better idea of where to look for the info you’re after. Blog search is an easy way to look across the blogosphere quickly and efficiently to see what “real people” are saying about a given topic.
3. PubMed, Blue Poppy’s article search, your school library’s databases : I like to cover all my bases. In finding information on Chinese medicine, you have a lot of resources at your disposal. Your books, lecture notes, professors and peers, nature herself, patients, the websites I listed above… it’s incredible, really. Here are three more tools to help round out your personal Chinese medicine info warehouse.
PubMed is a huge clearinghouse for information in nearly all of the major journals of all kinds of medicine, including Chinese medicine. Some of the journals even have full text available for free. If you’re looking for any published research studies on Chinese medicine topics, this is probably the first place to start. Blue Poppy recently opened their article database for free use - an event I enthusiastically blogged about a while ago. It’s a great resource of first-rate information on a variety of Chinese medicine topics. Finally, don’t neglect the databases your library provides as well as - of course - the library itself! I’m always shocked to find how few folks actually use their libraries as they are intended to be used - freely!
4. Omnifocus or kGTD w/Omnioutliner : To use these tools effectively, you need to have read David Allen’s Getting Things Done
These electronic tools are elegant and powerful ways to implement the core processes of GTD, but they would probably also be useful for anyone trying to get a better handle on the projects they are working on. Total, it has probably taken me about 48 hours to fully understand and implement GTD and Omnifocus. 48 hours well spent. I’ve probably saved that much time and frustration since getting to full implementation. Now that it’s set up, it only requires about two hours a week to keep in perfect working condition. I rarely forget an appointment or deadline, I’m often prepared well in advance of exams and I find myself with plenty of time and energy to work on “side projects” like this website.
5. Bookburro, a Firefox extension : Now, obviously, this requires that you’re using Firefox. I can’t imagine a single reason NOT to use Firefox. Please, just go get it. You can import all of your bookmarks from IE or whatever other web browser you’re using. It won’t hurt, really. Then go look at all the awesome add-ons you can hook on to expand Firefox’s functionality. I only use a few, but my beloved is Book Burro. In short, this extension helps you to find the book you want at the cheapest price possible. With just a few clicks, you can configure it to search all of the book selling websites, PLUS all the public and big college libraries in your area. It will give you a list of all the book websites and their best price for the book, as well any relatively nearby libraries that carry the book and their distance from your location. I’ve saved around $500 over my Chinese medicine school career because of this little program. It’s incredible, seriously.
Taken together, these five tools probably compose only 40% of my on-computer time, but probably account for 75% of the eventual results! I hope you will find similar successes using them.
Eric
Tags: Blogging, books, getting things done, habits, internet, productivity, students, study, Technology, websites, Year of Sagely LivingRelated posts
Who wants to learn about Chinese language, culture and medicine for free?
I am (very nearly) done with finals for Fall term 2007! Hurrah! I am currently working on a couple of articles to publish over the next few days concerning what kind of gifts to get your favorite Chinese medicine student. In doing research for that I ran across a half-written article that I should have just published ages ago.
It occurs to me that many of you may not know about the phenomenal resource that is MIT OpenCourseWare. For those of you students about to start break, here’s an opportunity TO NEVER STOP THE ENDLESS FLOW OF INFORMATION INTO YOUR BRAIN. Ha! Seriously, though, this is an excellent effort on the part of a major educational institution to reduce the number of restrictions on people to get a quality education. MIT, a prestigious institution by any measure, has made the majority of their courses available ONLINE for free. You just have to go download the packages onto your computer and follow the instructions included in the “read me” file. If you have any technical problems, there are plenty of resources there to help you through any issues. It doesn’t substitute for real-time learning, of course, but it’s a wonderful thing nonetheless. The courses include notes, slide shows, audio, video, extensive bibliography (some of them annotated) links galore and even test materials. I have worked through a course before and can attest to its usefulness. For those of you skeptical that this kind of learning would work for you, just try it!
For my readers there are several courses of relevance, including:
- A four course language series followed by a two course series in Chinese culture - these include audio and video resources, an online book, assignments and loads of other resources. I have heard great things about this course. I’m going to begin it this break along with beginning the Rosetta Stone program (Chinese I). Along with interacting with my professors and spending time with other Chinese language speakers, it’s as close to immersion as I’m going to get without paying some serious money. :) There is also a streamlined Chinese language series for people who speak some Chinese but need help with reading and writing.
- Traditional Chinese Literature: Poetry, Fiction and Drama for those of us interested in delving deeper into Chinese cultural traditions.
- Government and Politics of China. I think understanding where the government of China is today and where it’s come from can help us to more fully understand the landscape of our medicine. For instance, are we going to be able to get herbs imported in the next decade? What might influence our ability to do that?
- A class about the experiences of Chinese people as they lived through the big changes of the 19th and 20th centuries.
- A course about the “human side” of medicine which I believe refers to the more philosophical issues inherent in medicine. What is a doctor? What is a patient? What does it mean to be in one of these roles? It looks like it focuses on Western medicine, but valuable nonetheless.
- An anthropology course called Myth, Ritual and Symbolism that would be of interest to anyone seeking to open their minds to the more symbolic ways of looking at reality. Great for people just starting in Chinese medicine.
- A fantastic looking course on Medical Anthropology which should be of interest to people in any medical discipline.
- A history course about East Asia and its impact in and influence on the world.
- Here’s a link to the whole Division of Health Sciences and Technology section of OpenCourseWare, any of those classes could be of interest, particularly if you are interested in integrative medicine.
No classes on Chinese medicine, as such, but such great information that can really enhance your overall complex of knowledge relevant to your studies. If you take a course, let us know how it goes! If you would like to read more articles like this one, be sure to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or via email.
Eric
Tags: chinese-language, cultural-differences, education, internet, Learning, studyRelated posts
A new (awesome) online community for Chinese medicine students and practitioners
Hey everyone. As you may know, I’m a huge proponent of the expansion of use of Internet tools by Chinese medicine practitioners and students. I feel that the potential to exchange information, build relationships and organize political and social action is simply too great to ignore. Add this to the fact that much of the information you can find on the Internet is anything but - to use Abdallah’s term in a comment on a recent blog post about the integration of Western medicine and ancient Chinese medicine - rigorous. In fact, most of it is intended to steer clients towards over-the-counter products that may or may not be right for their condition. Much of the rest is repetitive and pedantic.
My most earnest desire is to see thriving communities mediated by the Internet, involving people with diverse approaches and experiences from all over the world talking about the theory, practice and social/political development of this medicine. I don’t think this can be a substitute for “real life” relationship building, learning in a classroom environment (or, preferably, within a Master-Student relationship) or careful clinical practice. I simply see it as one more immensely powerful tool in our effort to understand nature, the human body and ancient Chinese medicine.
This site is my small effort to contribute to that and every day I learn a little more about how to make my dream become reality. Imagine my happy surprise, then, when I found another site already well developed that operates in the same spirit and adds many features that my small site cannot hope to offer at this time. Enter rootdown.us - an incredible new online community for Chinese medicine. When you visit the site, be sure to sign up for an account and add some personal information as well as a photo. I feel this helps to increase the “community” feel of the site. You can also build networks of friends as you can do at various social media sites. Only this time, the social connections are relevant to our passion - Chinese medicine.
Some of my favorite features of the site? Aside from the awesomeness of the individuals behind it? It’s community aspect is definitely part. The theoretical and clinical information database is built by the community. For instance, you can add indications and clinical applications to particular herbs, points or formulas. People can then comment on your addition. You can vote herbs and points “up” and “down” depending on their clinical effectiveness. There are forums that are growing in complexity and popularity. These features and more help to create a feeling of a real community with a powerful function of increasing the understanding of Chinese medicine for all.
The database is another incredible feature. You will find detailed descriptions and explanations for nearly every formula, herb and point available. Chinese, pinyin and English are all included - which I love. The information is also interconnected - if you head over to a formula, say Gui Zhi Tang , you can click on an individual herb to be taken to its page. The amount of information available is just going to grow as the community does - go and add some information today! I have been informed that soon each herb will come with pictures of the growing herb and the dried version - an invaluable resource as I think most of you will recognize immediately.
This site is a great resource for both students and practitioners. Students can quickly look up a formula and investigate its properties and individual herbs. They can participate in forum discussions and network with professionals and fellow students all over. Practitioners can see how others are using formulas, add their voices to the various discussions and network with people they might not have otherwise met.
The site is expanding at a healthy clip - there are a number of new features coming. There is also a form on every page on the site allowing you to send feedback, and the developers are very responsive. I am so excited about this site that I’ve asked to be involved in any way I can. I’m hoping in particular to increase the amount of information available from Classical sources, perhaps even Classical text translations? I’ve started by adding information to the herbal database and I’m looking forward to participating in many forum conversations. I hope I’ll see you there - be sure to add me as a buddy. :)
Eric
Tags: chinese-medicine, professional-development, Technology
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