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
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: aaaom, Acupuncture, Blogging, changing-the-world, chinese-herb, chinese-herbs, chinese-medicine, erics-habits, Learning, Personal Development, professional-development, revolutionRelated posts
Chinese medicine (AAAOM) conference in Portland, OR this October!
A quick announcement which I will follow with a discussion about my current thoughts on professional development in the Chinese medicine field…
October 18-22, 2007 - the AAAOM, the premiere professional organization for Chinese medicine practitioners in the United States, will be holding an International Conference and Exposition in Portland, OR. The theme for this year’s conference is “Strength through Unification.” Although that theme name is mildly reminiscent to me of some kind of Maoist refrain - I really like the thought and energy behind it.
AAAOM is the new hybrid of the East and West coast professional organizations and I feel that this recent restructuring has created some space for change to occur in our profession country-wide. It being in Portland is just icing on the cake, given that Portland is - in my estimation - uniquely poised to be the epicenter of the natural healthcare revolution.
Add to all of this the fact that the new professional student organization, parented by AAAOM and herein referred to as the AAAOM-SO, is experiencing similar invigoration. I just met with a member of the governing body of the organization who gave me a lot of great ideas and infused me with energy! We discussed the need for greater unity between the student bodies at all of the many Chinese medicine schools in the country, despite the fact that we may not agree on everything or may have different approaches to the medicine. In fact, because of the diverse voices we need to find ways to communicate and cooperate on action items that impact everyone. One of the action items we discussed was student loan forgiveness for CM graduates. At this point, CM graduates are not eligible for loan forgiveness. The woman I spoke with is a flight attendant by training and through conversations with various high-profile passengers has learned that getting CM graduates into VA hospitals is a possibility. If we get into this federal institution, we can be eligible for loan forgiveness.
It’s a long road, to be sure, but one that is worth travelling. However, getting down that road quickly and effectively will require unifying our efforts and coordinating action. This is one of the purposes of the AAAOM-SO.
This conference looks to be time well spent. Great speakers and multiple networking opportunities, all in one of the most beautiful cities on Earth. Registration can be done through their website, which was recently redesigned and looks great. If you are a student, there are special rates in the works. When I get the official word I will be sure to do a quick update to this post with the information - but the preliminary information indicates that students can get a year membership to AAAOM-SO and full conference registration for only $100. If you are a student at my school - hold on to your seats - we’re going to do a coordinated registration.
Eric
Tags: aaaom, conference, networking, professional-developmentRelated posts
-
-
What am I up to?
-
Subscribe to Deepest Health
