A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
April Yang, LAc, DACM, Dipl. OM
Dr. April Yang is a licensed acupuncturist and herbal practitioner in New Jersey, where she directs the Acupuncture Department at Thompson Healthcare and Sports Medicine. She holds a doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine (DACM) from Pacific College of Health and Science (N.Y. campus) and a master’s in Oriental medicine. She was honored by the American TCM Association with the Outstanding Young TCM Practitioner Award for 2023-2024.