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.
Ashley Davis, LAc, Dipl. OM
Ashley Davis has a BS in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine from PCOM. She owns an acupuncture / herbal clinic in Lincolnshire, Ill., and is currently pursuing her Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from PCOM.