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.
David Cherian, MD, LAc
Dr. David Cherian , a board-certified family medicine physician, graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 2011 (Doctor of Medicine) and the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine a year later (Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine). He utilizs his combined Eastern and Western training at Houston Acupuncture and Primary Care (https://houstonacupuncture.com/).