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.
Donna Guthrey, DAOM, LAc
Donna Guthrey is a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist and family nurse practitioner. She graduated from the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine with a master's degree in Oriental medicine, and received her doctoral degree from AOMA.