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.
Heming Zhu, PhD, CMD, MD (China), MAc, Dipl. OM (NCCAOM)
Dr. Heming Zhu is a professor of acupuncture & Oriental medicine and integrative health sciences at the Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH); and maintains a private practice in Columbia, Md. He holds a PhD in anatomy and neuroscience, and an MD (China) in neurology, and a Master of Acupuncture from MUIH. He has published more than 20 peer reviewed research articles, authored the book Surface Anatomy of Acupuncture; and is an editor of Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion, 4th Edition.