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.
Jim Galbiati, Dipl. Ac.
Jim Galbiati received his master's degree in acupuncture from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, Md. He has been practicing acupuncture since 1992. He may be contacted at www.jimgalbiati.com.