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.
Juan Liu, DACM, MSAOM
Dr. Juan Liu received a Master of Science in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York City in 2011. She is a licensed Oriental medicine practitioner in the state of New York. Prior to studying Chinese medicine, Juan earned a bachelor's degree in medical technology from the University of St. Louis at Baguio City, The Philippines. After she graduated, as a missionary she went back to the Philippines to join the mission of her sister, Shengrong Liu, LAc, to practice Chinese medicine at the St. Francis Natural Health Care Center in Quezon City, Metro Manila, The Philippines. In 2016, they started the first comprehensive Chinese medicine school, the SMIC institute of Chinese Medicine Inc. Currently, there are two courses being offered: one is TCM, the other is acupuncture. Juan received her doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine in 2020.