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.
LiMing Tseng, DAc, MAcOM, Dipl. OM
Dr. LiMing Tseng is the chair of American Society of Acupuncturists (ASA) Conference Committee. She is a licensed acupuncturist and national leader in the acupuncture profession with 25 years of experience. She has served in various leadership roles, including past founding secretary of the ASA, ASA Conference Committee chair, and co-chair of the ASA & NCCAOM Cultural Competency Task Force. LiMing is an adjunct professor at the New England School of Acupuncture at MCPHS. She is dedicated to advancing inclusive diversity, equity, and access within health care. She has presented talks at numerous conferences and webinars. When not volunteering or teaching, LiMing provides acupuncture medicine care for her patients in the small resort town of Stowe, Vt.