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.
Marc Wasserman, PhD, LAc
Marc Wasserman earned a PhD in Chinese medicine from Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He has served as an adjunct professor and currently operates a clinic (www.flowhealthclinic.com) in Hunt Valley, Md.