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.
Marty Calliham, LAc, MSOM
Marty Calliham, LAc, earned her master's degree in acupuncture and oriental medicine at Texas Health and Science University. She serves as Dean of Students at THSU and maintains a private practice in Austin, Texas.