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.
Michelle Gellis, AP, Dipl. Ac.
Michelle Gellis, an acupuncture physician, is on the faculty at Yo San University's doctoral program, and a former faculty member and clinic supervisor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Michelle has been teaching facial acupuncture classes internationally for 20 almost years.