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.
Neil Maki, MS, DAOM, LAc
Dr. Neil Maki, MS, DAOM, LAc, received his Master's Degree in Exercise Science from Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI. He received both his Master's and Doctoral Degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Emperor's College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Santa Monica, CA. Dr. Neil Maki can be reached at Neil71360@aol.com.