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.
Rachael Jin Bee Tan, PhD
Dr. Rachael Jin Bee Tan has 10 years of experience serving as a psychometrician and statistical consultant for dozens of professional certification and licensing organizations. She currently oversees the NCCAOM certifying examinations and processes.