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.
Gregory Ross, LAc
Gregory Ross, LAc, began on his Oriental medicine path studying shiatsu. Eventually, this lead to enrollment at the San Francisco College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine where he was instructed by Misha Cohen, Efrem Corngold, Stuart Kutchins, Peter Bing Lee and others.
He acquired NADA certification just before receiving his license and was offered an acupuncture detoxification position at a methadone clinic. Since then, he has worked in community and recovery clinics in Northern California.
Comments about any of his articles are encouraged and may be addressed to gandgandg@yahoo.com.