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.
Shengrong Liu
Shengrong Liu obtained her Master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences in Oakland, Calif. in 2004. She is a California Licensed Acupuncturist and a Diplomate of Chinese Medicine (NCCAOM). She has been practicing Chinese Medicine in Manila, Philippines since 2005. She is a certified Acupuncturist by the Philippine Institute of Traditional & Alternative Health Care – an institution under the Department of Health. She completed her Doctoral degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) at Five Branches University in San Jose, Calif. in 2015. She is currently organizing a Traditional Chinese Medicine school, the SMIC Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine Inc. in Metro Manila, Philippines.