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.
Tara Kulikov, DACM, MSTOM, MA
Dr. Tara Kulikov is a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and exercise physiologist who lives and works in Truckee, Calif., where she offers medical and performance services through Acu-Energy and Kensho Well-Being. She incorporates the healing modalities of traditional medicine into her practice for a number of conditions. Dr. Kulikov loves to keep herself fit (and know her VO2 max number and heart rate zones) in order to live a long, healthy, and adventurous life; and her desire is for her patients to do the same.