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.
Virginia Pham, MS, AP
Virginia Pham is a 2002 graduate of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, and has a certificate in Chinese herbology from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. Before pursuing a career in acupuncture, she received a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
Virginia maintains an active practice in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, specializing in the treatment of the geriatric population. Much of her time is spent caring for patients in assisted living facilities, nursing homes and retirement centers.