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.
Yan Zhou, DAcCHM, LAc
Dr. Yan Zhou is a New York–licensed acupuncturist, TCM scholar and practitioner. She earned her Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine (MSTOM) and Doctor of Acupuncture with a Chinese Herbal Medicine Specialization (DAcCHM) from Pacific College of Health and Science – New York. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Dr. Zhou’s practice focuses on women’s health, infertility support, preventive medicine, and natural healing. She was honored as one of the Outstanding Young TCM Practitioners of the Year (2023–2024) by the Young Acupuncturists Association of the American TCM Association.