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Pinterest is a very popular, but often under-utilized, social media platform where people can bookmark, or “pin,” fun and interesting things from all across the internet. You can think of it like a virtual bulletin board, where you can post your favorite things to come back to later and to…

Edible bird’s nest is the nest made by the Swiftlet bird of Southeast Asia that is usually prepared as a soup and prized in Chinese culture as a healthful delicacy. Bird’s nest has a tradition of use in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 400 years for its aid in…

This article was written in response to the unheeded acceptance of marijuana as a harmless substance that potentially does good when used for the medical relief of pain. I wish to register my experience with marijuana over these years, as a substance extremely functionally, if subtly, destructive to people.

I want share with you some observations and insights into what seems to be the most common problem my colleagues in the acupuncture profession struggles with. If you also struggle with this problem, I hope you get a valuable “aha” moment from reading this.

Are you restricted by those one-on-one clinic dynamics? Why not join colleagues and clients in experimental group settings? Three of us volunteered to do just that in Austin on behalf of women veteranss from all branches of the service. I co-created the group together with Kim Layne L.Ac, AOBTA ®…

The rise of animal acupuncture in the U.S. began in the early 1970’s as a result of the work by members of the National Acupuncture Association in Westwood, Calif. Although veterinarians are able to treat animals with acupuncture in almost every state, licensed acupuncturists are very limited in their access…

All medical systems have clumsiness in them. If the technique isn’t, the practitioner is. Everyone in every form of medicine is striving to improve. That is why we call it practice. While we may balk at the 100,000 deaths that will happen in the U.S. this year from properly prescribed…

Former President Ronald Regan said, “When the tide rises all boats float.” The tide is rising for the acupuncture profession. Many forces outside the profession are helping the tides to rise.

Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) recently announce it has received regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This achievement reflects five years of hard work on the part of faculty, staff, and students. WASC commended the college for its commitment to quality improvement, its shareholders…

In the educational experience of most healthcare practitioners, business and marketing are overlooked topics. Therefore, when you graduate with your certificate, degree, or diploma, you may be very skilled in your chosen discipline, but feel ill-equipped to run and market your healthcare practice. Remember, your practice is a business and…

My Masters thesis was titled, “The Challenges of Integrating Eastern and Western Medicine,” which highlighted several reasons why it is hard for these two worlds to mix. On the other hand, it gives some practical advice and examples on how to effectively integrate so one knows it is not unattainable.…

Recently, Matteo* (a transgender male) approached me during a break in an advanced shiatsu class in Berlin where he was one of two men in a group of 20 women. “Pamela. Don’t forget to remind the translator to include male endings.” And that’s when it hit me and I realized…

As acupuncture and traditional East Asian medicine continue to intersect and integrate with biomedical approaches, the conversation about integration expands and becomes richer. One forum for these conversations is the Academic Consortium of Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC).

I do not care what the truth is, one way or another; I just want to know it. And when it comes to dietary supplements, the truth can be hard to find for a number of reasons. When a recent headline stated that multivitamins are a waste of money,1 it…

Supervising acupuncture interns at a TCM college, it has always struck me how funny it is to hear the clinic manager tell the patients that the Five Element clinic specializes in treating emotions, as if patients with physical pain have no emotions! The Five Element school believes that the body,…

Many people are drawn to cannabis for its effects physically, mentally and emotionally. Medically, cannabis has some legitimate uses, however the scope of this article is limited to the recreational use of cannabis. The following is distilled from a lecture given by Marco Lam of Boulder, Colo.

I was first introduced to the work of Gil Hedley by Tom DiFerdinando. He gifted me Gil’s DVD series. Within in the first ten minutes of watching Gil “de-layer” the body, from the total skin layer down to our visceral core, my view and understanding of the way in which…

Chinese medicine speaks of alignment between humans, heaven and earth. It is a complex view with a focus upon relationship. These are comprehensive ideas with no specific terms in contemporary medical practice. Here, I want to expand upon the attempts to transform conventional biomedicine into a more sensitive and socially…