Skip to main content

Supervising students at the Phoenix St. Vincent de Paul Hospital

In 2019, I left China after a long tenure of 17 years, to accept a position of Researcher, Faculty and Clinic Supervisor at the Foundation for PIHMA Research and Education in Phoenix, AZ. My work there also involved kickstarting PIHMA’s Entry Level “Doctoral Degree” (DACM), and establish an Integrative Medicine clinic shift that would assist students to reach an elementary understanding of Integrative Medicine, as per accreditation standards. 

I soon went on to develop PIHMA’s “Integrative Clinical Diagnosis” and “Integrative Case Management” classes, and I started teaching from my many years of experience in China. 

 

At the same time - in 2019 - together with the then Clinic Dean, we contacted St Vincent de Paul, to establish a Chinese Integrative Medicine clinical shift.

 

The shift originally run from late 2019 until the pandemic lockdown, and it was re-established again in the early 2021. 

 

At SVdP, we put in practice all the information I taught in my classes. 


In the past I did not often take photos in hospitals. But now with my student we do. These are taken with various groups over the last three of years. 


Some information was edited out: July 13, 2023



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Historical traumatology and making wooden splints at the hospital

I t was back in 2018, and I was still working at the Sports Trauma Hospital in Guangzhou, China. That day, a young gentleman comes to the clinic with a martial arts injury. Physical examination/palpation of the limb and also an x-ray revealed a fractured ulna. Typically, in these types of situations, the standard of care at the hospital, required that the patient moves to the inpatient department for further evaluation, processing and to await surgery. During the surgery, the specialist would open a small incision, realign the bone and then secure it in place with pins or metal implants. However, this approach is not always necessary. In the not-so-distant past, for a simple fracture of the ulna with less than 50% displacement and less than 10% angulation, a simple cast and plenty of rest would be sufficient.  In any case, the patient outright refused surgery and casting. He simply asked that we use traditional bone-setting to realign the bone, and then secure it in place with wood...

How to explain Chinese medicine to your patients

Most new patients at the hospital, regularly ask for an explanation of  Chinese medicine , so that they understand how the treatment works. In the United States, the religious, or those with a background in science are often very suspicious of a system that is being frequently advertised as the product of  vague eastern practices , or is  surrounded by mystery  and/or encompassing  near occult methods.   Many of my acupuncture students, sometimes also find it difficult to come up with a clear definition that doesn’t include the keywords:  qi, energies, yin and yang, five elements , and  5000 years of TCM history . An attempt to explain it as a method of using needles to stimulate  “channels and meridians” , or using herbs to access the internal organs according to  ancient experiences  of the Chinese people, again doesn’t sound scientifically convincing.    From my experiences in a hospital setting, when the religious or t...

Fearing Integrative Medicine? -Why? It might just save your tradition!

Chinese Medicine is a medical system that prides 15 centuries of continuous development. And it has not only managed to remain relevant and current, but has also successfully acculturated itself in the mainstream healthcare, becoming a global phenomenon.   Yet, there is a misconception among some acupuncturists, that other modalities are now aggressively appropriating parts of their practices (i.e., "scope creep"). I think that this viewpoint, although sometimes valid, should become an opportunity for reflecting back on the reasons why this is happening.    But let’s start with a true story:  In 2017, an amateur MMA fighter in China, knocked out a famous Taiji master in 30 secs. All sentiments aside, in recent decades Taiji stopped being a martial art (for the most part), and has reached a point where it is now taught as a dance routine with health benefits. As such it has lost its original scope, purpose and application.   Chinese medicine in recent years ...