Wow, it's already the end of the first week of classes. Our
summer break of two weeks has come and gone and I wish we still had
two more weeks. This trimester I am light on classes with only four
and three clinic shifts. I guess I am getting a reprieve from the
seven classes I took last trimester. However, I am using my
time to refresh on older material and to really study herbs.
I am taking Herbal Treatment Strategy, Western Nutrition, Herbal
Formulas 2, and Business. My three clinic shifts are supervised
under Dr. Xie, Dr. Fan and Dr. Zhu and Jia. I was especially
excited to be under the supervision of Jia because she is
emphasizes the importance of palpation in treatment. But enough
about school for now, I'll get back to that later.
The Summer 2010 graduating class was our biggest so far. Four
students graduated from the Acupuncture program and three students
from the Oriental Medicine (or Herbs program as the students call
it, which is acupuncture and herbs together). It was a bittersweet
graduation because my good friend Nicole graduated. She is from
Charlotte, North Carolina. She also graduated the chiropractic
program with her husband in December and they are opening their own
business in Charlotte. Not soon after break started, I helped her
pack her belongings into her car so she could drive back home. As
students, we learn from class and each other and Nicole has taught
me many things. I plan to visit Nicole and Andy in North Carolina
and I will update you on their practice.
The other "herbal" students that graduated also have big plans.
Andrea has left for China. Dr. Cai helped set up a 1yr program for
graduates. The students go to China for one year and they teach
English a few hours a week and the other time is allotted to follow
clinicians in the University Hospital. It is not clear if the
graduates can needle, but it is an extraordinary learning
experience to see the integration of Western and Eastern in the
hospital. The students are paid to teach English and they can use
this money to travel on weekends or the two-month break they are
allotted.
Margo also graduated from the herbal program and she has plans
to go back to her home country of Poland. From what Margo
understands, she might have to get a PhD to practice Oriental
Medicine, but it is very accepted by the people in Poland. However,
the European Union is also very strict in authorizing certain herbs
to be used in practice, so she might have to modify her formulas to
omit any animal products, however other herbs can be substituted.
These ladies are intelligent and great with patients, and I wish
them much luck in the future!
Note: The pictures are of Nicole and Mike (He graduated
MSAc and is practicing chiropractic and acupuncture in Naperville,
Ill.) and Andrea, Dr. Cai, Nicole, and Margo.