Practice Management

LGBTQI patients are more likely to have had a negative experience with a previous healthcare practitioner–anything from the practitioner using the wrong name to refusing to treat them unless they stop taking gender-affirming hormones. We can help repair our patients’ trust in their healthcare providers by building a more inclusive practice. Even those of us who are part of the LGBTQI community have a lot to learn about being inclusive practitioners.

The principles of holistic medicine we were trained in taught us to see each person as an individual – an individual who is in a certain place and time, impacted by their history and their environment. We commit not to treat anyone as a diagnosis, an identity, or a health problem, but as a person. This is both ethical and effective. Having your whole self in the treatment room, feeling safe and seen, results in a powerful healthcare relationship – regardless of whether your practitioner shares your identity or not.

Count the number of transgender people you are knowingly familiar with in your daily life. Now, count how many transgender patients you knowingly have in your practice. Bonus points if you got past the fingers on one hand! Many Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners have little to no experience treating trans people, or coordinating gender-affirming care with other medical professionals. Moreover, there is a significant lack of research about transgender experience in general, and certainly in the realm of allopathic transgender medical care. Compared to allopathic medicine, the scarcity of information on transgender care in Chinese medicine is even greater.

Many acupuncturists are gradually reopening their practices. At the same time, a second wave of COVID-19 is sweeping through the country as people are becoming impatient with sanitation protocols and social distancing. Even while we have compassion for the hardships that the pandemic has created, it is ever more important to safeguard ourselves and our clinics and not let our guard down just because we wish to believe that the crisis is over. This article discusses Cupping and Master Tung points for promoting wellness along with protecting yourself and your practice.

Some clinics have returned to more normal rhythms, while others are working with patients via telemedicine and herbal practices. For those who are seeing folks in their clinics, they may have noticed that some patients have not returned as quickly and are preferring to remain close to home until there is more certainty about where the virus is headed and when it is safe to resume normal activities. But are your patients suffering in silence? And how can you safely help them?

Acupuncturist Michelle Gellis discusses how to modify your facial acupuncture protocol during the pandemic to safely continue your treatments, including modification of masks and your office environment. Thank you to FSOMA for allowing us to use a portion of this webinar recording.

In this 2 hour continuing education distant learning course taught by Michael McCulloch, L.Ac., MPH, PhD Epidemiologist, we will review modern Traditional Chinese Medicine cold and flu research, herbs and the body's efforts to defend against the virus, herbs and foods and preventing the cytokine storm, primary care providers and infection control.

In 2019 we shifted from the Yang of the Earth Dog year to the Yin of the Earth Pig (or Boar). The easy-going Pig is not without his issues! The energetics of the year can influence everything from the weather forecast to the kinds of illness that will be prevalent in our patients. Learn what to expect so you can have the right treatments in mind and the right herbs on hand.