There
may be many obstacles and challenges that exist when someone tries to run a
business as an acupuncturist in America.
The
first obstacle must be the fact that acupuncture is still largely foreign to
many Americans. Although acupuncture is growing rapidly in popularity worldwide
as alternative medicine, the efficacy is still unknown to most people in the
US, who are mostly skeptical.
Even in
Japan, my parents, who spent their youth during the post-war era in Japan under
a huge influence of American culture, never had acupuncture in their lives.
When they had physical pain, they went straight to the hospital seeking help
from Western medicine. On the contrary, my grandmother totally relied on
Oriental medicine, including moxibustion and Kampo - Japanese styles of Chinese
herbal medicine. She had many burn scars from moxibustion on both sides of her
spine.
For my
parents, Oriental medicine was too old-fashioned, primitive, and unreliable,
while Western medicine was more scientifically proven and trustworthy. They
didn’t look for any kinds of alternative medicine until very end of their
battle with terminal cancer. As a result, their children’s generation grew up
without knowing acupuncture. I visited the acupuncturist’s office for the first
time when I was mid 20’s due to my dance-related injury. If I had not been a
dancer then, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experiment for myself with
acupuncture.
Many
American people may have similar feelings as my parents had, especially those
who live in small towns away from the big cities where people from diverse
backgrounds share a multicultural ethnic environment. For Americans from rural
areas, or those who have a preference for familiar styles of Western medical
treatment, this needle-stick ancient Chinese therapy might look too primitive
to try. Cultural discrimination is likely to play a role in the acceptance or
rejection of acupuncture as an alternative medicine.
For a
solution to this issue, first we have to convince the patients of the efficacy
of acupuncture by using anatomical, pathological, and physiological
explanations based on Western science, rather than explaining only with the
theory of traditional Chinese medicine.
Also, to avoid fearfulness, we have to
treat the patients with the least amount of pain. If we can
convince one patient that acupuncture is not painful but very effective for
their health issues, the patient may bring other patients by word of month.
When
the patients become regular and comfortable with the needles, then we can use
the theory of traditional Chinese medicine and the Oriental mythology more and
more in the conversation. Acupuncture’s association with Oriental philosophy
such as Taoism may appeal to some patients.
The other obstacle is the fact that it is difficult to get proper
training in the US to be an excellent acupuncturist.
I
recently had time to talk with Japanese acupuncturists living in Japan about
how to improve skills after graduation. All they said was to find a master
practitioner and to work and study under them as an apprentice for three to five
years. Even after those years, if you feel your skill is not adequate enough to
open your own office, you may find an another master and do the same thing for
a few more years. They said that some take nearly 10 years before being ready
to be independent.
“It is
the life-long learning,” is what I heard from those Japanese acupuncturists.
Their masters themselves also continued to learn from their own masters. There
are frequent meetings of study groups and seminars, which are held regularly,
in the various styles of acupuncture groups in Japan.
“The
curriculum of American acupuncture schools is too shallow, just for passing the
license exam,” I complained to them. They said that Japanese schools are the
same. The real learning starts after graduation. That’s why they needed to find
masters and study as an apprentice under their supervision. But in
the US, there are very few opportunities available to find such masters who
accept apprentices.
After all, acupuncture is still new in Western countries.
The numbers of study groups and seminars by master teachers are limited too. How can most American acupuncturists keep up and improve their skills? The only solution I have found is to try to utilize and maximize
those opportunities, by joining the study groups, taking seminars, and
finding master teachers worldwide to follow.
Anma (masseurs), circa 1885
“But in America,
the acupuncturists are more respected than those in Japan, isn’t it true?”
My
Japanese acupuncturist friend told me a very interesting thing. She
said that in Japan, acupuncture, which is traditionally a blind person’s
profession along with Anma massage therapy, has been casually situated in every
small town and relatively low in terms of treatment cost per patient. Because
of this, acupuncturists tend to be lightly regarded by the public and seldom
are respected as medical professionals except a few well-known masters. But in
the US, acupuncturists are regarded as medical specialists like doctors, and
some have an opportunity to work even in hospitals along with physicians.
I
didn’t know what to say, but there must be some truth in it. So, I just wish
that I could keep up my skills, achieving to a high level of
treatment through life-long learning, and someday would like to be called
“Sensei (Doctor/Master/Teacher)” by my patients with respect as a medical professional.
https://gentleacu.com/
The Chinese character for dao
