Clinic: August 9

Another busy day in the student clinic.  I have been observing student interns not instructors which is a little disappointing.  I guess with it being summer things are less busy.  At least the interns do still, sometimes, consult with the supervising instructor so I am able to learn that way.  Had a chance today to follow a couple different interns.

#1:   This woman has been receiving treatment for a few years for her frozen shoulder.  The treatment principle is mainly local points for the shoulder; tonify Yin & LR points to affect tendons.  I have noticed in this clinic a lot more emphasis on local points and ashi points.

#2. This was a new patient;  a 27 yo man complaining of candida.  Lots of intestinal issues, headache/dizziness with mental fog and rashes.  Main diagnosis was damp & heat.  The treatment principle was draining damp and moving Qi especially in the middle Jiao, then boost SP Qi once the damp is gone.  I had the opportunity to compound another herbal formula.  Also got to see the use of smokeless moxa stick and wheat moxa in use.

#3: An MS patient who had trouble with edema & lack of use of her legs.  This was her 2nd treatment and she was overjoyed at how much benefit her first treatment gave her.

#4. A patient I had observed on my first clinic day.  She is doing well and feels that she may be able to reduce the frequency of her visits.

 
With #3 & #4 it is great to see people's health improving from our efforts.  Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in studying and work and forget that what we are doing really is helping.

First Day in Clinic

Spent 4.5 hours in the student clinic today.  What a great experience.  I learned so much my head is spinning.  Observed the treatment for 3 patients and discussed another in-depth with the supervisor.

#1: a woman who had broken her R radius and ulna.  Saw the use of BaXie extra points (used for pain; w LI11 for increasing circulation in her arm).  Also saw Ren22 being inserted - have to go in above sternal notch and then angle down behind sternum.

#2: a 36 yo woman with dysmenorrhea.  Dx was LR blood stagnation and LR Qi stagnation w LR overacting on SP/ST.  Spent some time with Dr. ** talking about herbs, which ones could be used for each part of the treatment principles and then he chose the best ones from each group.  Ended up with Xiao Yao San modified to suit the patient.  It was a great review of herbs and a good learning experience.  Wish I'd had time to stay and help compound the formula.

#3: a woman with multiple complaints.  I wasn't able to get her prior history as the interns were busy.  One of her complaints was with brain functioning.  She commented on feeling dyslexic when reading and feeling like she often has wires crossed in her brain.  Dr. ** told us much of that was KI not communicating well with HT.  The treatment principles include calming the Shen and tonify KI.  The interns were discouraged with treatment, but Dr. ** told us that this takes time to treat.  He had seen some positive signs just observing the patient in the waiting room - less agitation, looking more relaxed, etc.  Used "4 Wise men" in the treatment - 4 points surrounding Du20: good for tranquilize, calm shen, anti-depression.

Looking forward to next week's clinic time!

Changing Schools

Good News.  I've been accepted to ***  for 2nd year.  Looking forward to school starting again in September.  After being in school for 10 months I'm finding it hard to deal with all this free time.  I don't know what to do with myself.  Now to get student loans stuff dealt with and figure out transportation and dog care for the coming school year.

Welcome

First year is finally over.  Can't believe I still have three more to go.  I decided that I need a way to focus some of my studying, especially with herbology and the acupuncture points.  My intention, we'll see if I can stick to it, is to create posts of key information that I can search and review later.  I hope to do a "Herb of the Day" and "Point of the Day" type post to collect information that helps me remember stuff.