Commentary: Why is an acupuncturist in public health?

The subtle creaking sound of the chair as I unfold it to sit down in the lecture hall at UCLA on this Saturday morning brought back so many memories. Flashbacks to my undergrad years at UCLA. Steadfast and determined that I would come out a biochemist, then a med student, and then a global clinic owner. I did do research but in genetics. I did study medicine, but Traditional Chinese Medicine. I do own a clinic but its domestic. Life isn’t always the way you plan it and I get it. Life happens. And here I am back to where it all started. To the place where I learned the adverse effects of mental health, death, and pain.

While at UCLA, I experienced losses that led to my development of post traumatic stress disorder. I was too naive, young, and inexperienced to know that I was living in a sustained elevated stressful state. The elevated cortisol put me into a chronic inflammatory state that deteriorated my health and wellbeing. It began to bleed into various aspects of my life and vice versa. I was experiencing insomnia, severe digestive issues, and hypertension. I was grossly overweight and became diabetic. I felt like I had failed in life.

I graduated around the economic recession and struggled financially. Everything I thought life would be after college, wasn’t. And while I counted my blessings, I still struggled. The struggle got harder and I started to see how my health dwindled. I understood what was happening, I just didn’t know how it all connected. I suspected that my surroundings somehow affected my health. So, I started investigating.

After various turns, I found myself studying Traditional Chinese Medicine and it opened my eyes. Somehow it just made sense. I later discovered the approach is seeing the patients through the lens of public health. Chinese medicine providers is doing more than just sticking needles and prescribing herbs. Patients love us because we look at them as a whole. The whole person approach is where medicine is going. Just look at CalAim which launched the whole person initiative this year.

While I have been very fortunate in my career, it did not always go smoothly. Simply put, alternative is not always accepted by society. If anything, it’s marginalized in many different ways. People make assumptions based on what they know. Dig into history and you can see that there are challenges with anything non-mainstream.

Doctor of osteopathy (DO) only recently gained more acceptance in the allopathic medical world. Family physicians and general medicine were once tabooed. Not to mention the backlash on mental health and yoga. Over time, people came to their senses and became more accepting as the value of each of these rose. It is clear that the journey of acceptance takes time and in the western world, the need for evidence. Researchers are pumping out studies on treatment protocols, herbal formulas and single herbs that have proven significant health outcomes. Acupuncture is gaining traction. And you start seeing the sprouts of cultural appropriation like dry needling, which claims it is “different” from acupuncture, when it isn’t. Maybe it’s the system. Maybe it’s structural racism. Maybe it is both. I don’t know.

What I do know is my mission. And my mission in life is to help as many people to be happier, healthier, and pain free. I want to make sure I continue to grow and evolve to being the best health care provider that I can be. And so, it led me back to UCLA where I am in pursuit of a Master’s in Public Health.

I’ve encountered impressive individuals who admit life challenges have cost them their health. Affirming what you and I experience are commonplace. I am aware that your daily life and living circumstances impact your whole wellbeing. Thus, when it comes to caring for you - it’s not about what is broken but how & why. Only then can we begin the healing process.

This is why, I, an acupuncturist is in public health. I’m doing it, for you.