Standards of practice

[Guest guest]

Personally, I find this discussion to be both

enlightening and thought-provoking. I'm afraid that I

too have little patience with those in both

chiropractic and acupuncture who engage in cultism and

magical thinking.....and there are plenty of them.

 

However abrasive you may find Counselor Peterman's

tone and her remarks, consider the truth contained

therein. If we want to raise this wonderful profession

beyond its current marginalized status. we cannot be

afraid of self-examination.

 

Kay King, DC, FIAMA

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thank you very much for your remarks, Kay.

 

Please call me Rachel. I believe that it would be very arrogant,

insecure, and " hiding behind a title " for me to ever allow anyone to

call my by any formal title. If I ever earn an OMD, everyone will

still call me Rachel. Just like my students do.

 

I should have expected such intelligent, pragmatic remarks from a

DC. I've attempted to explain, in posts which were censored as

being " critical of western medicine " , that TCM professionals should

carefully study and learn from the history of chiropractic here in

the United States. Chiropractors were once called all of the names

that I previously related, and more. They were considered marginal

practitioners by many, and the survival and growth of the profession

was anything but easy. No good things came to chiropractic by

sitting back and dreaming that " everything will work out to be

nifty keen if we just sit back and do nothing " . DC's didn't have

the right to practice independently handed to them on a silver

platter. They didn't earn the right to be called a doctor of

chiropractic medicine by avoiding the health sciences because " the

courses are so hard that we won't make the cut " into school. They

educated themselves, continued to increase the academic requirements

by adding science courses, developed effective, professional

business organizations on the state and federal level, and made sure

that the legislators understood things in a manner favorable to the

profession. But it wasn't effortless, and it wasn't cheap, either.

TCM practitioners can either learn from this experience, or continue

to be further marginalized as they cling to their cult-like

thinking, sit back, and do nothing.

 

I really wish that I could say nice warm cozy things about our

future. However, in the last two days I've had one individual cut

and paste words from my posts and arrange them out of context in

order to try to mislead other readers. I had another individual

make blatently false claims, in posts, that my degrees are from

diploma mills. He must know that his claims are false, but he did it

anyway. I had a very nice, intelligent person inform me that we

shouldn't worry about OSHA (and presumably, HIPAA and other laws

intended to protect the public) " because the R's don't enforce that

law too much because they think it's too hard on businesses " . (as if

I, a licensed attorney for over a decade, didn't understand the

regulatory climate regarding OSHA!) No talk about professional

responsiblility in absence of close governmental scrutiny. What

kind of ethical standards is that to even suggest on a listserv read

by people who don't take the time to go read the laws that govern

their profession themselves? I'm so disgusted with what I've seen

in the last two days that I'm beginning to doubt that TCM has any

real future in the U.S. It will be brought down by the cultists who

never arm themselves with the truth, or facts, but with dreams and

self-deception.

 

Many people on this listserv seemed to indicate that they think it

is ok to libel (slander someone in writing) a TCM student and

licensed health care professional by making false claims about my

other credentials. Some others indicated that they thought it was

ok to cut and paste my words and place them out of context in an

intentionally deceptive fashion. However, almost all agreed that

anyone who does not fully accept their cult-like, dreamy " TCM-ART

Religion " is a heratic who deserves to be cast out.

 

Based on my experiences, my husband and I have come to a sad

conclusion regarding the " Gross Human Anatomy for Acupuncture "

course that I will be arranging at the medical school next week.

And this decision was largely based on a posted comment by one " dr

holm " who made glib comments about TCM practitioners " ripping the

gluteals of a cadaver " . I showedd the mysterious " dr " holm's words

to my husband, who, based on almost thirty years of working with the

anatomy department, said, " we don't dare let these people near an

anatomical specimen " . Why? Because " dr " holm's remarks indicate a

disrespect for the dead human bodies that are the " cadavers " he so

glibbly talked about mutilating. In this state, if TCM

practitioners, or anyone else, mutilates a corpse by " ripping out

its gluteals " it represents a criminal act (as it does in many other

states). " Mutilation of a Corpse " is a disgusting, unprofessional,

and consumately unethical act, as well as a crime that can place you

in jail. No licensed TCM professional should ever make such remarks

in a public forum! If we allowed people like this into a gross human

anatomy course, and they engaged in this kind of mutilation, TCM

practitioners would never be allowed anywhere near an anatomical

specimen again. At least not in this part of the United States.

 

Therefore, we will have to limit the course to TCM professionals

within the state of Minnesota, and not invite folks from the

listserv group to attend. That way the conduct of these individuals

can be more carefully controlled. How tragic! What a lost

opportunity for so many people....

 

Kay, it's so wonderful to hear from you, but there are too few clear

minded individuals such as yourself interested in preserving and

developing TCM. Anything we say is probably a total waste of time.

According to the predominant mindset, " magical thinking " will " save "

TCM, and they just won't consider any other, more practical,

rational, and enlightened possibilities.

 

Good luck to you in your career Kay. I know that you will do well.

Email me offline anytime you choose. Perhaps we can find people who

are seriously interested in preserving and growing TCM in a

different cross-section of TCM " professionals " .

 

Best Regards,

 

Rachel H. Peterman

 

 

Chinese Medicine , Kay King

<spy9doc> wrote:

>

> Personally, I find this discussion to be both

> enlightening and thought-provoking. I'm afraid that I

> too have little patience with those in both

> chiropractic and acupuncture who engage in cultism and

> magical thinking.....and there are plenty of them.

>

> However abrasive you may find Counselor Peterman's

> tone and her remarks, consider the truth contained

> therein. If we want to raise this wonderful profession

> beyond its current marginalized status. we cannot be

> afraid of self-examination.

>

> Kay King, DC, FIAMA

>

>

>

>

>

>