The most surprising aspect of treating Veterans is realizing how uneducated they are, as a group, in appreciating their healthcare benefits. I can’t tell you how many times a Veteran has emphasized to me that he wished he knew he had access to acupuncture. It always takes me a minute to process his message.

Veterans, who are part of the VA healthcare system, enjoy a vast array of benefits. Unfortunately, they don’t they have access to many of them. Acupuncture is one such benefit. Who is at fault? All involved parties should take blame for this. We, as TCM providers, are on top of this list.

Too many TCM practitioners don’t support Veteran care enough. Many of us don’t even realize that we can join the Veteran healthcare network and treat Vets. So, the first step would be for TCM clinicians to step up and educate their peers of the importance of serving an underserved segment of our population.

How can we engage in this process? The first step is to tell our state organizations to start holding seminars about serving the Veteran population. This is the easiest way to reach the most TCM practitioners because most belong to a professional organization. I, myself, plan to talk to the leaders of the organization I belong to, FSOMA.

Another avenue to help increase awareness is by reaching out to the many local Veteran organizations. Here in Orlando, there are many local organizations that are crying out for community members to educate their Veterans. I’m not just talking about your national organizations, like the American Legion, but local ones that are solely supported by the local community.

I have made presentations to members of such organizations and have always found the leadership appreciative of my talks of Veteran access to TCM modalities. I am most surprised about how engaged the Veterans are by the questions they ask.