…Initially, I did use terms like “Qi”, “Energy”, “Stagnation” when describing the philosophy behind the treatment protocols or procedures of TCM. The look and response on the majority of those faces will forever be imprinted in my mind. After my explanations, most of the MD’s felt that my words just reinforced their opinions about Chinese Medicine as being non-scientific or even “Quackery”. Yes, I get a chuckle when I reflect about those times now but, believe me, it was not at all humorous at that time.
To say I felt that I had no credibility with my colleagues in the local healthcare market would be an understatement. I also started to feel inadequate in my standing as a healthcare provider. Though many of my fellow TCM practitioners did warn me about the perception of TCM by society, in general, I had to experience the disdain first hand for my eyes to really open.
I could never have imagined that I would experience this sort of indifference from my Western colleagues when I opened my practice. Due to this, I started to reflect on why this was occurring. First thing I did was to step back and look at TCM through the eyes of a Western practitioner. I determined the main reason that I could not connect with the Western practitioners was because I did not speak their language, specifically in clinical terms. I realized that these practitioners took as much pride in their years of study as I did with TCM.
Thus, they only appreciated discussing any clinical issues in the “language” they learned and conversed in. Basically, they want to hear and speak terminology that fits into their learned paradigm. In the West, this means that they are comfortable in discussing medicine in the clinical language that is derived from Greek and European origin. I concluded that the primary reason that I turned them off was because I didn’t speak their language. I was speaking with them in TCM language.
To rectify this issue, I knew I had to reorient my presentation to them in the language they respect. After doing this, I have had much better success in educating my Western counterparts about TCM and, most importantly, gaining their trust with regards to the integrity behind TCM.