Sunday, April 11, 2010

To Poke, Or Not to Poke: Part I


Acupuncture is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of ill-gotten fortune, or to take arms against a sea of skeptics. And by opposing, offend them? To lie: to cheat: no more; and by cheat to say we extend the heart-ache of the thousand unnatural stabs that flesh is heir to, ‘tis a confabulation cautiously to be wish’d. To lie, to chi; to cheat: perchance to scheme, ay there’s the rub…

Okay, enough of that silliness. Shakespeare must be rolling in his grave. I know that acupuncture is used to treat insomnia, but how about “restless death syndrome?” Bill, I’ll have to get back to you after reviewing the literature.

Recently I have come full circle in my life. Let me explain. As a child, I had a yearning to make people feel better. This is why learning acupuncture seemed like a logical ambition while I was in undergraduate school after I met an anesthesiologist who offered this service to her ailing patients in the hospital. After all, I was an aspiring anesthesiologist at that time (in an effort to avoid tangentiality, I’ll defer that interesting story to a future blog).

However, my feelings toward acupuncture took a 180-degree turn while I was in medical school. This was an interesting moment in time, when my school, along with many others, was having a larger emphasis on “integrative medicine.” To me this felt very forced. It seemed to run counter to everything that I had expected from my medical education. Rather than teaching complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as something to be aware that our patients may be using or interested in, they spoke of these practices (chiropractic, acupuncture, unproven herbal therapies, etc.) as if these were legitimate alternatives to standard medical practice… without any real evidence to support their use. The kicker came when I talked with an anesthesiologist/acupuncturist whose patients absolutely loved her and her in-hospital treatments. But when asked about the treatments and how it worked, she discussed it in terms of “energy,” “meridians,” and “chi” and I lost all respect for her and the practice as a whole. As a skeptic who is versed in the tradition and literature of acupuncture, I have only grown more disdainful of this branch of voodoo medicine, especially when outrageous medical claims are evoked.

But now, as I am hurdling toward my final year of anesthesia residency with the goal of entering a fellowship in pain management, I, the venerable “anti-puncturist,” am considering becoming a medical acupuncturist in addition to my more traditional training.

Wait, wait, wait.

Hold the phone.

Stop the presses.

If you are reading this you must be very confused, or at least think that I am deeply confused. On the latter you are correct, and on the former I will let you decide.

So, let me explain to you the course of events that led me to consider acupuncture training. Then I will discuss the pros and cons the way that I see them. And maybe along the way I will either convince myself that this is a good decision, or talk myself out of all of this craziness completely.

Tune in soon folks. Oh, I can’t wait see what I decide… I’m getting really impatient… maybe I’ll just ask my psychic.

DoR

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