TCM Attachment First Day
Today is the first day of my attachment to the Boon Keng branch of 大众医院. The attachment lasted two hours from 7.30 pm on a saturday evening. Basically, as second year students (yes, I am now officially in Year 2 of my 7-year course), we just stood around to observe how our teacher sees his patients. He told us that for a start, we should just focus on two aspects - looking at tongues and taking pulse. I think the attachment has really opened my eyes to what the work of a chinese physician is like. I also get to see things in practice and not just in theory. For example, one elderly patient had numbness in the legs, so the physician acupuctured two acupoints - 足三里 and 血海。 We learnt how to prepare for acupuncture, including proper sterilisation and disposal of the needles. Another lady had her 肩井 acupoint needled to relieve stiff neck. We also got to feel the pulse of a lady who had 结代脉. This means that her pulse beats irregularly - few beats and stops, few beats and stops - a symptom that indicates problems with blood vessels. Another guy had external heat symptoms, his pulse is one of 浮脉 meaning that his pulse can be felt easily by just laying our fingers on the surface of the wrist. He got his 合谷 acupoint needled to release the heat. In fact, it is the first time that patient tried acupuncture and was very nervous. Hence, our teacher used the chance to demonstrate how to get the patient to relax by talking to him while applying the needle. Finally, we also got to see 剥苔 on the tongue of a child, indicative of weak digestion.
As a bonus, the teacher had a demonstration using ginger base moxibuxion or 姜灸, which I volunteered as a model for the demonstration. When he first mentioned 姜灸 and 盐灸 (salt base moxibuxion), I thought he was talking about 讲究 and 研究... haha. Anyway, 姜灸 is performed with the patient lying down. Placing a thin slice of ginger on the abdomen as the base, a piece of moxibuxion is then lighted and burns on the ginger slice. The method is good for relieving stomachache. The sense of heat warms the part of the abdomen subjected to moxibuxion.
Wow, so much to learn even on Day 1! Looking forward to learning more things.
As a bonus, the teacher had a demonstration using ginger base moxibuxion or 姜灸, which I volunteered as a model for the demonstration. When he first mentioned 姜灸 and 盐灸 (salt base moxibuxion), I thought he was talking about 讲究 and 研究... haha. Anyway, 姜灸 is performed with the patient lying down. Placing a thin slice of ginger on the abdomen as the base, a piece of moxibuxion is then lighted and burns on the ginger slice. The method is good for relieving stomachache. The sense of heat warms the part of the abdomen subjected to moxibuxion.
Wow, so much to learn even on Day 1! Looking forward to learning more things.