Guest guest Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 It's not that some people don't do well financially... it's the certainty of that is uncertain. And that for the most part our success is based on personal initiative with little societal/political/economic support. But I realize the more we get from those forces there is the danger that the freedom to practice as we want disappears. It's a trade-off for some. For others, how they practice is congruent with financial forces and of course they do well monetarily. I don't tell my students that there are no rewards. I think most students are there to grow as persons. Sure everyone wants a good living but our spiritual development has no bearing on our financial state. And vice versa. I see this Western " experiment " in is a way of re-orienting our relationship to our bodies. Just as my colleague David Chan says, " Acupuncture is the hyphen between mind and body " I see TCM as the hyphen between East and West conceptions of the body and life and medicine. I just tell my students that once you graduate and get your license that's when the true work begins. One gets confronted by the intersection of service and commerce. I also tell them that the ability to make money is pretty much the same after school as it was before. If you have " money issues " before, acupuncture school won't solve them. If that's the case then there is a need to readjust. I don't have any aminosity towards the schools, I work for two of them. I just see what they go through is a Rubricks Cube of challenges. (I'm in a good mood today!) If I were Ruler of the World sure things would be different. I'm sure they would like things to be different also. I think there are a number of studies of the economics of acupuncture graduates. I don't know if its any better or worse than other " trade " schools. Look at computer tech schools and nursing school to compare. One thing that bugs me is that the commerce side of acupuncture often uses the chiropractor business model which often doesn't apply. gotta go to work, doug , " kenrose2008 " <kenrose2008> wrote: > Doug, > > , " " > wrote: > > Forgive me if you've heard this from me before. My thoughts on this > have always been > > that the school situation is always dependant on the economics at > the other end. > > Are the schools now advertising something > like: > > Enroll now. Spend years and tens of thousands > getting a degree and license that will set you > up for financial ruin. > > I don't think so. > > I think there is a reasonable expectation > on the part of all involved that a growing > market for acupuncture and Chinese herbal > medicine presages the growth in professional > opportunities for those who are prepared to > meet the growing demand. > > At least, that is the common logic at the > level of the surface narrative. > > We've talked before about the need for some > kind of survey of the field to determine how > the graduates of the various training programs > are faring as professionals five and ten years > out. There are certainly adequate numbers out > there now to make such a study feasible. > > > So maybe there could be some basis for a study > being done to count up some heads and incomes > and so on and let the world know how we've done > with our little experiment in training doctors > of Chinese medicine so far. > > Who among the determined pragmatists out there > will shoulder this simple, if burdensome chore? > > > And besides, the field looks the way it looks > today, i.e., the job market in Chinese medicine > is what it is today, in large part because of > the images and ideas that have been used for > the past several decades to inform the decision > making processes that have resulted in the > current standards and practices. That seems so > obvious as I write it out that it almost > feels ludicrous to say. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Hi Doug and Ken To reply to the request of Ken, here is my experience. For me personaly the cause and effect is just the other way around. Because I have been growing as a person, I have become interested and wanting to study acupuncture & TCM. It is because I have come to realise that there is more to life and living than we in our western society aim for, and because of the harmfull effects of our western way of living and of our western way of performing medicine that I have chosen to study CM. Yes, I want to be able to make a living out of practising. If I look at the rest of my class, most of them have experienced beneficial effects of TCM treatment and want to be able to practise TCM. A very small number have been interested in chinese martial arts and do it to fullfill their curiosity (I don't expect them to start practising). Some chinese students who have left china a long time ago, want to discover their roots by studying TCM. Always willing to help Alwin Doug: > > I think most students are > > there to grow as persons. Sure everyone wants a good living but our > spiritual > > development has no bearing on our financial state. Ken: > I'd be interested in hearing from any students > on the list as to how accurately this supposition > reflects your sentiments on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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