TCMherbal educ.&certif. alternatives (#2)

[Guest guest]

[...continued from part 1]

 

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(4) Providing credible sources of information to the public, non-licensed

practitioner certification, and referral networks that link clients with

practitioners - overcoming the tyranny of information.

 

 

150 years ago, most people were born, lived, and died in the same community, or

at least within a small geographical area. Relatives and neighbors provided

expertise and advice, based on personal experience, on everything from how to

make sauerkraut to which doctor to choose for a child with allergies. Medical

licensing was still in the idea phase, and the public was strongly opposed to

the idea - after all, they did not need it. People trusted their neighbors and

relatives for advice far more than politicians, bureacrats, and licensing and

accrediting boards, which were not nearly as ubiquitous as they are now.

 

With the onslaught of industrialization, individuals and family units began to

move away from the homelands of their ancestors to serve corporate masters. In

the late 20th century, the average family moved an average of once every four

years to a new community, often in a different state. From a nation of stable,

self-sufficient communities, we were transformed into a nation of industrial

nomads, our extended family units scattered to the four directions. Instead of

relying on advice from extended families, which had disintegrated, the modern

nomads became dependent upon bureaucrats, professional societies, media

authorities, and television advertising for advice. This set the stage for

hierarchical, bureaucratic empires of information to coalesce around

universities, think tanks, accrediting boards, and numerous tax-exempt

foundations, all purporting to help these rootless nomads cope with daily life,

including such dilemmas as which health care practioner to choose. The balance

of power in this situation lies clearly with the bureaucracies and the

corporations that backed them, and abuses became rampant. As Gatto and Iserbyt

document, the corporations recognized that a populace comprising individuals

capable of independent thought and discernment would impede their goals of

assembly-line standardization, and they resolved to create a model for the ideal

corporate citizen - one who follows orders without question and facilitates the

smooth operation of bureaucratic management. Later, with advent of television

advertising, they also recognized that public education could also be bent to

their needs in creating adults who had been trained to respond to animalistic

urges - sex, fear, and greed - for the purpose of increasing sales.

 

In the mid 1990's, a silent revolution occurred in the way information flows

with the implementation of the Internet. Although many have not yet realized the

nature of this revolution, the corporate and institutional tyranny of

information control had been broken. At very low expense, individuals could now

post their own poetry, favorite herbal remedies, product reviews, and political

opinions on their own webpages. Additionally, they could join email discussion

groups and ask each other for advice on which health practitioners were good for

specific problems.

 

The Internet has revolutionized the way many people gather information to make

decisions. Only ten years ago, when people purchased a new car, looked for a

dentist or doctor in a new community, or bought a stereo, they had the following

choices:

 

* Consult with trusted friends, which, of course, is

very difficult if you are new to a community and have

not yet established your social network.

* Consult with established local " authorities " -

Chamber of Commerce, local medical and professional

societies.

* Read nationally published consumer-oriented trade

magazines for advice (i.e., Consumer Reports)

 

The Internet has revolutionized the flow of information about health. No longer

are people dependent upon the American Medical Association, the American Cancer

Society, or their doctors for authoritative advice on serious illnesses. In

fact, the Internet has become an embarrassment for many incompetent health

practitioners - patients and clients can immediately check up on their advice by

doing an Internet search for drug side effects, disease treatment options, the

effects of specific herbs, and the possible diagnostic significance of specific

symptoms.

 

The Internet has the potential to break the tyranny of **all** hierarchically

organized organizations over the flow of information, including the tyranny of

dysfunctional accrediting boards. The homeschooling movement has already figured

this out, and public school systems around the country are lashing out at

renegade parents with prosecution and legal harrassment. Such attempts have

backfired, attracting even more publicity and sympathy for the homeschool

movement. Homeschooling families have a wealth of educational materials, support

groups, and legal aid to choose from, much of it accessible via the Internet.

While the industrial assets of the U.S. disintegrate or are shifted overseas,

businesses that support the homeschool movement are a rapidly growing sector of

the U.S. economy.

 

It is only a matter of time before this trend hits full force on the scene of

higher education. If the average homeschooler can outperform his or her

counterparts both in public schools and in private college preparatory schools,

then it is only a matter of time before Americans conclude that the industrial

model of education does not work at **any** level, and adopt an educational

system closer to that of Switzerland, for example, which emphasizes on-the-job

training and apprenticeships. The rapid exchange of ideas possible with the

Internet will bring on the day of reckoning even sooner.

 

Perhaps a personal experience will illustrate how the Internet is destroying the

tyranny of information in the realm of health practitioner referrals. Ten years

ago, I had a client with cancer, who was moving to a distant city. I personally

knew no herbal practitioners in that city, and consulted the NCCAOM directory of

certified Chinese herbology practitioners. Finding four names, I gave them to my

client with suggestions for interviewing each to estimate the practitioner's

competence. These guidelines are summarized in the following webpage:

http://www.rmhiherbal.org/a/c.healthqa.html

How to choose a Chinese (TCM) Herbalist -

How to recognize quality TCM herbal health care

He reported back to me, saying that each one of the four offered to sell him an

herbal formula " for cancer " , after doing **no** tongue examination and **no**

health history. (For readers not familiar with TCM herbology, this violates the

most basic rule of choosing herbs: one must not only consider the medical

diagnosis or single symptom, but the overall metabolic state of the individual,

which requires an analysis of a complete and careful health history.) I never

consulted the NCCAOM directory again.

 

Within the the past 5 years, I've had many dozens of experiences asking for

advice from herbal email discussion groups regarding referrals to competent

practitioners. I've not been disappointed, and many of my clients and students

have been satisfied. I haven't bothered to consult professional directories

issued by official accrediting organizations even once. In my opinion, they are

irrelevant - if they cannot measure or even estimate practical skills and

professional competence better than my colleagues on the Internet, they are not

worth the paper they are printed on.

 

If you've read this far and agree with what you've read, feel free to contact me

privately, off list, for more information on creating a certification system for

non-licensed Chinese herbalists that meets the following criteria:

 

* It should taking full advantage of the characteristics

of the Interet to give potential consumers and clients

information (both objective, in the form of a standardized

exam result, and subjective, in the form of a curriculum

vitae provided in the form of a notarized affidavit by the

practitioner) that will help them make the final decision

in choosing a practitioner.

 

* Certification should remain voluntary. Mandatory

certification requires government intervention to impose

such standards by law. Such attempts are almost always the

subject of bitter political warfare between factions, as

there will be winners and losers. Voluntary certification

sponsored by a non-governmental organization would be based

on the private law of contract; the meaningfulness and

integrity of such certification would be only as great as

the integrity of the organization or organizations backing

it. The public would be free to use or to ignore such

information in choosing the services of an herbalist.

 

* The certification organization should actively promote

health freedom both locally and internationally. Health

Freedom Acts are statutory acts passed by legislatures to

protect the status of non-licensed and non-regulated health

care providers, including herbalists, and to prohibit

malicious prosecution under medical practice laws; these

have already been passed by several U.S. states and are

under consideration in others. Ideal Health Freedom Acts

would also protect the right of licensed physicians

(medical doctors) to use safe herbal and natural health

alternatives free from harassment by government licensing

boards. Currently in the U.S., physicians who dare to

recommend herbs to their patients are often mercilessly

hounded and prosecuted by state licensing boards for

straying beyond their narrowly defined scope of practice.

 

* Recognize the inherent diversity of political and

economic situations among herbalists worldwide - the

certifying organization should refrain from involving

itself in legal or ethical requirements that might make

sense in one country or culture, but not another. It

should limit its certification to one of technical

competence and knowledge of TCM herbology, nothing more.

Professional organizations in specific countries would be

free to use such certification as a basis for membership

as well as ethics and legal guidelines appropriate to

local needs.

 

* **No** grandfathering should be allowed. The difficulty

of evaluating competence and educational credentials of

existing practitioners is fraught with difficulties,

especially for an international certification

organization. The demands of recognizing and dealing

with fraudulent certificates and documents from a myriad

of international schools, individuals, and organizations

are overwhelming, and failure to scrutinize such documents

for authenticity can destroy the certifying organization's

credibility. All candidates for certification should

qualify by examination only, no exceptions.

 

* Rather than test picayune and simplistic factoids

more appropriate for television game shows, a meaningful

certification exam should simulate as closely as possible

the types of distinctions and ambiguities encountered

clinically - the typical multiple-choice format cannot do

this, which is why graduates of TCM colleges may be able

to quote " scripture " , but have little idea what it means

in making specific clinical decisions. Computer simulations

of real situations are used in medical school training

and testing - why not for TCM?

 

If you have read this far and agree with these goals, please contact me

privately, off line, for more information.

 

 

 

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(5) Working with other groups internationally to defeat Codex Alimentarius and

similar treaties that undercut national sovereignty and impose end-runs around

the rights of individuals in specific countries to access herbal and nutritional

products.

 

 

For more information on Codex Alimerntarius and why it is a threat to herbalists

worldwide:

 

http://www.rmhiherbal.org/review/2003-2.html#t-ito

Orwellian schemes for maximizing health-care industry

profits

section: " Expand the venue of expensive and restrictive

regulatory schemes via international trade organizations

and international treaties. "

See footnotes with links to other references and

historical background.

 

 

 

----------------------------

(6) Studying history to understand how various factions manipulated institutions

and governments to achieve what we have today; any group that attempts reform

without understanding how these abuses occurred is unlikely to improve the

situation.

 

 

Conspiracies are a central aspect of history - anyone who doubts this is naive.

Prosecutions for the crime of conspiracy are common - why should we think that

government officials, university presidents, and national accrediting boards are

immune from such corruption?

 

Conspiracy (Black's law dictionary): a combination or confederacy between two or

more persons formed for the purpose of committing, by their joint efforts, some

unlawful or criminal act, or some act which is lawful in itself, but becomes

unlawful when done by the concerted action of the conspirators, or for the

purpose of using criminal or unlawful means to the commission of an act not in

itself unlawful.

 

As Carroll Quigley explains in his text " Tragedy and Hope " history is largely

driven by technical and social innovation and the power struggles, deceipts,

frauds, and conspiracies that evolve to either control or suppress these. Arnold

Toynbee in " A Study of History " explains, with a huge list of examples, how the

institutions of empires become corrupt and self-serving, no longer serving their

pretended purposes but, instead, acting solely to perpetuate their own power.

Modern accrediting organizations of the current American Empire fit this pattern

- see Gatto's and Iserbyt's books. Any attempt at reform without understanding

history at this level is naive and futile.

 

The afflications of modern herbalists in America follow patterns very similar to

those experienced during the Middle Ages - the same deceipts, frauds, and

conspiracies are being played out with different names and details, but

following a tiresomely predictable pattern. Any intelligent discussion of how to

improve TCM education must address how to overcome these. The " Orwellian scheme "

article referenced in section (5) above details how these conspiracies affect

the practice of herbal health care.

 

Most of the articles I've referenced in this paper have reference sections at

the send with numerous recommendations for historical background reading. I've

observed that many professional western-style herbalists understand world

history of herbalism far better than most TCM herbalists. Anyone who practices

herbalism in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and any British

Commonwealth nation, will be served well by knowing about the history of Western

civilization and how it has impacted the current legal and regulatory schemes we

all must practice under.

 

 

 

 

---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist

contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/

Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA

Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org

[Guest guest]

" Rather than test picayune and simplistic factoids more appropriate

for television game shows, a meaningful certification exam should

simulate as closely as possible the types of distinctions and

ambiguities encountered clinically - the typical multiple-choice

format cannot do

this, which is why graduates of TCM colleges may be able to quote

" scripture " , but have little idea what it means in making specific

clinical decisions. Computer simulations of real situations are used

in medical school training and testing - why not for TCM? "

 

About one year ago, Blue Poppy Institute added PBL components in the

form of case history exercises to all our Distance Learning programs.

This year, after doing some further reading and research on PBL, I

have added PBL exercises to all my live classes as well. So far,

students are loving the PBL sections. The feedback has been excellent.

Until I took a weekend seminar in the Western medicine of arthritis

with Bruce Robinson, MD, I wasn't sure how to add such PBL exercises

to my classes. But, after I saw how he did it in his classes and the

enthisiasm of his students, it became clear.

 

Bob

[Guest guest]

, rw2@r... wrote:

As Gatto and Iserbyt document, the corporations recognized that a populace

comprising

individuals capable of independent thought and discernment would impede their

goals of

assembly-line standardization, and they resolved to create a model for the ideal

corporate

citizen - one who follows orders without question and facilitates the smooth

operation of

bureaucratic management.

 

we should be careful to distoinguish between the uncontrolled hegemony of

coporations

and the mere existence of corporations and big government. this media through

which we

communicate only exists as a result of the corporations and government. There

is no

doubt in my mind that the advances of the 20th century arer largely due to

cooperation

between these two entities. We would remain mired in a tribal age otherwise.

However, if

there was any past need for their control, there is no future need. Corporate

media

replaced religion inshaping worldviews in the past century. Now we are having a

reactionary trend from religions who want their power back. But either way, it

is elite

power control. However, we now have unlimited instant information via the

internet and

thus no longer have much need for big daddy to help us out with every little

thing. We

have formed online communities of experts. We will never go back to the

prenomad

lifestyle and who wants to. We have to move forward into a postmodern age where

education and information trump religion and government every time. We will

each be our

own decision makers and we will use our educated intelligence to guide us.

While you

may find many liberals who think they should decide which herbs are legal for

you and me,

they change their tune real quick when it comes to which herbs are available for

them.

Everyone is a libertarian at heart and all else is hypocrisy.

 

[Guest guest]

Right on. Better more creative and meaningful options exist for

practitioner development. I agree. Later

Mike W. Bowser, L Ac

 

> " Bob Flaws " <pemachophel2001

>

>

> Re: TCMherbal educ. & certif. alternatives (#2)

>Wed, 15 Dec 2004 16:42:05 -0000

>

>

> " Rather than test picayune and simplistic factoids more appropriate

>for television game shows, a meaningful certification exam should

>simulate as closely as possible the types of distinctions and

>ambiguities encountered clinically - the typical multiple-choice

>format cannot do

>this, which is why graduates of TCM colleges may be able to quote

> " scripture " , but have little idea what it means in making specific

>clinical decisions. Computer simulations of real situations are used

>in medical school training and testing - why not for TCM? "

>

>About one year ago, Blue Poppy Institute added PBL components in the

>form of case history exercises to all our Distance Learning programs.

>This year, after doing some further reading and research on PBL, I

>have added PBL exercises to all my live classes as well. So far,

>students are loving the PBL sections. The feedback has been excellent.

>Until I took a weekend seminar in the Western medicine of arthritis

>with Bruce Robinson, MD, I wasn't sure how to add such PBL exercises

>to my classes. But, after I saw how he did it in his classes and the

>enthisiasm of his students, it became clear.

>

>Bob

>

>

>

>