First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Posted February 13th, 2008 by thomasriordan
Community acupuncture is so different from my former boutique Japanese acupuncture clinic that I am having a very hard time adjusting. Yesterday I started to fall into old patterns of allowing patients to ask tons of questions before and after the treatment, taking time to answer them, and noticing how it exhausts me. I don't know how to convince them that there should not be a lot of talking when they are the only patient in the room. Here is a rundown of how the day went:
Patient #1
"The treatment that the other acupuncturist did last week did not help at all and my pain is still an 8." I did a different Balance Method type treatment but she was not much better afterwards. She paid the minimum on the sliding scale and did not reschedule. I also forgot to put her payment envelope on the front desk, I'm still getting used to this new payment system!
Patient #2
She was at the grand opening and got a free 30 minute treatment and this was her first day as a paying patient. I did a treatment that I thought was good enough but she didn't feel any better after the treatment. I have a lot to learn, but I remember Dr. Tan saying that to learn the Balance Method you have to practice, you can't learn it by reading a book. However, after seeing this patient I am feeling pretty low, my stress is already sky high from taking several weeks to renovate the office, survive on very little money, and learn a completely different acupuncture system. Thank god Dr. Tan is coming to Boston this weekend! It will be my second seminar with him.
Patient #3
He walked in and smiled and said "You changed my world!" I felt a glimmer of hope. He continued "This is the only thing that has helped my constant severe pain!" Although I am excited to discover how well the Dr. Tan extra points work, overall I am not feeling that great about only being able to help one out of three patients. I am feeling pretty discouraged right now and I could use some encouraging words from the CA community.
And remember to laugh! The
And remember to laugh! Think of how much you care, how much you love doing what your doing, and let it all go.
My first few weeks were filled with similiar disasters and disapointements, followed by patient hugs. The only difference now is that I so beleive in what I am doing that I don't care if I know it all. In fact I am relieved! Just keep showing up. It will be alright! Wish I could be there to offer this support in person.
I look forward to our first national/international convention in Las Vegas, where we can all get together and swap tales.
Michael Victoria, BC "sing'in rooty toot toot for the moon!"
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Thank you for all of your supportive comments I really appreciate it. I have realized that I need to do something extra to take care of myself during this transition time so I will take a turn to sit in the chair! Andy, I had to look up that Latin phrase, that's a good one!
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Tom,
At the risk of poo-pooing other accounts you mentioned above, "You changed my world!", doesn't sound like disaster to me at all.
Time to shine up your psychic armor my friend, while moving onward with your studies and good work.
Illigitimum Non Carborundum,
Andy in Manchester, NH
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
I know what you mean. I have been doing this for 11 years. There are still days that I go home and tell my wife, "I don't think I helped anyone today". Whether that is true, I am not sure, but some days it feels that way.
I suggest a glass of wine, it might taste good.
Dr. Rose
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Tom,
I also wanted to say that I believe there are as many ways to do CA as there are practitioners. I don't see why you can't bring some of your Japanese training into your new format. It's certainly an experimental process, but I believe it's doable. It's part of you! There are CA practitioners doing 5E acupuncture. There are CA practitioners who do cupping, bleeding and moxa; others don't. I sometimes use (modified) Japanese treatments within a CA framework.
Dr. Tan stuff is great, and I'm so thankful I've learned as much as I have. I want to learn more. I've personally had to work on being centered enough (and out of my head enough) to know what approach/es to use with each patient. I'd love to have a continuing discussion with you, if you'd like, about how to bring our Japanese training into a CA framework.
Cheryl
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Tom,
I'm sending a big hug your way. I agree with everything Marty and Lumiel wrote. It sounds like you need some time in one of those recliners, getting treatment yourself. Changing over to something new takes so much creative energy!
I'm someone who has to make changes slowly, or I'll be a complete stress case. I've been moving at a snail's pace, working toward being a hybrid clinic. I use lots of Japanese techniques, and at least partly understand the struggle of having to switch gears. When I started using Dr. Tan techniques, the most helpful thing for me was to palpate the patient's painful areas while doing acupressure on the potential needling areas, to check if the pain decreased at all. This would be encouraging to both me and the patient. Perhaps you're already doing this,
I believe that once you get into the groove of things, and recuperate from the intensity of the past weeks, you'll feel more at peace about the change.
Cheryl
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Tom,
it is so courageous of you to admit this to everyone. After the videos of your gorgeous clinic, you had so much to live up to. I'm guessing that you would have had a much better outcome if you had taken the time to pull back and taken the week before to get plenty of sleep, treatments and emotional/spiritual grounding before opening. A grand opening is really hard to do when you're depleted (in more ways than one!). I've also found that when you're not feeling strong, it's easier for patients to push you around. I remember, too, that it took me a long time to retrain myself into the new method. I hope you are scheduling your first patients far enough apart (20-30 min.@)to give yourself time to get used to working so fast.
and remember...what happened to you still occasionally happens to many of us, even though we've been practicing CA for a while, because we get careless in our self-care or preparation.
Judging from your previous posts, I'm pretty sure that once you get used to the new format, you won't have to worry about incidents like that first day. In fact, you will cherish your success even more because of that day.
Re: First Day of Seeing Patients-D I S A S T E R!
Hi, Thomas,
I can empathize, as I have been discouraged from time to time. It can be helpful to remember that half of the experience (or more) is what the patient brings to it.
Also, something that took me years to learn: The patient pays me to provide a service, and the patient heals himself. (Or God, or nature, etc.) This way I don't work as hard at trying to "heal" them, but to focus on providing the best service I can.
Hang in there! Transitioning to CA is worth it!
Marty