Another decoction machine I found at the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Australia" clinic

Here I am with one of the practitioners there :)

Packaging system at the base for cooked herbs

I found this decoction machine in 2009 when I was observing at the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Australia" clinic in Bondi Junction. I have realised know it's a bit more advanced than the most recent one I found. It has a packaging system at the base of it as well as two pressure cooking devices on the top.

Statistics and Tongue Diagnosis

Favourite specimen right here

I have to do statistics. Anyway we did an in class assessment of tongues for a trial of some sort. Actually at the time I realised it was pretty weird so I took some pictures. Here we are in computer lab checking out tongues. Only in TCM!
A few weeks and it will be the end of semester. All sorts of crazy at the moment. Soon it will be over and then only one more to go and then off to China! Now that will be some all sorts of crazy. I'll take my camera

New UTS TCM Sign/Advert!

Warren popped out from the clinic to see what was going on: He's standing in front of a picture that Sean took of his hand holding a pen... Wow! That will be there for a few years.

Admiration and awe

Wow!
You never know what will happen next. From a break up, sideways exam question, sunny days then gale force winds and now this! Walking into uni and suddenly there's a giant, bright sign and advert outside my clinic! In fact I witnessed its application to the wall and the awe it created. It makes you feel proud!
Also if you look closely, Goji berries got in there. Infiltrating the western world: the red berry!

Dr Peter C Meier PhD, BSc (ACU), Dip. App. Sc. (ACU), DBM, Adv. Cert. (ACU/MOXA)

Peter doing something with his QiFirst picture I took.

Note the halo effect around him. Could be caused by incorrect white balance in my camera or...

Peter Meier kindly let me take an unplanned, of the moment, picture today when I dropped something off at his office. Thanks Peter! Here he can be seen solidly organising and planning the smooth running of stuff. Peter is also in clinic and teaching and swears more than most of the other lecturers I know... and not just around me.
Peter has a few main dictums:
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Respect my authority
Swear word (not mentioned here)

The last one is a generalisation of swearing combined into one swear. However I can't wait until graduation day when Peter will have the sweet pleasure to announce that particular one to us all! :)

Paediatric TCM Books

Reading up on Paediatric massage techniques as a friend of mine went to a weekend course recently and shared her notes with me. Also at one of the clinics I am attending ,as an observer, there is a five year old who is brought in by his parents for a weekly massage to help with his mental and physical development. I was reading, waiting for the next patient , when the Chinese practitioner showed me she had the same book of mine, but in Chinese. It was a cute moment...

Next video blog on the origins of TCM coming in days!! I have worked out some technicial stuff for a clearer picture too! Wow!!

Acupuncture Practice

More pics from level 12 acupuncture practice class. Thanks Noam, Tsering and others!

Chinese Medicine: Why Blog it?!

Hi
Here's my video blog dissecting Chinese Medicine! I decided to film down at the park near Double Bay library because it's so beautiful. I hope you like it. Any suggestions, ideas or comments feel free!

This video is dedicatd to the memory of Carol Rogers

TCM all over again

Hi Blogs,
Back for semester one , third year. Woot woot! Here are some quick pics of possum poo herbal medicine and green tea to keep you going. Enjoy!!!

Here's some info about UTS TCM

Hi Blogs,
Sorry about the delay between updates! When you're on holiday the last thing you want to think about is work! So have I been on Chinese Medicine holiday. However we should get our results from last semester soon. The thing I always found funny about UTS is that you have to re-enrole for next year before you get your results. Counter intuitive in my opinion, but supremely positive! Good luck everyone :)

History of Chinese Medicine at UTS

Hi Ppl,

I was going through the Acupuncture Network Forums and I came across this post by Carole Rogers. It gives you all the history for TCM at UTS. I think it's just helpful to have a clear view of how it all developed. I've linked to the post in the title.


"In going through the list of people cited on this discussion the majority of them were trained by Russell Jewell either directly, or indirectly through one of the colleges he founded where they were taught by one of the teachers he trained. The list of notable practitioners in whose training he played a major role includes: Chris Zaslawski, Mary Garvey, Peter Meier, Sean Walsh, Kerry Watson, Alan Bensoussen, Kerry Watson, Mark Aird, Damien Ryan, and every past and present student of UTS and VU.

Besides founding the first acupuncture school in Australia: Acupuncture Colleges (Australia) in Sydney in 1969, he also founded colleges in Melbourne. Adelaide. Canberra and Brisbane that subsequently, and with Russell's blessing, became independent colleges in their own right. Some of these closed, others continued and now offer recognised degree programs. In 1982 Russell turned over his private college to the acupuncture profession so that the college could apply and ultimately gain recognition as a government accredited higher educational body that had the right to offer an accredited Diploma, and subsequently a Bachelor of Acupuncture. In 1992, as one of the three Chairmen of the Board of Governors that ran the College, he approved granting the right to Victoria University to offer a degree program based on the ACA degree program when Dr Kerry Watson organised the first undergraduate program in acupuncture to be offered at a university in Australia. In 1994 he approved the dissolution of the Board of the Sydney ACA and the transfer of the degree program to the University of Technology Sydney. "

There you go! 1994 was when the UTS TCM course evolved and it all started in 1969 from the first acupuncture college in Australia.

Electrotherapy and Acupuncture

Here's the machine.Here's all of us trying them out Jeremy getting electro-courtesy of me dialling up the power
Seems pretty relaxed
Everybody else getting electro too. Different reactions!

Here's a little video of my hand twitching from electro stimulation while Sean Walsh tells us what is happening

Hi ppl,

We had an introduction to TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) today. There are two main types of electro therapy in TCM. Electro stimulation through needles themselves and through surface electrodes. We tried surface electrodes today. Very helpful for pain relief with for example back conditions and sciatica. Basically adding to the overall effect of the acupuncture. We combined it with acupuncture to the lower back as well. This is the first time I have tried electro and once you get used to it the sensation is ok. One interesting aspect is that the patient can take charge of their own treatment and dial the power up or down themselves. The aim is to have stimulation but no pain, as the nerves can shut down if they are over stimulated therefore stopping the benefits. However the frequency can be automatically changed to help prevent this. One aspect of electro is habitualisation. This is when the body becomes accustomed to the stimulation. If you give control to the patient they can increase or decrease the power according to how much they feel sensation over time. Hope you enjoy the pics.

TCM Clinic for sale

Hi people,

A friend of mine is selling one of his TCM clinics due to a change in Australian immigration laws. He told me he hasn't got enough people to staff it. He sent me this to pass around:

"The largest and only franchise of Chinese Medicine Clinics in Sydney- Traditional Chinese Medicine Australia Eastgardens branch for sale:
regularly patients, long lease, 5 individual treatment rooms, herbal medicine cooking and packing machine, one council approved GP position available, professional acupuncture clinical techniques and special herbal formula training.
Eastgardens Westfield, 152 Bunnerong Road is the second biggest shopping center in Eastern suburb.
Contact: General manager Jessica Website: http://www.tcmaustralia.com.au/ "

A while a go I was getting treatments from him and he used to have the raw herbs brewed and bagged up for when I came in for next weeks appointment. I think the raw herbs are the way to go, but they are so inconvenient so I really liked this method of doing it. The only draw back is that the herbs would be a week behind. They still helped me at the time though. They are probably more powerful than the instant "coffee" freeze dried style of herbs and the generalised patent pills that you can get.

I must admit I am impressed by his business. He has three other five roomed clinics. All set up with automatic foot pad controlled tables, movement sensing hand washes and so on. All clean and professional looking. I think his standards are better than a lot of other clinics I've been too. One of which I remember had yellow sheets because they had been used so much an not washed. That's another story though. Check out his website to get an idea as that is pretty good too. BTW the significance of five rooms, he explained once, is the association with the five elements. Sort of superstition/feng shui and energy related I presume.