WebWatch

Build a network

OK, maybe ‘this’ is the greatest thing about Chinese medicine. It is the people. I have never met a better community of wonderful, interesting and kind people.

Social media and the regional contacts (you can look in the back of the latest Acu. magazine) have been such wonderful sources of friendship, knowledge and community. As good as I could have hoped to find.

I reached out to my local regional contact and she has been so welcoming and encouraging. I joined their pre-Christmas ‘virtual’ meet-up and it was amazing to meet my future local colleagues.

And social media may have many pitfalls, but without it I would not have met some of the most wonderful student acupuncturists from CICM, NCA, ICOM and TAA in England. As well as many students from Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and many more.

And that is just the acupuncture students. I have also virtually met, through social media, acupuncturists covering almost every country in the world.

So, let these people show you and encourage you to keep learning. Because one day you will be part of them.

Tools to leverage

Social media can also be very useful for enabling your learning. Without pinpointing any names in particular, you need only search any social media platform for #acupuncture #acupuncturestudent #chinesemedicinestudent #acupuncturerocks #acupunctureworks and even my own #channelproject, and you will come across content that is encouraging your learning.

Much of it even for free.

I have been collating and building a list but thankfully, this is not an exhaustive list 〉 thechannelproject. co.uk/post/sharing-is-caring

Become the teacher

Are you particularly drawn to a subject in acupuncture? It might be point names? Or western medicine pathologies?

Or anatomy?

I am drawn to the theory of Chinese medicine. I spend lots of time on it. I spent virtually no time (don’t tell my lecturers) on western medicine.

So, my friend and I, in Year 2, made an agreement. I would teach her my Chinese medicine knowledge, and in return, she would teach me her western medical knowledge.

By becoming the teacher we each became more adept at framing our language. The subject matter became more ingrained.

And one extra surprising thing came from it. We encouraged the passion in each other. So now, I am more interested in western medicine and she is, in turn, better able to understand why I call the liver Jeff Bezos.

Take case studies

Take cases of friends, family members. People you meet on Zoom. Work colleagues. Heck, I even interviewed people in my local area when I put a call out.

I promise you, this is one you will not regret. Take the case. Work through it.

Think about your questioning. Think about the organ patterns. Or five elements. Or what the tongue is showing you.

Keep practising. Keep revising.

Because that is your future self. That is you in three years, or two years or one year. You will be questioning a future client, and at that moment this hardship will seem ages away.

And you will be so grateful you continued.

Member Veena Stephenson chooses her pick of online Covid-19 resources.

Experts

Dr John Campbell 〉 tinyurl.com/nczxnj7n Dr Roger Seheult 〉 tinyurl.com/ b47fhpyu & tinyurl.com/hn7tv74z Vincent Racaniello 〉 www.microbe.tv/ twiv/ & tinyurl.com/53n5d7cx

John Campbell is a UK-based retired nurse teacher and A&E nurse. Dr Roger Seheult is an associate professor of medicine in the US and co-founder of MedCram, set up to offer medical clarity. Vincent Racaniello is a professor of virology at Columbia University New York. All three share regular Covid-19 updates and discussions with other experts on current research and policy.

Updates

JAMA Network 〉 tinyurl.com/4y93nf3r & tinyurl.com/cvm9wvs7 BMJ's Coronavirus (covid-19) Hub 〉 tinyurl.com/25ksa8ub HHMI Science 〉 tinyurl.com/2zrdjne2

JAMA Network is a collection of 12 international peer-reviewed medical journals. Covid-19 content includes an introduction, updates, and conversations with frontline clinicians and experts. BMJ hub offer free information with daily updates to support health professionals and researchers. HHMI have a Science of Covid-19 seminar series: this one discusses the molecular biology of coronavirus infection.

Long Covid

NHS England 〉 tinyurl.com/7vnvsctw The Lancet 〉 tinyurl.com/33bm9x6y

Latest news about treatment for long Covid and the NICE guideline.

Paediatrics

COCA/CDC 〉 tinyurl.com/5fbhxpv5

Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) webinar on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with Covid-19.

Immunology

Frank Lectures 〉 tinyurl.com/3ue39kt5

Of the many online medical tutorials, I found the series by Dr Shivani Pandey of Frank Lectures very clear in the verbal and visual explanations. This overview is the first in a comprehensive series.

Why not share your favourite online resources with other members by sending a link to WebWatch via editor@acupuncture.org.uk