Meeting Points: how was it for you?

REVIEW

First and foremost, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all those who attended the conference weekend. It was wonderful to see our members coming together to experience the buzz of a live event once again.

Thank you also to our wonderful speakers for their time and to our sponsors for their support, without whom these events would simply not be possible.

Lastly, my special thanks go to my colleagues at the BAcC for their hard work and enthusiasm in making the whole event come together. The weekend went by in a bit of a blur for me, as I was pulled from pillar to post, so it’s been lovely to read the following reviews and reflect on what was a momentous and celebratory weekend for us all.

Helen Gibb: Learning & Events Manager

Susan Evans

Member: County Londonderry How wonderful it was to be back at an in-person conference, my first since joining the Governing Board (GB) back in 2019. As such, I had some linked responsibilities including attending the annual general meeting (AGM) and introducing some of our interesting speakers over the weekend.

I was also delighted to join in the ‘Meet the Board’ session on Saturday lunchtime – certainly an inspired idea and we had a great time with those who attended. Amongst other things, we were asked just what we do on the GB – a great question that I definitely couldn’t have answered before joining the Board. One member even came just to thank us for our work during the pandemic when everything was thrown up in the air. It was such a relaxed enjoyable meeting and I’d like to thank everyone who came along.

One of the things I love about conference is touching base with something that is new to me – great ideas for CPD. My training is in five element and TCM, so a talk about stems and branches proved very enlightening. I also attended some of the open discussion sessions and found the conversations honest and diverse – it made me proud to be a member of our fabulous organisation.

I fully admit to dancing the night away on Saturday evening – always a highlight for me, meeting old and making new friends on the dance floor. And what a fabulous band we had! Then Sunday morning saw me hosting a meditation session – a privilege shared with other members taking time to relax and spend some quiet time together.

As ever, I found conversations around tea and meal breaks just as important as attending formal sessions. Thanks to all our organisers, sponsors and speakers for making this year’s conference one to remember.

Sarah Waterfall

Student Member: #istudyacupuncture As a student of The Acupuncture Academy (TAA) just starting the second year of training, this was my first BAcC conference. It certainly acted as an introduction to the wider acupuncture community; it was interesting to meet people from other acupuncture disciplines and hear their views and approaches to common scenarios we all face.

I can’t pretend I wasn’t more than a bit daunted to find myself sitting at a table with BAcC and other prominent acupuncture organisation stakeholders during one of the open discussion sessions, but it was useful to hear some of the considerations practitioners face once in business – and the theme that came up time and time again was ‘evidence base’.

My own motivation for wanting to train as an acupuncturist came from living in China for five years, where naturally I saw Chinese medicine at the forefront of healthcare, rather than something people turned to in desperation when all else had failed. The doctors there were doctors, regardless of whether they were TCM or western trained. For this reason, when Yair Maimon said in his keynote speech ‘we are physicians’, it certainly struck a chord. Although currently I can’t say #idoacupuncture, #istudyacupuncture works for me!

Sandro Graca

Lecturer & Researcher Along with the muchanticipated opportunity of seeing colleagues face to face again, the 2022 BAcC conference and the ARRC symposium provided three days of important lectures and discussions.

Robin Sunley stood out with his detailed presentations based on his experience of working as an acupuncturist in the NHS, inspiring everyone with his vision for research at James Cook University Hospital cardiothoracic surgery department. Beverley de Valois also highlighted the importance of being involved in research along with working as part of an integrative, multidisciplinary team, as she showcased her work in the oncology field, which included a precious evaluation of 15 years of NADA service data for breast cancer related hot flushes.

Both Robin and Beverley lead by example showing us how research literacy and our consequent involvement plays a crucial role in the development of our profession. The final discussion group provided a platform for community run project Evidence Based Acupuncture (EBA) – to share valuable advice and guidance to inform a strategy for working collectively towards a deeper understanding and dissemination of acupuncture’s evidence base.

Without doubt, the lectures and discussions over the whole weekend planted many seeds that will continue to blossom and ensure a bright future for acupuncture.

Lucia Misikova

BAcC Membership Engagement Officer I have been a keen visitor of yoga shows and wellbeing festivals in the past but I’ve never thought of going to a conference – this was my first one ever. It was especially exciting to be there as a member of BAcC staff, helping to make the event run smoothly.

I was delighted to find myself covering microphone runner duties in three incredibly inspiring talks. One of them even made me go through my bookshelves a week later to find my copy of the Web That Has No Weaver and finally start reading it. Another talk completely blew me away with testimonials of people who resolved their long-term PTSD thanks to acupuncture treatments.

Over the weekend I had time to speak with many delegates – practitioners, students, teachers – as well as speakers and exhibitors. There was something valuable for me to learn from all of them, and I was also happy to be able to provide information and answer membership related questions. It was also great to sit in on discussion sessions and witness the passion our practitioners have for their profession, to learn about some of the challenges they face, and to hear about developments in the world of acupuncture.

Seeing people in person and putting faces to some of the names I remembered from email conversations was great, and it was especially heartwarming to meet a few members whose membership application I have processed only weeks prior to the conference. Then there was the gala dinner, a lovely less formal opportunity to mingle with real people and learn more about their journeys as acupuncturists. And of course, we danced the night away!

I definitely walked away from my first BAcC conference with a good few suggestions and new ideas on how to improve our current membership offering.