Patient education is fundamental to holistic TCM. It is even more essential in North American culture precisely because the holistic model is: 1) foreign to our culture’s inherent way of thinking about health and illness; and 2) it is so well-suited to the segment of the population not well-treated by conventional medicine – i.e. patients with chronic disease. What do patients with chronic disease need to understand about their treatment and about what we do? What must practitioners of TCM be able to explain? How? Grappling with these questions allows and image of competent patient education to arise and permits the practitioner to enlist the patient’s efforts in aiding their own recovery. Clinical skills notwithstanding, patient education is the single greatest skill-set for successful practice.
Questions to ponder before the webinar:
1. What is best about TCM (what are the inherent strengths in clinic)?
2. What do patients with chronic disease require?
3. What do patients with chronic disease need to know (and what can they remain ignorant of)?
4. What do practitioners of TCM need to understand and be able to communicate?
6. How can one create sitautions in which patient education can take place?
