Introductory remarks

Apologies for showing up so late in the game in the realm of blogging. This is an exercise that I undertake with great ambivalence, though in the context of this class it seems not only practical but a fine form of engagement.

My name is Emily Hooker. I've just begun my third year here at AIMC and continue to be pleased with my rather gentle transition into the world of TCM and, in particular, integrative medicine. I'll confess that in my first year or so here at AIMC I spent no small amount of time wondering what exactly the school meant by integrative medicine curricula or integrative medicine clinic. I knew coming in that I wanted to understand how to relate TCM to our understanding of disease and health, which is pretty well steeped in western medicine. But I didn't fully grasp how AIMC intended to integrate these two forms of medicine clinically or theoretically. This has changed for me some with the recent advent of the integrative medicine series and a bit of clinical experience. I find that one rather seemingly simple, yet integral, dimension of my learning has to do with language. Yes, there's a lot that I don't know about medicine, eastern and western. But a common cold is not a different malady in Chinese medicine than we've understood it to be experientially. What's different is the way that we relate to it, treat it and talk about it.

For someone with little prior experience in either form of medicine, this integration business can be a daunting proposition. But I find that the more I know the more I want to know. So it seems fitting, if negligent, that I wound up taking this course in my third year here at AIMC. I look forward to the perspectives that Larry has to offer, and a fuller understanding of the fundamentals of biology.