Evolving Medicine: Dr Ling's Journey with Zhu's Scalp Acupuncture
On the 13th of November 2017, Dr Ling commenced a 6 day internship for Zhu's Scalp Acupuncture. The internship took place at the prestigious JinJiang Hospital in Fujian, China.
What makes this internship such a rare opportunity?
Chinese & Western Medicine at JinJiang Hospital
Hospitals in China are organised according to a 3-tier system. The system recognises a hospital's ability to provide:
- medical care
- medical education
- conduct medical research
According to the Chinese government standards, JinJiang is recognised at the highest level. A Tertiary grade A class hospital.
To be at this level the hospital must contain at least 500 hospital beds... per bed it requires at least 1.04 doctors and 0.4 nurses.
Both Chinese and western medical care are practiced in the hospital. All patients receive Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture as a standard treatment.
The hospital contains the latest technology, MRI, CT scan etc... with assets of over 20 million dollars AUD.
JinJiang is divided into emergency, outpatient and inpatient departments... a grand total of 31 clinical departments.
“Hands-on” and “Real Time” Acupuncture Internship
Dr Zhu treating Parkinson's patient
It is a rare experience to be involved in this kind of acupuncture internship. To be so “hands on” and in “real time” working with these types of conditions is unheard of in most countries of the world...
...particularly in the context of ER, ICU and Inpatient settings. Scalp acupuncture's role varies depending on the department it’s applied in.
Zhu's Scalp acupuncturists treat patients in the following departments in Jin Jiang hospital:
Emergency Room (ER)
Treating Hemorrhagic stroke patient in the ER department in the first few hours of stroke
Conditions treated:
- sudden onset of paralysis
- sudden loss of sensation/feeling cases eg stroke, injuries, vertigo
- respiratory conditions
The aim in the ER was to provide scalp acupuncture on patients for instant relief. This reduced the need for drugs and sped up recovery time. All in all a much better treatment outcome for the patient.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Dr Ling and his teammates providing acupuncture to patients in intensive care unit
In the ICU, treatment for more serious medical cases took place including:
- hemorrhagic stroke
- coma patients
- cancer patients
- respiratory conditions
The aim in the ICU was to to stabilise these acute conditions... we helped the patients respond better to conventional treatment. For the patients with terminal illness or life-limiting conditions, we provided symptoms relief.
In Patient
Dr Ling treating a Peroneal nerve paralysis patient post lumbar surgery
Conditions treated:
- all stroke conditions
- all kind of paralysis conditions
Dr Zhu has established his reputation in the hospital... he is the “go to” treatment when it come to neurological, emergency and difficult to treat cases.
Zhu's Scalp Acupuncture has become a specialty treatment at the Jin Jiang emergency department.
Dr Ling's Day at the Internship
Daily, Dr Ling and Zhu's acupuncturists managed to treat at least 15 patients... spread across the ER, ICU and Inpatient departments.
Stroke and paralysis were the majority of conditions treated in the hospital.
Participating in this internship were 6 acupuncturists from all around the globe. 5 acupuncturists were from the USA and Canada and Dr Ling was the only Australian.
"I see an enormous potential for ER or stroke patients" said Dr Ling after his recent trip to China.
"The combination of Chinese and Western medicines in this hospital environment can provide a better holistic treatment approach".
He goes on to say "the treatment style minimises the use of drugs and speeds up recovery time"
"This is a win win situation for both hospitals and patients… by reducing patient stays and recovery periods we would minimise costs and maximise health."
He goes on to say "All scalp acupuncture patients had a faster recovery… after a few daily treatments stroke patients were able to walk by themselves"
In treating palliative care patients he said " after scalp acupuncture treatments they regained their strength to eat again... they could breathe more effectively"
Dr Ling's Certification and his Clinical Practice
Dr Ling and Dr Zhu outside JinJiang Hospital
Dr Zhu and his team were amazing. Their training and 'hands on' guidance was exceptional for all internship trainees.
Dr Ling has completed all the required courses and internship programs. Including JianJiang to receive his qualification he also completed the following courses:
- March 2016 - Shanghai, China
- August 2016 - Shanghai Rui Jin North Hospital, China
- February 2017 - Hamilton, Australia
- Feb 2017 - San Jose
- June 2017 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
He will be the first Australian to be fully qualified in Zhu's Scalp Acupuncture and looks forward to receiving his certification.
Dr Ling is looking forward to applying the knowledge learnt during this internship.
In his clinical practice he is being presented with increasingly more complex cases... these include paralysis, stroke and neurological conditions.
