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May/June 2003 Alternative Health |
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| Outside In has served the Portland community since 1968. Current programs include transitional housing & support services for homeless youth, a syringe exchange program, support services for sexual minority homeless youth and a clinic offering naturopathic care, western medicine, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, chiropractic care, dental care and tattoo removal. 503-535-3896 www.outsidein.org |
Three great philosophical traditions, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism (two originating from China) have greatly influenced Chinese medicine. They all expound "natural living" and eschew artificially. Each tradition has models of ethnical conduct, and each has disciples who undertook direct care of others through medicine. Throughout Chinese history, temples and disciples have delivered free medicine to the poor and needy.
The tradition continues. My first martial arts and acupuncture teacher, Master Chen, related the following story of his first acupressure teacher. Master Chen had been teaching martial arts in Asia when a student of his mentioned that his father was a daoist monk living in the countryside at a temple especially build for him. Master Chen decided to pay him a visit. He arrived very early in the morning, but there was already a long line of patients outside the temple doors waiting to be seen by the monk. The monk would not interview them, but would give each a full body acupressure massage. He took patients from about 5:00am to midnight, ate, meditated, slept a few hours, and started again. His treatments were extraordinarily effective, and Master Chen resolved to study with the monk. At first, the monk begged off, but Master Chen was not easily deterred, and the monk at last accepted him as a student. Master Chen said that this monk did not take any money, although he would accept food and flowers.
When I was studying martial arts with Master Chen, he decided to teach acupressure to interested students. Although he accepted money for teaching martial arts, he did not accept money for treatments, and set this as an example. My friends and I studied the acupressure points with him and then performed massage at his studio without charge.
After gradating from Acupuncture College, two fellow students and I established a clinic with the intention of providing low cost Chinese medicine. I also worked at PAAC, a private facility dedicated to providing acupuncture to addicts. After a few years of working at my clinic, I decided that I was able to volunteer my services to a public health program. I immediately considered Outside In, an organization that addresses the needs of homeless youth and other low-income and marginalized people, providing them social, medical and mental health services and resources. I approached Kathy Oliver to see if I could start a limited volunteer clinic.
I started the clinic with one table in a multi-use room in the old Outside In building on Salmon Street. I practiced four hours a week. I was soon able to supervise interns from the local Acupuncture and Naturopathic College. I would set up two massage tables in Outside In’s boardroom, and the intern would interview the clients in the hall. After some time, the basement became available with room for four tables, an office with another table, and a hall for an herbal pharmacy. I was able to supervise three four-hour clinic shifts with four interns from each of the colleges, and train a couple of "observers" while I treated patients.
With the move to the new building, some of my students graciously began to volunteer their time to the clinic, and a couple of them have been able to receive a small stipend. At present the Chinese Medical Clinic is open four days a week, although it seems this may soon be extended to five days. Two former students receive a small stipend for a shift, and there are two other acupuncturists who volunteer their time, one a senior acupuncturist from China. Two or three other acupuncturists are going through the necessary steps to volunteer.
The Clinic provides acumoxibustion, acupressure, herbal formulas, and dietary counseling. The acupuncture service is free for the homeless and youth, and has a sliding scale for older people or those with homes. Herbs are free of charge. The clinic is intended for low or no income individuals of any age. We practice general medicine, although some acupuncturists have specialties. The most common complaint is pain, followed by "stress" i.e.: emotional complaints. We often treat upper respiratory infections, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and gynecological complaints. We treat drug and alcohol withdrawal, including smoking cessation.
In modern day society it is extremely unusual to find a person who can live a "natural life," i.e.: rising a retiring with the sun, eating local and nutritious food, leading a quiet and contemplative life, and adjusting his or her schedule in accordance with seasonal demands. Mass advertising, fast paced, crowded, polluted cities, cruel inequalities and politics constantly assail the individual. In this era, the subtleties of energetic medicine may seem inadequate, but clinical results are often surprisingly successful. While I believe this success has much to do with the power of Chinese medicine, I believe a great deal of it can be attributed to the quality of the care and caregivers. It has been gratifying to see the compassion of the interns and volunteer acupuncturists, and I believe that Outside In fosters this compassion.
To come to the Chinese Medical Clinic one should make an appointment through the Outside In Clinic front desk (unless it is an emergency). There is a minimal amount of paperwork that needs to be filled out before proceeding to the acupuncture clinic. On the first visit there is usually an extensive interview followed by an acumoxibustion treatment lasting from 20 minutes to an hour. One is usually given herbs in the form of pills or bulk teas that have to be prepared. (The practitioners practice strict confidentiality and clean needle technique. Each client gets new needles every visit and they are discarded after one use. Consideration is given to herb-drug interactions.)
Outside In has provided public health services since its inception. It continues to be a model of compassionate service to the community.