Introduction

It’s nice now and again to pause, take a deep breath, and appreciate the distance you have traveled.

I came to this profession in 2001 as the ED of the California State Oriental Medical Association (CSOMA), and then joined the AAOM in June of 2004. Standing at today, I feel our profession has journeyed light years over a relative short span of time; in fact, I view challenge as a gauge of success.

I say this because no one wants to tie themselves to a sinking ship, but everyone wants to grab tight the tail of a rising star. OM is the rising star of complementary and alternative medicine; but even more broadly, public health care at large. Nationally, the chiropractic community is attempting to broaden their scope of practice because they see the market share Acupuncture represents; our access to herbs is being challenged because the pharmaceutical industry considers increased annual herbal usage as a threat (a 2005 Harvard study showed the highest jump in the use of CAM therapies was the use of herbal substances – growing from 12.1 in 97 to 18.6%), the AMA, under Resolution 814 (PDF) will be evaluating the qualifications, education, academic requirements, licensure, certification, independent governance, ethical standards, disciplinary processes, and peer review of the limited licensure health care providers because annually alternative medicine claims an ever increasing market share in the health care marketplace – over 42% in the US alone use CAM therapies (72 million – or 1 in 3 Americans).

These challenges require our diligence, time and resources to address; but our profession is facing these challenges because of success – not failure. The more institutionalized and accepted OM becomes in the marketplace, the greater challenges we shall face by those that feel they could be losing market share. The unfortunate reality is these types of challenges have far more to due with capitalism, protection of “the bottom line”, and not losing market share, than about the medicine, healing, and serving the patient. Nutrition Business Journal (Volume X, Feb 2005) reported: “It is perceived by the public as a conspiracy by mainstream medicine, the FDA and pharmaceutical companies owning the rights to choice.” In responding to this marketplace to expand the OM role in healthcare, we need not worry about succumbing to the tactics of our competitors, but rather, we must respond in "real time" with "real answers" to the challenges that arise daily. This is vital to our sustainability. To that extent, we welcome YOU– the authors and readership of the Qi-Unity Report inaugural edition.

Carpe Diem… As practitioners, organizations, schools, students and businesses of OM, let us share the challenges, opportunities, and contributions of our medicine with each other, and thus our world.

How to Contribute: To meet our monthly publishing deadline, contributions from the profession must be received by close of business the second Monday of each month. If you would like to contribute to this monthly newsletter, we recommend that you read the Qi-Unity Report E-Blast as comprehensive instructions are provided. Please no direct emails, as an online form is provided!