Working with patients in Nepal was both a unique privilege and challenge. I was accepted to participate in the program offered by The Acupuncture Relief Project and traveled to Nepal in the early Fall of 2019. Nepal is one of the world’s poorest nations with the majority of its population living rurally, often with little access to medical care. The Acupuncture Relief Project has achieved much over the last 12 years forming Nepal’s first licensed integrative medicine clinic, recently conducting a wide scale census gathering important health data, and providing many hundreds of free check ups and treatments to rural nepalis each year. Acupuncture provides a uniquely inexpensive, portable, and flexible way of addressing the needs many people quickly. Acupuncturists at these clinics are often joined by naturopathic doctors and physicians to screen and treat hundreds of people each year. Practitioners are primarily tasked with catching larger health problems, providing preventative measures and education, and coordinating the treatment of illnesses that need addressed elsewhere.
I worked 6 days a week both in the central clinic in Bajrabarahi and had the honor of also working at one of the 3 new satellite clinics that were opened while I was in Nepal. I saw as many patients as there was time for each day. Patients sometimes took busses or walk for many hours over difficult terrain to be seen. Some patients had never seen a medical practitioner of any kind. I found that while patients might have come in for their painful knees or earache, I was often catching undiagnosed and untreated hypertension or diabetes. The Acupuncture Relief project emphasized that practitioners screen patients for larger health concerns, evaluate medications, and look at the overall health picture of each patient to better understand the hierarchy of health needs. Acupuncturists there work as primary care providers coordinating and often administering the care for each patient seen.
Each day adults and children were funneled into our work spaces 3 or 4 at a time. The Acupuncture Relief project employs Nepalis to communicate with local governments, address clinic operations, and to interpret for patients and practitioners. I worked with an interpreter each day to try to establish rapport and understand the health concerns of my many patients each day. I saw patients suffering from pain, paralysis, osteoarthritis, digestive disorders, anxiety, diabetes, hypertension, lung disease, dermatological conditions, infections, injury, and so much more. This experience not only made me a more skilled acupuncturist, but it made me a more conscientious practitioner. I am deeply grateful to the many Nepalis I had the privilege of treating and to the Acupuncture Relief Project for the work they do. Read more about The Acupuncture Relief Project and my experience there. Namaste and thank you.
