Anatomy of an Acupuncture Needle

More than occasionally, we're asked by a patient, "can i take one of those home to show my husband (or mother or neighbor)? They're scared of needles and maybe this will help". Well, no, we can't send you home with a needle. But, the following article has some great images of the kind of needles we use, along with some basic information. We hope it's useful.

http://acutakehealth.com/the-anatomy-of-an-acupuncture-needle

Thanks to POCA Tech Contributors

Our POCA Tech fundraiser has been a big success. We raised about $750 in December through mostly donations of five to fifteen dollars. Thank you all so much for contributing, and for moving us all a step closer to making an affordable acupuncture school happen so we can train the future punks we so desperately need to keep community acupuncture strong and growing.

Thanks to: Jean M, Laura BL., Loretta A, Steve Z, Mary D, Karen L, Ted S, Joan N, Shawn O, Alycia M, Karlo B, Lehlohorolo M, Sarah M, Gail A, Laura G, Barbara P, Anne S, Lucille R, Karyl C, Juan D, Kari T, Kathy K, Natalie J, Donna D, Forest M, Ana Christina, Barbara T, Anthony A, Bob W, Terry L, Ashley T, Robert A, Lucille R, Carmen C, Arthur L, Lori O, Steve M, Mary H, Beth T, Aimee M, Laura R, Liz A, Gale G, Deirdre H, Alan B, Louella H, Bob S, Sue b, Jim S, Susan H, Emma S, Gregory S.

The Coop: solidarity among clinics, and participation from many stakeholders

This weekend, the New England regional node of The People's Organization of Community Acupuncture met at the clinic. A warm and jovial mood filled the place as old and new friends arrived from New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. We were there, ostensibly, to keep the planning going for POCA Fest 2013 which will happen this spring here in Rhody.

Among the participants were front desk persons and administrators from various clinics, patients, people interested in attending POCA Tech, POCA members who'll be teaching or leading activities at the fest, owners and acupunks at existing clinics, and one long time acupuncturist who hopes to open a second Rhode Island clinic soon. As our international coop, POCA, heads in the direction of a more horizontal and less hierarchical structure, the meeting felt like a wonderful and important step in that process.

Everyone offered ideas and volunteered for various jobs at POCA Fest, about which we're all very excited. It'll be the first big community acupuncture happening planned and attended by not only acupuncturists, but by all these stakeholders in the coop.

Stay tuned for more info about POCA Fest 2013, taking place May 31 - June 2 at Camp Aldersgate in N. Scituate, RI. We'll be putting up a website soon, where you can register for a day or the whole weekend. Any of us at the clinic can answer questions about the event as well.

why we love our jobs

These two old blog posts from Lisa Rohleder, and the reader comments which follow them, keep coming up in my mind. Every day I work with patients at PCA, I feel grateful for my job, and for how I get to spend my time.


Please read, and enjoy. And, Happy New Year!

What Never Gets Old
What's better

Help Us Plan POCA Fest 2013 in Rhode Island

Here's most of the staff of PCA at our last meeting. Even though we have his much fun we actually get a lot done.  And, when we get together with people from other clinics for POCA events, the getting-things-done and the fun are only magnified.
In fact, there's a meeting coming up which you should consider attending. It's the meeting of our POCA Northeast Regional node (folks from clinics all over New England).
We'll be getting together at PCA at 4:00 pm on Saturday, January 12 to really get the planning going for POCAFest 2013, which will take place in N. Scituate May 31 through June 2. If you love community acupuncture, affordable healthcare, cooperative action, local business and/or just having fun with a wonderful group of people, come to the meeting and get involved. Feel free to call or email the clinic with questions.

POCATech Fundraiser. Five Bucks Buys a Brick

We need your help starting a new acupuncture school where working people can afford to go and learn how to be community acupunks in their own communities. Come into the clinic through the 22nd, "buy a brick", and watch the school grow. (We're building a symbolic leggo school at the clinic with initials of those who donate on each brick).

There is a common challenge that POCA clinics like us face as we get bigger and reach more people. A shortage of punks for growing and new clinics exists.  And there is an even bigger shortage of clinics in places where there are none.  Every week we get emails at pocacoop.com requesting clinics in places where there are none for hundreds or even thousands of miles.  The folks requesting these clinics know someone, a family member or friend, who has suggested community acupuncture, but because there are still so many places without clinics, there are still so many people who cannot access affordable acupuncture treatments. This is where POCA Tech comes in…with the help of POCA Coop. 

POCATech will be POCA Coop’s training institute.  We need affordable community acupuncture education as much as we need affordable acupuncture.  Because of the tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of people now connected through our network of clinics, we know that POCA Tech is not just a dream, but something that we can make a reality if we can connect this next great idea with enough people.

We need to fundraise $125,000 to open POCA Tech’s doors.  In just 3 months we’ve raised almost 1/5 of that and we’re hoping that through our clinics we can raise at least another $25,000 by the end of the year… in $5 increments! That’s 5,000 donations of $5.  If just 200 of our 265 clinics, including us, are able to raise 25 $5 donations that would cover this next chunk of funds that we need.

And then let's all of us imagine that a year from now POCA Tech's first class, including, we're hoping, at least a couple Rhode Islanders, will already have started school… and know that you have been a part of making that happen.

Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the project

1. What is POCA Tech

POCA Tech is a nonprofit educational corporation, 501(c)(3) status pending.

The POCA Technical Institute is the educational arm of the People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture, a multi-stakeholder cooperative owned by patients, practitioners, clinics, and supporters of community acupuncture. POCA’s goal is to make acupuncture available and accessible to as many people as possible and to support those providing acupuncture to create stable and sustainable businesses and jobs. POCA Tech’s aim is to provide the cooperative with educational programs that back up its mission.

Its first goal is to create entry-level training programs for acupuncturists that are affordable to prospective students of ordinary incomes.

2. Why do we need POCA Tech?

We need POCA Tech for a few reasons:

a. Acupuncture school is crazy over-priced and most graduates leave school with $60-100K in debt. Fifty percent of acupuncture graduates are not practicing acupuncture after five years. Of those that are practicing, over 60% practice part-time. Most acupuncturist struggle to make a living. We need an affordable alternative that will attract a more diverse population of people and allow practitioners to graduate free of a debt burden.

b.POCA Tech will train people to be community acupuncturists. Community acupuncturists need a different skill set than private room acupuncturists, including highly efficient diagnostic and treatment skills, distal treatment techniques and deep commitments to social justice. Community acupuncture clinics need qualified practitioners and are having a hard time filling acupuncturist positions in their clinics.

3. How much will it cost to attend?

We are still in the planning process, but we plan for the cost to be around $5,800 per year for a period of three years. POCA Tech’s total program costs, including biomedical clinical science prerequisites but not including cost of living, should be about $25,000. POCA Tech will not be part of the student loan system.

4. Can’t POCA Tech apply for funds or big grants from somewhere else?

POCA Tech can once we gain our non-profit status. But POCA also recognizes that community involvement and investment is a key to successful community acupuncture clinics and will be a key to making POCA Tech successful. We need our community as much as our community needs us!

5. Where will POCA Tech be located?

POCA Tech will start in Portland, Oregon. The goal is to grow so that we can open more campuses in New England, the Midwest, and the South. POCA Tech will offer a schedule that allows students to work while in school and will not require relocation to the POCA Tech campus area.

6. You know how you said you love our community acupuncture clinic and that we have drastically changed your life for the better?

If you donate to POCA Tech, you will be helping to spread community acupuncture so more people can feel like you do.

Thank you so much.

And, don't forget, we'll be watching the documentary movie "Community Acupuncture: The Calmest Revolution Ever Staged" this Saturday at 2:30 at the clinic.

Bittersweet transition. Goodbye to Ana and hello to Melissa

As many of you know, one of our practitioners, Ana Calla, worked 

her last day at PCA on Friday. 

The rest of us are so grateful to have 

been able to work with her for the last 

year and a half. Ana held such a warm and focused space for her patients and is a 

wonderful acupuncturist, speaking from experience.

Share appreciations or farewells on our facebook page if you'd like.

Ana says:

To all at PCA,

Working at PCA was a very enriching experience for me. Not only because I met wonderful people, but because it helped me to understand that a positive attitude is contagions and at the end it is all about caring for one another.
Hasta la vista amigos (so long my friends) with this a thought from Lao Tzu.
"If you are depressed,
you are living in the past.
If you are anxious,
you are living in the future.
If you are at peace,
you are living the present."

And, last week, we posted this from our new acupuncturist, Melissa Tiernan.

Hello PCA community!

I'm so honored and thrilled to join the PCA team in serving the people of Rhode Island. Originally from Cranston, I left lil’ Rhody in 1984 to study for a B.A. in English literature and psychology from Middlebury College in Vermont. I headed west to New Mexico where I lived for 22 years having many adventures, most recently having founded and run a successful community acupuncture clinic there. I knew when I found community acupuncture during acupuncture school that I would never practice any other way. I believe that CA offers one of the best, most comprehensive systems for the treatment and prevention of all sorts of conditions and is one of the most fun ways to be of service to my community. 

In my spare time, I love hiking and exploring, discovering great books, food, and music, and being inspired by new ideas and progressive people. I am looking forward to meeting you and also finding out about all your favorite haunts for chowda, grindas and best beaches for body-surfing, which I plan to do every spare minute to make up for 22 years of living in a desert. Can’t wait to see you!