From Pre-Health Science to Traditional Chinese Medicine: A little bit about me

A lot of people ask me how I ended up studying Traditional Chinese Medicine of all things. Let me start off by saying that I had no idea that I even wanted to do TCM, but here I am and I couldn’t be happier!

It all started when I was 19 and decided to study Pre-Health Science at George Brown College in preparation for the Nursing program. The program was only a year and mainly consisted of advanced science courses and anatomy classes. I had a lot of fun, and was really invested in what I was studying, however, I realized that the healthcare system is focused on two things: money & prescribing medication. These two things will never fix anything. Not to mention, the current medical system fails to look at several factors that contribute to disease. Don’t get me wrong- our healthcare system is amazing in Canada. I really do appreciate it and it is 100% necessary in our population. However, with the current growing population and fast paced society, it’s easier for physicians to prescribe, rather than address the root issue which is commonly linked to diet and lifestyle.

I took all of these considerations in mind, and ventured out to see what programs suited my values most. The Naturopathic Doctor course appealed to me, but it was very expensive and I did not meet all of the requirements. I felt pretty defeated and didn’t know of any other natural health professions at the time.

Then, I found the Traditional Chinese Medicine Program at Humber College. I read the program description and was sold. I had no idea what Acupuncture, Cupping or Tai Chi even was but I went into it open minded. I took 4 courses each semester for 3 years, and travelled 2 hours daily by bus and subway just to get to class on time. It was hectic to say the least. The courses weren’t easy either- they were very heavy and I can honestly say that the TCM program was one of the hardest things I have ever studied. The courses ranged from herbal medicine, to clinical placements in all kinds of healthcare establishments. I learned such valuable lessons!

After successfully passing my final exam in April, I was supposed to do my clinical hours and graduate by Fall of 2020. But unfortunately due to the pandemic, clinics cannot operate, and therefore I cannot obtain my hours. It’s not how I planned things to go, but I am grateful regardless. I have had lots of time to study, grow as a person and even start this blog which took me months to get the courage to do.

I am really excited to start applying TCM theories to modern lifestyle and nutrition. It will be a while until I can physically do acupuncture treatments again but in the meantime I will be coming up with some health services so stay tuned! I am still learning the basics of blogging and making a seamless website but I am really excited to keep learning and advancing my skills.

Thank you so much for reading my first blog post. It truly means the world to me and I never thought I would actually be able to accomplish this.