Having experienced the traumatic and untimely passing of her father in 1977 from a medical accident, Yanping Wang was determined to become a doctor in order to help others and ensure that such accidents would not occur again. Now, 27 years on, Yanping is proud to say that she has realised this ambition and has been able to help a lot of people through Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

Yanping received her degree in Chinese medicine and acupuncture from Henan TCM College, China, in 1983 and has been practising ever since. Initially spending 11 years practising within the hospital system in China, Yanping later immigrated to Australia where she has spent the last 10 years in practice. “One of the unique features of my experience practising within the Chinese hospital system,” she tells us, “is that I was able to work together with Western doctors and Western medicine practitioners, in an effort to combine both Chinese and Western medicine approaches.”

This experience gave Yanping a solid understanding of the principles of Western medicine. The large numbers of patients that she saw each day within the hospital environment also exposed her to a large variety of diseases and conditions, greatly enhancing her clinical skills and experience. “Looking back on it now,” she says, “I realise how significant my earlier experience within this environment was to the way that I practise today in Australia. It gave me a good appreciation of the strengths and limitations of Chinese medicine”

When Yanping looks back on her career to date, she feels very proud that most of her patients have experienced such good results from her treatment, many of whom now consider her as their close friend. “Some of my patients travel a long way to see me regularly, some even from interstate,” she tells us. “I find it quite humbling when I find out how far some patients drive just to see me, and I’m always flattered when patients bring their friends and family to be treated by me.” Yanping has also noticed an increase in referrals from medical doctors who have received reports of the good results she achieves with her patients.

To what then does Yanping Wang attribute the successes of her practice? “Well, I believe that to build a successful practice in Chinese medicine and acupuncture, one needs to have good TCM skills, a caring attitude towards the needs of the patient, and a good understanding of Western medicine science” she explains.

Yanping believes that it is important for the future success of the TCM profession in Australia that the general public’s awareness and acceptance of acupuncture and Chinese medicine continue to be raised. “I think the upcoming WFAS 6th World Conference on Acupuncture, to be held at the Gold Coast this year, will do a lot to help boost the profile and further development of AACMA and the profession in Australia as a whole,” she says. “I also believe it will bring good luck to our Australian clinics and practitioners.” “We are now in the year of the monkey, which in Chinese culture represents dynamism, change, and good luck. I think we’ll see some great achievements for TCM in Australia this year.”

Yanping believes that it is very important that AACMA establish itself as an active member within the international acupuncture and TCM community, and feels that a lot of progress and development has occurred recently in different aspects of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. “This is due, at least in part, to the ever increasing enthusiasm of researchers and scholars throughout the world to find natural treatments for difficult diseases” she explains. “There are also more and more Chinese herbs which have been proven to be very good for human wellbeing” she adds.

“AACMA’s efforts to establish itself as an active member within the international acupuncture and TCM community will help our members to catch up with the new developments and technology in modern acupuncture and Chinese medicine. It will also help to greatly improve the profile of AACMA within both the domestic and international communities.”

Yanping wishes all of her acupuncture and TCM colleagues a happy and prosperous new year.

Source: Jing-Luo (Newsletter of the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association Ltd), Mar 2004, p. 11.