March 29, 2013 (#3)

The last and final hour with Dr. Song was back to studying from the textbook. I read onto Chapter three which focused on the five organs and they're connection to the five elements (fire, water, wood, earth and metal). The five major organs that doctors are keen on keeping in harmony are the kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and spleen, which are referred to as the zang organs and under these organs they govern other organs within the body. The first organ of the five I read was the heart. 


The heart is of course responsible for keeping the blood moving within the body. So when Chinese doctors have patients that come in they first look at the complexion, feel the pulse, then look at the tongue. The amazing thing about Chinese medicine is that doctors can literally look at the face of a person and tell which organ is not doing so well. For doctors when they look at the face they're looking at which part of the face has redness, irritation or other complexion problems. As for the heart its diagnosis lies in the tongue. When the heart is in good condition, it's rosy, plump and moist. If it is red it means there is too much heat in the heart. If the tongue has blue and purple spots then there is issues with blood flow. Another concept the text discussed was the connection to how the heart is similar to the element of fire. And that's where I was cut off as Dr. Song finished up with her patient, then focused her attention to me. 

Once her patient left she sat and talked to me again about her job and how much care and attention she puts into every patient. She talked about how she puts her heart into every treatment as she believes that's one of the many things that can help a patient improve.  She said if a patient wants to truly improve and get better they have to believe it. As crazy as it sounds it's true if a patient can believe that they are mentally, physically and spiritually strong they can get better. She also talked about how she as a doctor wants to ensure that she's in her best place so she can take care of her patients, therefore she only sees 2-5 patients a day. She doesn't want to much stress on herself because she knows that if she isn't feeling well she can't give the care her patients deserve. She's doing what makes her happy and makes her enough to get by. She's says once she retires she wants to travel and give patients free treatments because that's what she wants to do. She just wants to help everyone as much as she can and as selflessly as possible. It's amazing how caring and willing she is just to make sure her patients are at their best. Though I don't see myself in the medical field in the future I do believe in her philosophy and want to follow in her footsteps.