Tobydaly1: October 30, 2021, 12:23am
“For Fei Boxiong, becoming an effective physician was thus not a matter of learning a set of rules or propositions.
Rather it was a process of transformation that accepted complexity as an inevitable starting point of anything
problematic but aimed at effective action by reducing this complexity to its intrinsic dynamic. Hence, to develop
himself as an effective practitioner a physician must sort through the many different doctrines and practices of the
tradition and distil from them a refined essence of core principles that becomes the fulcrum from which effective
action in the present can be launched. This is because the complex manifestation of a clinical problem can be
understood as unfolding from a small number of quintessential life processes.”
Scheid, V Moral Foods: The Construction of Nutrition and Health in Modern Asia 2020
George_Mandler: October 31, 2021, 6:53pm
This snippet resonates so beautifully with the Sa’am tradition as taught by Toby and his teacher Sunim. We need to
approach each patient on each visit with a fluid mind to see the many shades of gray leading us to our diagnosis on
that day. Symptoms can look the same but be from a completely different etiology.
Tobydaly1:
For Fei Boxiong, becoming an effective physician was thus not a matter of learning a set of rules or
propositions
It is sometimes easy to hold particular rules (gems) too tightly that jump out but then miss the other more subtle
dynamics at play. This can shift the weight for what is needed in the moment. This dynamic treatment strategy is an
inherent beauty of the Sa’am tradition.
Adina_Kletzel: November 2, 2021, 9:50pm
I certainly have found that when I am only looking for the manifestation of the rules then I miss what the person is
trying to tell me. The imbalance is there waiting to be treated but it does not know that it has to fit into a certain
box. It may be talking in a whisper and the only question we need to ask is – can we get quiet enough to hear it?
3 Likes08/01/2024, 13:48Becoming an Effective Physician – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/becoming-an-effective-physician/1665/print2/2
Daniel #4November 19, 2021, 10:58am
This beautiful quote expresses the very essence of what attracts me to this medicine and keeps me perpetually
engaged with wonder, excitement and the continual process of discovery . . . one could say this journey is
essentially about getting closer to God . . .