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“Every professional I have done the exercise with admitted that their ideal patient was inspired by someone they were close to in their personal life. It was usually a family member, a best friend, or themselves. The ones who carry the most unbearable sufferings-the kind that reminds us of ourselves and our loved ones most likely would become our “ideal patients.” After all, our compassion for others’ aches comes from understanding our own pain. We heal to be healed. Healing’s mutualism continues to amaze me every day. It’s a gesture of kindness and love that elevates both the giver and the receiver.”
Tedi Zeng is an acupuncturist.
She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, “Who is the ideal patient?”
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Hosted by Kevin Pho, MD, The Podcast by KevinMD shares the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from.
Transcript
Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show, where we share the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from. My name is Kevin Pho, founder and editor of KevinMD. Today on the show, we have Tedi Zeng. She is an acupuncturist, and she wrote the KevinMD article “Who is the ideal patient?” Tedi, welcome to the show.
Tedi Zeng: Thank you. I’m happy to be here.
Kevin Pho: We’ll get to the article in a little bit, but first off, can you share your story and journey to where you are today?
Tedi Zeng: I am an acupuncturist. I’m in private practice in New Jersey. I went to medical school in China over 10 years ago, and I trained in OB/GYN in a program that’s more integrative, in that we were trained in both surgery and Chinese herbal medicine. I have always been more drawn to the Chinese medicine part of things, so I decided to pursue acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine after I moved to the U.S. five years ago, and I’ve been in private practice since then.
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Kevin Pho: Tell me a little about your practice, about the types of patients that you see and the types of acupuncture treatments that you offer.
Tedi Zeng: I have a general practice. I see all kinds of people. I would say I see mostly adults. I started my practice seeing more women. With my background in OB/GYN, I see women of all ages. Right now, I think I have mostly middle-aged women. I work with a lot of people for chronic issues: insomnia, chronic pain, menopausal symptoms, and so on.
Now, though, I think I’ve expanded my practice into a younger age group. I’m seeing more people in their 20s, and I’m seeing more men in my practice. I’m happy to see that more men are becoming more open to self-care, and I’m happy to see them in my practice now.
Kevin Pho: Do you get most of your patients from referrals from physicians like myself or primary care, or do you get people who specifically seek out acupuncture?
Tedi Zeng: I get people who specifically seek out acupuncture, and I think they value my background in Western medicine and OB/GYN too. I do get referrals from my physicians and other kinds of practitioners, and friends. And I think people also found me on Google through my website.
Kevin Pho: So let’s talk and transition into your KevinMD article, and it’s titled “Who is the ideal patient?” Now, for those who didn’t read that article, can you just walk my audience through it and share the story of why you decided to write it?
Tedi Zeng: I first learned about the concept of the ideal patient at a workshop, and I soon became really obsessed with the concept and the idea, because I think it reflects who we are. It makes me think about what drives me in medicine and helps me understand more about myself. I also realized that I see myself in my patients. It surprised me when I found out that I was actually seeing a lot of middle-aged women who remind me of my mother.
So then it goes into this self-healing process, where a lot of the issues that my patients have were the things that my mom complained about when I was growing up. I didn’t realize it back then, but now I realize that I definitely have satisfaction in treating these issues and diseases. It comforts me in the way that I’m helping someone who reminds me of my mom.
Kevin Pho: And you mentioned the concept of the ideal patient. Can you describe what that means to you?
Tedi Zeng: The concept of the ideal patient means who I want to serve the most, who’s the most perfect patient for me. And for them, would I be the perfect practitioner or a perfect doctor for them? So it’s definitely a mutual relationship.
Kevin Pho: And when you meet patients for the first time, what are some of the things that you look for? What are some of the questions that you ask to see whether that patient is the right fit for you, and for that matter, whether you’re the right fit for that patient?
Tedi Zeng: For every new patient, I offer a 15-minute free consultation on the phone. On the phone, we touch base about what they’re looking for and how much time, energy, and money they are willing to spend on this process. Then I tell them a little bit about myself, so I think it’s a mutual selecting process, and that’s part of the initial process.
Then, if we decide that we’re going to give it a try, they’re going to come in for their initial visit, and that will give me more information. After that, it normally takes three or four sessions for both of us to figure out if we’re a good match.
Kevin Pho: So for the patients in my audience, what kind of questions should they be asking their clinicians to make sure that that clinician is the right fit for them? Are there any specific questions that you’re looking for, or any specific questions they should be asking to ensure the right fit?
Tedi Zeng: It actually makes me really happy when my potential patients ask me questions. I think these questions include, first of all, making sure that they’re licensed in the area that you’re seeking help in. They can ask about my background, where I trained, what kind of training I went through, and what kind of medical school I went to. Some patients might want to know how many patients I see and whether I see multiple patients at one time. All my sessions are one-on-one, and some people might value that because they want to have a more private session, so that’s what they can ask about.
I think sometimes people might ask me what kind of books I can recommend to them before they come in. These are the people who are really committed to their health and their recovery journeys, and then I’ll give them something, maybe even just an article or some reading material, for them to know more about acupuncture and more about herbal medicine.
And I see a lot of people who are professionals. They’re at the top of their own field, and they might do some research themselves, so these would be the patients who would like to receive research papers and clinical trials, and I would send that to them too.
Kevin Pho: I actually don’t know myself, so what exactly is the formal training one has to undergo to become an acupuncturist?
Tedi Zeng: In China, all the Chinese medicine practitioners and doctors have to be MDs, so it’s a five-year medical school with two years of residency. In the U.S., you have to have a bachelor’s degree to apply to and enter an acupuncture school, and it’s a master’s degree program. Then, if you want more advanced training, you can go for a doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
Kevin Pho: We’re talking to Tedi Zeng. She is an acupuncturist, and she wrote the KevinMD article “Who is the ideal patient?” Tedi, what would you say are some of your biggest challenges right now in your acupuncture practice?
Tedi Zeng: My biggest challenge right now is that quite a few people come to me at the end of their health, their treatment, their doctor-seeking journey. I come across a lot of people with conditions and diseases that they’ve sought help for for years. They’ve seen multiple physicians and specialists for it, and now they’re looking for something more holistic, with fewer side effects. But these could be things that are quite new for me, so I spend a lot of time doing research when I’m not seeing patients, trying to look for evidence and look for new information for these people. I think that would be the most challenging part of my practice.
But I think that’s also a very exciting process for me, because we do get results a lot of the time, and that’s very encouraging, because I do believe Chinese medicine is really about focusing on the whole person and the balance between different organ systems. And I also think there are a lot of researchers all over the world trying to figure out new ways for diseases that we don’t really have a lot of treatments for in Western medicine.
Kevin Pho: So you mentioned a lot of patients come to you after seeing allopathic physicians for years and years, and you said that you do help a proportion of them. So I guess, how often are you successful in treating these patients who come to you after seeing physicians for so many years?
Tedi Zeng: It really depends on what the case is. I have to be honest. There are times that I just have to be honest and say, “Well, if you want to stay in this process with me, I will do everything to help you find out if there’s anything we can do.” And I’ll be really honest that I don’t really have a lot of knowledge about it. But there are also times when we found something in the research, in the database. I don’t really know the percentage, but definitely more than half of them. And in the extremely difficult cases, I think I’ll be able to help to some degree.
Kevin Pho: And my final question: What’s your take-home message that you want to leave with the KevinMD audience?
Tedi Zeng: My take-home message would be, if you are a patient, believe that there is a doctor in you that’s probably going to be more brilliant than a lot of the doctors you’re going to meet. Your health is in your hands, and don’t ever give that power away.
If you’re a doctor, maybe you want to explore whether there’s a patient inside you who might have been waiting for attention for a long time. This patient inside you might become the best mentor to help you become the brilliant doctor you want to be.
Kevin Pho: Tedi, thank you so much for sharing your time and insight, and thanks again for being on the show.
Tedi Zeng: Thank you.
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