Interviews
An Inside Look on the Life of an Acupuncturist
Mon, Oct 23, 2006
An Informational Interview by Wendy Leung ‘08It was the last few days of summer vacation before I was going back to Vassar. My internship had ended, and I thought what better to do than search V-NET, Vassar’s amazing directory of alumni who are willing to give career advice! I searched “healthcare industry" and New York City and came across Ms. Jessica Yunker. When I contacted her, Ms. Yunker was extremely enthusiastic and invited to visit her at her Upper East Side office for a shadowing experience. The following is an excerpt from my informational interviewing with her:
1) How did you decide to become an acupuncturist?
I have always wanted to go into medicine or therapy of some kind. I majored in Psychology at Vassar, and worked in a psychiatric clinic in a Bronx hospital after graduation. While I was there, I started thinking about going to medical school for psychiatry. At the same time that I was trying to decide all this, I started seeing an acupuncturist for back pain, which began after a car accident. By the time I went to acupuncture, I had already been to several doctors and had no relief from the pain. The acupuncture and herbs were extremely helpful. I started reading more about acupuncture and herbs, and I was really interested in the way that traditional Chinese medicine treats the body and mind as one. This seemed like a great way to incorporate my desire to work with patients on both physical and emotional issues.
2) What is acupuncture school like?
There are quite a few acupuncture schools in the United States, and all of them are a little different. The one I went to in New York City is a relatively new program, and it's very rigorous! We learn about all the acupuncture points (there are over 400 points, all over the body!), individual Chinese herbs, herbal formulas, Chinese medicine diagnostics and treatment of specific conditions, patient care and management, and medical Chinese language. In addition to the Chinese medicine classes, I also took classes in Western medicine (anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and so on). My program lasts for about three-and-a-half years, or ten trimesters. It was grueling, but worth it!
3) What does a typical day at work consist of?
I really enjoy my days as an acupuncturist and herbalist. I generally schedule patients for 75-minute blocks, which includes time to interview and treat each patient. This is nice because I always spend at least 20 minutes talking with each person to find out how they are doing since the last visit, and learning about any new issues that may have come up. The human body is so dynamic, and there can be massive change in a very short period of time. After talking with the patient, I insert the needles and let the patient rest on a massage table for about 30 minutes. People get really relaxed during treatment, and about half of them are completely asleep by the time I come back to take out the needles! While they are having the treatment, I select an appropriate herbal formula for the patient.
Sometimes, if the patient is interested, I will create a blend of essential oils for them to take home and use for their problem. I share office space with several colleagues, so I have the chance to collaborate with them on difficult cases, which is really helpful. I do all of my own scheduling and practice management, which means that I have a lot of control over how my day goes. I like being flexible to work whatever hours I choose. I really like this aspect of my profession -- I don't think a standard nine-to-five job would have worked for me! As an acupuncturist, I have the option to draw from many different treatment modalities and choose a combination that works for a specific patient. This flexibility is one of the things that drew me to this profession.
4) Have you met some unexpected challenges?
For me, becoming an acupuncturist meant becoming a business owner as well.
Currently in the US, acupuncturists tend to run private practices instead of being hired by a medical office or hospital, although this is changing.
This meant that in addition to learning and applying all the information about Chinese medicine and health issues, I also had to find office space, pay rent to work there, create all my own legal forms, and get insurance for both my practice and my own personal health care. In addition, I created a business logo and a website, and I do all of my own promotion to help patients find me. When you work for yourself, you don't always have someone feeding you patients and jobs. These aspect of my acupuncture practice are not necessarily easy (although they are quite interesting!), but I think it was worth it for me. My father owned his own dental practice for over 30 years, and for my whole life, he has been saying to me, "Be your own boss".
I don't think it ever really occurred to me that I might work for someone else when I got older -- being a business owner just seemed like the natural thing for me to do. Again, this is not to say that it has been easy, but I do not regret it at all.
5) Did your Vassar experience help, in any way, prepare you for what you do? If so, how?
I think that many people who are drawn to Vassar are people who thrive on independence. Similarly, a career in Chinese medicine is not about having someone hold your hand every step of the way. You learn very early on that if you want to be successful as an acupuncturist, you have to be a good decision-maker and have confidence in your choices. You also need to be able to follow through on things. For me, Vassar was a good mix of flexibility and self-discipline: there are so few requirements that have to be met, which means that students have a great deal of flexibility and autonomy in choosing what classes to take and how to achieve the things you want to do while you're there, but this also requires a tremendous amount of self-discipline and motivation in order to get things done in a way that is both timely and reasonable! I think that people who choose to attend Vassar have the ability and the desire to take control of their own lives and see that things turn out the way they want. I had a great experience at Vassar, and I think that it prepared me to do things I was already destined to do anyway -- it just made me even more confident that I could do these things, and do them well!
Name: Jessica Yunker
Major: Psychology
Year of Graduation: 1999
Website: http://www.yunkeracupuncture.com/page8.html
