Linda Harris DACM
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About
I grew up in Detroit, not in a great area, but not the worst either. I took a winding path toward my career. I initially didn't want to go to college, but I didn't know what else to do, so I took a few classes at a local college. I signed up for a theater workshop. I tried acting but quickly realized that was not my talent. I enjoyed the experience and wanted to continue, and the director allowed me to use my work-study to help build the sets. I eventually started set and costume design. I worked at a professional theater for a couple of years, but I needed money. I worked 50-60 hours and couldn't pay my bills.
I found a receptionist job with a guy who graduated before me and had teamed up with a friend to start a company that designed sets for theater and large company events.
I decided to move to California; I found a job at a huge electronics store. I was asked to help the Human Resources director with some filing. He ended up hiring me when his assistant quit. I spent a few years in HR doing payroll, initial interviews, and helping people with benefits. A good job but not inspiring for me.
I've always had a passion for holistic health. The store was bought out, so I decided to pursue Chinese medicine. I was mainly interested in herbal medicine, but I started to witness the incredible benefits of acupuncture. I ended up being more interested in acupuncture, but my degrees cover both. I started practicing after I earned my 3.5-year master's, studying both biomedicine and ancient Chinese medicine. I went back to MI and practiced for more years, then moved back to CA and went back to school for a doctorate. I don't actually graduate until the end of the month, but I have passed most of my classes already. I still have to get my final projects in.
My MS and doctorate are focused on integrative medicine. I work with physicians and refer any major concerns. Acupuncture works best in treating chronic conditions that modern medicine often doesn't have all the answers to. I love helping people feel better and enjoy their lives more. I've been involved with research projects and read every new study. There is a large body of research showing it is effective for many conditions, including pain, but also post-stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, migraine, anxiety and depression, and chemotherapy side effects. Hospitals are hiring acupuncturists to treat nausea, pain, and fatigue, and it's greatly improved the lives of patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Linda’s Career Stories
What is the most useful piece of career advice you got as a student, and who gave it to you?
Stay focused on the present. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you are thinking about all, the other papers coming due and all the exams. You can only study one thing at a time; focus on what needs to be done immediately, then the next most pressing. Also don't cram, it rarely works and almost none will end up in your long term memory. Short bursts of studying are much more effective. For my masters degree, I had to remember everything, we took comprehensive exams every year and I had to pass board exams to get my license to treat patients. Many don't realize that we study anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology, ortho-neuro anatomy and testing, chemistry, counseling. We know how to perform proper tests for injury/illness in the muscles and the brain. We then learn the functions of hundreds of herbs and herbal formulas and 300+ acupuncture points and how to chose them. We are taught to recognize when our patient needs to get to the hospital or to their primary care office. We mainly treat orthopedic injuries and chronic and stress based conditions that don't have a cure and the treatment is medication with many adverse effects and in many cases we work together with our patients medical team. The doctorate is more research based, a lot of writing to expand on various subjects. I focus on neurological disorders; when something goes wrong with our brain and the central nervous system like Alzheimers, Parkinson's or stroke. Through fMRI imaging studies we can see acupuncture having an effect on areas of the brain. That was one bit a time also.