Book Reviews: Fundamentals of Clinical Acupuncture
Stacie Deyglio, ND
Fundamentals of Clinical Acupuncture is primarily designed as a textbook for acupuncture students and secondarily designed as a handbook for acupuncture practitioners. It is thus far the only practical handbook that has been specifically designed by naturopathic doctors for use with integrative, naturopathic, and/or CAM practices. The book features 380 full-color anatomical acupuncture images including point locations. “Primary points have been placed in the foreground on full color, high resolution photographs of the body in order to give a lifelike view. Neighboring points on other channels are shadowed in the background” (pg. 6). In addition, skeletal anatomy is included in the images to augment the location of points found near bony structures and landmarks.
Rather than the traditional method of organizing chapters via the energetic movement of channels, the authors have organized the chapters of the book as either hand or foot channels. This strategy is meant to facilitate quick comparisons between points that are in close proximity to one another. The contents of the text include Lung Channel of Hand Taiyin, Large Intestine Channel of Hand Yangming, Heart Channel of Hand Shaoyin, Small Intestine Channel of Hand Taiyang, Pericardium Channel of Hand Jueyin, Triple Warmer Channel of Hand Shaoyang, Spleen Channel of Leg Taiyin, Stomach Channel of Leg Yangming, Kidney Channel of Leg Shaoyin, Urinary Bladder Channel of Leg Taiyang, Liver Channel of Leg Jueyin, Gall Bladder Channel of Leg Shaoyang, Conception Vessel Channel, Governing Vessel Channel, Extra Points of the Head, Neck, and Arms, and lastly Extra Points of the Back, Abdomen, and Legs.
An attractive aspect of the book is that it possesses multiple functions. Not only is it a useful compendium to the acupuncture classroom or clinical acupuncture treatment room, but it also includes the useful purpose of serving students who are preparing for national board exams. The unique aspect of possessing quick reference charts of the points and a cun measurement guide allows students to best prepare for board exam questions that test knowledge of point location. The website also includes case-based problems and review questions. With this added benefit, the authors have truly supported the learning process of student and graduate alike so that they have the best resources possible to support the body’s inherent ability to establish, maintain, and restore health, otherwise more vitally respected as the Vis Medicatrix Naturae. Nature heals through the response of the life force, the vital energy or the chi, as it is best known in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The physician’s role is to facilitate this inherent ability so as to establish and restore both a healthy internal and external.
Stacie Deyglio, ND received her baccalaureate degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from the College of Mt. St. Vincent in New York. Her personal health issues paved the way to discovering naturopathic medicine in 1999. Resonating with the philosophy and principles of naturopathic medicine, Dr. Deyglio graduated from the University of Bridgeport, College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2003. As a medical student, she was involved in student government, fundraising and the generation of two successful student-run health fairs. Dr. Deyglio’s interests include relating integrative therapeutics to the health of pediatric and geriatric populations. Currently residing in Phoenix, Dr. Deyglio is an avid bookworm, and is actively creating her practice.
