Patients

No referral is Necessary to Eastern Medicine, however we are always pleased to receive referrals from any other health professional. We will take good care of them, till they return to you next time.

Referring Doctor

Professionalism and Training;

Stephen has studied over 3000 hours of Chinese Medicine including Acupuncture. He completed four years fulltime training in Australia plus another two years part time as well as Intern training from three Universities in China including the well respected Cheng Du University of T.C.M.
And is a member in good standing with the peak body for Acupuncture in Australia, the A.A.C.M.A. (Australian Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Association. As well Stephen holds professional membership with F.C.M.A. (Federation of Traditional Chinese Medicine) and A.T.M.S. (Australian Traditional Medicine Association)
Along with the studies above please visit Stephen Studies page on this site.

Insurance;

Stephen holds full Professional Indemnity Insurance for all aspects of his clinic.
Concerns over treatments used.
Stephen is traditionally trained, however is very practical and unsuperstitious about treatment styles. He uses only conservative and safe methods, which have proven to be effective under long term medical enquiry, and steers away from the more radical treatments, like Gua Sha (scraping the skin) and the like.

Cleanliness & Hygiene;

Practicing from a Medical Centre and sharing his room with a Cardiologist he is a stickler for cleanliness. All treatments involving skin penetration follow infection control guidelines and only single use sterile Acupuncture needles are used. He also practices what is know as the clean needle insertion technique where he uses a guide tube and never touches the shaft of the needle as you would expect.

Losing the care of your patient;

When Stephen is referred a patient by a Western Doctor he is very supportive of the role of the G.P. On the very first visit all patients are told about the vital role that the patients G.P. plays in their health.
Stephen will then communicate with the referring Doctor about his assessment in Chinese Medicine terms and give feedback to the referring Doctor about how he is treating them and what outcomes they can expect and in what time frame.
All patients are referred regularly during the treatment back to the Doctor to assess the progress.

Communication;

Sometimes some Doctors may feel frustrated by the Chinese Terminology of diagnosis and treatment. Stephen tends to translate everything back to a Western Medicine framework for the Doctor so they are both able to speak the same language.

A personal word from Stephen Phillips

A G.P. has one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. They are expected by the public to not only know everything, but also never be wrong. Amazingly in the short time the Medicare system allows you the Doctor to spend with a patient you continue to deiver a high quality of patient health management.
When I spend an hour at least with each patient it is still hard to assess all that needs to be assessed. When I find something overlooked by a referring Doctor I will contact the Doctor directly and also ensure the patient has a follow visit with their Doctor. It is never my intention to score cheap points, as well patients are rarely able to communicate what has been tested for and what has not, or even what their Doctor has said to them accurately.
Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to treat some GPs,Specialists, Nurses and Dentists as well as most other allied health and enjoy building communication bridges where we can learn from each other and the wonderful body of Medical knowledge we have access to. I Hope to see you or speak to you one day soon. Stephen Phillips

If you would like to listen to a 1 hour presentation on Chinese Medicine delivered to a group of Medical Students.  Click here