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 Health
Professional
Stephen enjoys working with other health
professionals and enjoys the way Acupuncture often compliments other approaches
to the healing process.
Often Acupuncture can be the missing piece
of the puzzle that allows the healing to start or even complete. By releasing
muscle spasms and working with the patients emotional state Eastern Medicine
may help you retain a difficult patient with who you are just not getting
results.
Some concerns you may have about referring a
patient for Acupuncture, Massage or Tai Ji & Meditation Lessons.
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 touch with your patient;
When Stephen is referred a patient by another health professional he will
always honour your courage to do what is best for the patient.
If you request it, Stephen is pleased to refer patients regularly during the
treatment process, back to the Health Professional to assess their progress.
Communication;
Sometimes some Health Professionals may feel frustrated by the Chinese
Terminology of diagnosis and treatment. Stephen tends to translate everything
back to
plain English so you are both
able to speak the same language.
A personal word from Stephen Phillips
It pleases me to regularly receive referrals form Doctors, Physios,
Phycologists, Physiotherapists, Dentists, Yoga Teachers, Meditation Teachers,
Naturopaths and the like. I also regularly refer people on when I feel that
they could benefit from some additional support or when it is outside the scope
of my ability or practice experience.
When I find something overlooked by a referring Health Professional I will
contact the Health Professional directly and also ensure the patient has a
follow visit with their Health Professional. 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 Health Professional has said to
them accurately.
It is a great joy to me to build relationships and communication bridges with other health professionals where we can learn from each other and the
wonderful body of knowledge we have access to. You have my thanks in advance
for any referrals you may send to me. I trust we can build a supportive referral
relationship.
