As you may have noticed we've had a quite a few changes here at Pediatric Associates of Durango recently. We are very excited that Kodie Martinez decided to join our team. She is the new warm, bubbly person you get on the phone when you call our office. Fortunately, Taylor O'Hara is still with us though she has moved to doing the billing from home as her Masters in Counseling workload has started to increase. We are so happy that we still get to hear her sing song voice and laughter. Amanda Harrison continues to hold down the fort in the nursing department; we all benefit from her hard work getting pre-authorizations, scheduling labs and tests, keeping the 'behind the scenes' workings of the office under control, all while checking everyone in and ensuring that we are on top of our holiday decorations!

Thanks Amanda for all you do! I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful team of women to work with here at Pediatric Associates of Durango.

There will soon be more additions to our team! We will soon be hiring another part time nurse. A new physician's assistant will likely be covering a few hours on Thursdays (mostly under my direct supervision) and I am expecting another pediatrician to be joining my practice in the summer. She is wonderful and I think that everyone will love her. You will hear much more about her as her arrival approaches.

Acupuncture

I am extremely excited to add acupuncture to my bag of therapeutic tools! Many of you know that I have completed a course in Medical Acupuncture for Physicians through UCLA and the Helms Medical Institute. This is a course my father, an internist, took approximately 13 years ago. I have been very impressed with his acupuncture skills as well as treatment outcomes and consider him one of the best acupuncturists I've ever had. He has been experiencing sometimes daily "miracles", often times having a hard time believing what he, himself, is seeing. He has started to publish his findings and also currently serves on the national board of the Academy of Medical Acupuncturists.

I wanted to be able to provide these services to my patients--- and basically have as much fun as my father is having relieving suffering where western medicine falls short.

I most recently completed a workshop in Shonishin, a Japanese form of "acupuncture" (though there is no puncturing of the skin) that is specifically designed for the treatment of infants and young children. Shonishin involves the use of light touch diagnosis and non-insertive therapy. (It requires very cute instruments that are rubbed over the meridians or used to stimulate specific acupuncture points.) It can be used in older children and adults if they would prefer to not use inserted needles.

For the last 6 months, I have been "practicing" my acupuncture on friends, colleagues and patients old enough and willing to experience acupuncture. Fortunately, many folks responded beautifully and a few even resolved issues that had gone on for decades. I attribute these successes to my training as well as my ability to consult my father and access his 13 years of experience.

In the last month, I have been practicing Shonishin on some of your children (thanks for giving me permission) and have been seeing some unusually impressive results. I have to admit that I am still getting used to this healing art; it doesn't seem to me that I'm doing a whole lot but so many of the kids have had very interesting results even in the examining room.

For more information on acupuncture, visit our Acupuncture/Acupressure page.