Yeong Ran C. Kim

Ever since I was a university student, I volunteered as a first aid attendant at various camps for secondary school students, which I sometimes found to be even more interesting than my Major, Mathematics. After graduation, I wanted to continue studying, and when the opportunity presented itself, I quit my job as a secondary school math teacher and enrolled in a four-year Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) program at Pacific Coast University (PCU) of Holistic Medicine. It was a very complicated program, as the lectures were in Korean and English, and the textbooks mostly in Chinese. This complication, however, enabled me to look for and read numerous texts written by eminent doctors from all over the world before and after my graduation, allowing me to learn hundreds of useful support for diseases in a short period of time. I improved my acupunctural skills significantly during my medical missionary trip to Ecuador right after graduating from the acupuncture program, where my team treated hundreds of patients, some with chronic diseases and others with diseases that are rarely found in Canada. This trip was both an enriching and an eye-opening experience. After returning to Canada, I enrolled in the Doctor of TCM program to acquire a more in-depth knowledge of TCM, where I learned from Dr. Cheng Zhao Zhi (who has over 40 years of practical experiences in the field) various cautionary details of using herbs, and the ways to come up with the right and effective herb combinations via studying ancient texts. Afterwards, I worked under Dr. Hun Park (who has more than 37 years of medical experience) learning special acupuncture techniques that originated from Korea, and clinical skills for curing diseases. So far, I have had various experiences, including treating herniated disc, digestive troubles, infertility and diverse women's conditions. I am now studying and looking for ways to support the aftereffects of several chronic diseases as well as some diseases that cannot be cured by the Western medicine.