‘All my classmates were watching me’
Jo Johnson still remembers how nervous she felt when she treated her first patient in 2012, as a second-year acupuncture student at the University of East London in the United Kingdom.
“I was so nervous. All my classmates were watching me. I reminded myself to calmly ask the patient about his symptoms, and put the acupuncture needle into the right places in his body,” Johnson said.
Six years on, she is a skilled practitioner of this ancient Chinese treatment, and owns an independent practice where she treats about 20 patients a week.
“Becoming an acupuncturist has transformed my life,” said Johnson, 45, who previously worked in an office administrative job. She decided to study acupuncture in 2011. “Previously, I thought that only students from a medical background could become acupuncturists,” she said.
At the time, Johnson was feeling rather stressed about her life and wanted to do something new. She had heard of acupuncture but never tried it.
She visited an acupuncture clinic in Kent, southeast England, just to have a look. To her surprise, she was offered a treatment.
“The acupuncturist put needles in my head, between my eyebrows and in my legs. After half an hour, when I stood up again I felt so relaxed and happy,” Johnson said.
She then decided to enroll in an undergraduate degree program at the University of East London. In her class of 30 students, she met those from a diverse range of professions, including a bus driver, a yoga teacher, beauty therapists, athletes and also young students who had just completed their A-level exams.
The degree took four years to complete. It was a combination of theory and hands-on experience at the public clinic her university operated for the benefit of local patients. In Johnson’s second year, she interned at a clinic in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.
Over the years, the work has allowed her to make new friends globally. For example, in 2015, she read an academic article published in a medical journal by two Israeli practitioners.
To her surprise, they invited her to visit their clinic in the Israeli city of Haifa.