NEPAL VILLAGERS are shown here in a field clinic with volunteer practitioners and interpreters from The Acupuncture Relief Project. Photo courtesy of The Acupuncture Relief Project
JOHN TIMM, Battle Ground resident and soon-to-be graduate of Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, leaves Sept. 13 to volunteer in a Nepal field clinic much like this one. Photo courtesy of The Acupuncture Relief Project
Battle Ground resident John Timm is gearing up to join a team of natural health practitioners headed to one of the most mountainous regions in the world.
From Sept. 15-Nov. 13 Timm will hone skills in Bhimphedi, Nepal, that he has learned over the last four years as a student at Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) in Portland.
After 27 years as a retail and hospital pharmacist, the 59-year-old Timm decided to revisit a career path he’d had an interest in before he met his wife Susan at the University of Wyoming. He shared that the pharmacy field has changed over the years and he had a strong desire to better affect the healing of his patients.
“Acupuncture has a different way of looking at medicine. (It) looks at the body as a holistic aspect. In Chinese medicine (they) treat the branches but also the root of the problem to heal the body as a whole ‘cause everything’s connected,” Timm said.
He explained that Chinese medicine is an alternative to Western medicine and there’s a larger emphasis on herbal remedies as opposed to synthetic medicine, however, he’s seen a greater integration between the two modalities in recent years. In fact at OCOM, which is one of the most respected Oriental colleges in the nation, students including Timm are trained in Western medicine prior to the Chinese focus. Attendees have one year of human anatomy, one and a half years of physiology, one year of Western clinical diagnosis, orthopedic assessments, a 12-week introduction to mental and emotional conditions and an eight-week rotation in community health services such as recovery addiction.
The medical mission trip to Nepal with the Acupuncture Relief Project comes on the heels of Timm’s graduation from OCOM in August. After sitting for the many boards required, including Western medicine, acupuncture, herbal medicine and foundational Chinese medicine, he will hold a Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAcOM).
Each Acupuncture Relief Project participant must raise $4,625 for travel and living expenses prior to Sept. 12. Timm’s team of six will include a chiropractor, massage therapist and four acupuncturists.
Bhimphedi, Nepal, is located 65 miles outside of Kathmandu on poorly-maintained roads that make travel treacherous. In the field clinic the practitioners will see everything from patients living with HIV and AIDs to villagers with untreated symptoms from strokes, people with ulcers, wounds and diabetes.
“We’re pretty much the first line of medical care there,” Timm said. “Some of them have never seen a Westerner before and they’ll walk two or three hours to get to a clinic.”
With an average load of 20 patients a day in an eight-hour period, Timm is looking forward to fine-tuning his intake and diagnostic skills and treatment protocol but he’s also aware that Nepal is a third-world country that has experienced a great deal of political and military hardship over the years.
The teams will work with interpreters trained in Chinese and Western medicines who are, themselves, studying to be clinicians in Nepal. As such, one of the requirements of each practitioner is to teach on a subject to the clinicians in training. Timm will be instructing on the respiratory system and engaging in community service activities while not in clinic.
“We’re there to serve the people and give them good health care and that’s the beauty of it,’’ Timm said. “We’re able to give them medicine that is 3,000 years old plus the Western medicine and it’s free of charge.”
Upon his return home, Timm plans to open an acupuncture clinic in the Battle Ground area. He’d like to bring some medicinal options to North County including working with children affected by ADHD, veterans dealing with PTSD, instruct on the healing benefits of the Chinese martial art form Tai Chi and possibly work in a limited way with hospice patients to address the emotional and spiritual side of the process.
To learn more about the Acupuncture Relief Project or donate to Timm’s trip, go to www.acupuncturereliefproject.com. Readers can also follow Timm’s adventure on the site’s blog.
