Grace working in the Acupuncture Clinic of NRH
“I have a skill training with Dr Jack and Dr Gary. I want to say thank you to them. Thank you very much for the skills and knowledge that learned in these past six weeks and now I have confidence in myself that I will do cupping when I go back to Temotu Province. With that, I want to say thank you to the Chinese medical team for bringing this clinic.” Grace Teka exclaimed excitedly after completing her acupuncture clinic training.
Grace Teka is a rehabilitation therapist at Lata Hospital in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. A year ago, due to routine training arrangements, she worked for the first time at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) and was exposed to acupuncture therapy. At that time, she was full of curiosity about the mysterious Chinese therapy but did not delve deeply into it. It wasn’t until her back pain symptoms prevented her from working and studying normally that her department head Ms Elsie recommended her to try acupuncture treatment. With a mindset of giving it a try, she sought help from Dr Gary Xu, an acupuncturist of the China medical team in Solomon Islands. Dr Gary not only enthusiastically provided acupuncture treatment for her but also explained the principles of the treatment and other benefits of acupuncture. After a 5-day course of treatment, Grace’s back pain symptoms completely disappeared, which made her firmly believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine therapy and sparked the idea of learning acupuncture techniques to benefit the people of her hometown.
On July 4, 2023, with the opening of the new acupuncture clinic in NRH, Grace Teka increasingly believed that acupuncture treatment has a bright future in the Solomon Islands. She began actively applying to follow two acupuncturists Dr Jack(He has returned to China and was replaced by Dr Daniel in March 2024) and Dr Gary to learn acupuncture techniques, and finally obtained the chance to have an acupuncture training with them in NRH at the end of 2023.
Grace Teka cherished this opportunity very much. Not only did she follow the two Chinese doctors closely to learn clinical knowledge during working hours, but also practiced on her own even after work or on weekends. After nearly three months of training, Grace Teka are now proficient in cupping therapy, moxibustion therapy, and can even give acupuncture treatment to patients under the guidance and assistance of Chinese doctors.
Now, her training course has come to an end, and she is about to return to her hometown, Lata Hospital in Temotu Province. In the past six weeks of training, she has developed strong ties with the acupuncture clinic and the Chinese medical team and tried to get one more chance to build her capacity to perform acupuncture independently in the future.
She expressed that after back to her hospital, she will continue to apply to train at NRH and master acupuncture techniques thoroughly and independently carry out acupuncture treatment at her hometown hospital in the future to benefit more patients.
China Medical Team NRH PRESS
