Michelle Medina, 33, is a vibrant example of the huge popularity of natural, holistic healthcare in the Bay Area. Born in Los Angeles and now living in San Francisco, Medina is a student and senior intern practitioner at the Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College (AIMC) in Berkeley.

“I was raised in a very Latino neighborhood,” says Medina, who adds that her grandmother was an important influence when she was young.

“My grandmother was always using natural food and natural remedies for health issues.”

That introduction to natural health helped lead Medina to choosing a career in healthcare.

“I found out that acupuncture was one of the things that I wanted to do,” she says.

She will be graduating from AIMC in December of this year and should have a healthy career – under Obamacare, acupuncture is now a California Essential Health Benefit (EHB). All insurers in the state need to include acupuncture services as a benefit in new policies. The average benefit allows for about twenty treatments per year with $30 co-pays.

To help raise public awareness about acupuncture as a new essential health benefit in California, AIMC
held public Open House & Wellness Fair on Saturday, April 5. The free event was open to the public as well as to prospective students of the college’s Master of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM) program.

The event offered shiatsu and tui na massages, tongue and pulse diagnoses, Chinese- and Japanese-style acupuncture, and other treatments.

“Acupuncture can treat in a holistic way, so you can treat a lot of different conditions,” says Medina. “Before any treatment or recommendation we ask about symptoms, diet, digestion, sleeping patterns, exercise, stress, and lifestyle. The treatment is personalized because everybody has a different lifestyle. The approach is about caring about the whole person. We go to the root of the problem – we do not treat just the symptoms.”

AIMC says that demand for acupuncture services is growing and that clinics throughout the state are hiring new practitioners to fill the demand. With a population of about 38 million people and only 7,000 acupuncturists in the state, California clearly needs more acupuncturists.