My education and training in sports, orthopedic and neuro-musculoskeletal injuries and pain began with recovery from bike and soccer injuries I suffered in my ‘twenties. I had always taken good health for granted, and learned a lot about chronic pain and disability through my journey to recovery. I discovered taiji worked better for me than conventional physical therapy, which sparked my personal and then professional interests in acupuncture orthopedics and other oriental medicine physical modalities.

I was Licensed as an Acupuncturist in 2003, and was the first graduate of the Five Branches University’s’ Integrative Sports Medicine program. I have since served as a Clinical Instructor and Associate Professor at the Five Branches since 2005, and as an Instructor in the Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Program of the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences beginning in 2017.

I have sought to integrate contemporary orthopedics and physical rehabilitation with classical Chinese Medicine, and worked as a sports massage therapist, physical therapy aide, and athletic training assistant in addition to working as licensed acupuncturist in multi-disciplinary clinics. I love trying out a variety of modalities on my own injuries first which has helped me with choosing when and how to use them with patients. In addition to clinical practice, time spent in cadaver and anatomy labs has also been invaluable in teaching me respect for and appreciation for the uniqueness of everyone’s body and for the miracle of how our bodies move and change through time.