07909 914 754(uk)
PERSONAL-PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Personal Perspective
Christine Kim’s perspective on health care is founded on her family background of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners as well as Western medical doctors. She has a balanced perspective on how optimal health care can be achieved by employing the best tools and medicines from both ancient Oriental and modern Western medical systems.
Family Background
Born in South Korea, her family immigrated to Canada where her father, Sang-Dahl Kim became Acupuncturist to the Pain Research Team in the Department of Anasethesia at McMaster University Medical Centre. Poignantly, McMaster University’s medical school is where the term ‘evidence based medicine’ was first coined and now taught and practiced globally.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Bachelor of Physical Education (BPE), Canada
She, herself attended the four year Bachelor of Physical Education (BSc Hons Kinesiology) programme at McMaster University, where she was challenged by the curriculum which included Anatomy, Physiology, Physiology of Exercise, Motor Development, Kinesiology/ Biomechanics, Adapted Physical Education, Psychology of Sport, and Health Science. As a student, she worked with children with learning difficulties, which she found very gratifying. Upon graduating, she volunteered with Medical Group Missions for a brief ‘mission’ in the Dominican Republic, and then travelled through parts of Europe and Africa for 16 months.
BSc Hons Social Work (SW), England
Re-settling in England she was employed in the NHS and Social Services. She was then seconded from her post as assistant manager of a respite unit for children with learning difficulties, and attained a BSc Hons in Social Work.
With her cultural diversity, education, work, and travels, Christine is aware that as a British-Canadian national, she is privileged to belong to nations which endeavour to care for its population through the provision of state health care, with options of seeking alternatives.
BSc Hons Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), England, China
London, England
Having spent the most influential years of her life living and studying in Canada, despite her father being a TCM practitioner, she did not consider the true benefits of TCM until following some life changing events. She was fortunate to have the choice of studying in the USA, Canada or the UK, but made the decision with her father’s support to undertake the most comprehensive programme offered. The five year full-time BSc Hons at Middlesex University, London, which was validated by the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, as it was the first collaborative programme in TCM outside China. It included training in Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Cupping therapy, Chinese herbal medicine and Nutritional therapy. Importantly, it was founded on Western medical diagnostic and clinical skills taught by Western medical lecturers. Clinical TCM training took place at the Asante Academy of Chinese Medicine in Archway, London; and at Whittington Hospital, NHS Pain Clinic.
Beijing, China
Furthermore, rotations were completed in: Gynaecology, Dermatology, Neurology, Cardiology, Respiratory, and Paediatric wards in highly regarded hospitals in Beijing, including the Sino-Japan Friendship Hospital and Xi Yuan Hospital, a Collaborating Centre of Traditional Medicine with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Hence a BM (Bachelor of Medicine) was also awarded by the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Supervised and trained by some of the most exceptional practitioners in China, England and her own father in Canada, she has a privileged training history. This has qualified her to practise Acupuncture with its supplementary treatments, as well as prescribe Chinese herbal medicines (patent pills, powder extracts, and dried herbs).
IN PRACTICE
TCM Clinical Work
Following graduation from her TCM training, she became acupuncturist to the Pain Department at West Suffolk Hospital (WSH), a Cambridge University teaching hospital. She also worked in a private clinic in Norwich, where patients included premiership footballers and their partners. Continuing her work at WSH, with the encouragement and support from the Consultant Head of the Department she entered into private practice in Cambridge and Suffolk.
FURTHER AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Fertility, Pregnancy, Skin-Dermatology
Christine continues to improve her professional knowledge and skills to pursue areas of special interest, not only through her family contacts, but also through formal training. She has been fortunate to have studied women’s health and fertility at the Royal College of Physicians with Jane Lyttleton, the eminent western TCM practitioner who is well known for her contribution to Chinese medicine, particularly in the area of infertility. Christine also attended the Acupuncture in Pregnancy and Childbirth seminar by the internationally acclaimed Debra Betts, hosted by the Journal of Chinese Medicine. Furthermore, she also undertook a comprehensive dermatology workshop attended by TCM practitioners as well as many pharmacists and western medical doctors, taught by the internationally respected Mazin Al-Khafaji. This is an intense course covering the treatment of the most common clinical dermatological conditions.
Pain
As Acupuncturist to the Pain Department at West Suffolk Hospital, she continues to learn from the Pain Consultants, including the Head of Department, Dr. Rajesh Munglani. She has the priviledge of regularly sitting in on his clinics where he assesses, diagnoses, and reviews patients who come from near and far to see a leading Consultant in Pain Management. She continues to attend the Anglian Pain Society meetings to gain current perspectives in Pain from Consultants in Pain Management and Clinical Nurse Specialists.
Further to these, there have been a host of other professional conferences and seminars attended in various areas of Western medicine and TCM throughout the UK and abroad.
AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
Professional Affiliations
- Acupuncturist to the Pain Department, West Suffolk Hospital, NHS Trust (a Cambridge University teaching hospital)
- Guest Speaker, Homerton College
Professional Memberships
- Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ATCM)
- Anglian Pain Society
- Acupuncture Fertility Network (AFN)
- Dermatology Group: Mazin Al-Khafaji
- Acupuncture in Pregnancy & Childbirth Group: Debra Betts