As early as my student clinic days at the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin, I decided that I wanted to specialize in the treatment of gynecological disease. I was passionate about my interest in Chinese medicinal herbs and had an opportunity to work at our school’s herbal pharmacy for 2.5 years while a student. In China, Chinese Medical Gynecology is almost exclusively herbal based. I prescribed raw herbal formulas to most of my patients and asked friends who worked in the student clinic to send me patients who were interested in taking raw herbs. This request brought me many female patients who were trying to conceive, overcome painful periods or PMS, and deal with perimenopause. I was very impressed with how effective Chinese herbs and Acupuncture were to treat these conditions.

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After Graduation, I decided I did not fully have the all tools necessary to help my GYN patients, so my family and I decided to move to China where I continued my studies by following senior Chinese medical doctors in the hospital in Hangzhou. About 80% of that first year was spent in the gynecology department, and the remaining time in Internal Medicine. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to study with Doctors Fu Ping, Wang  Mingde, He Jialing, and Wu Boping.  During my 2 years I continued to study Chineseand improve my ability to read medical Chinese.

There is a growing trend among acupuncturists to specialize, just as our western medical colleagues do. In Chinese medical hospitals in China, everyone specializes in one department:

We are all very very good at treating pain, and with my experience treating patients at the Anxiety & Stress Management Institute I am excellent at treating various psychological conditions. However, as time goes on, I am accepting very few new patients who are not looking to work on infertility. I am extremely grateful to my current and previous patients as well as local physicians who continue to support my move towards specialization by referring patients to me

Mark Schwartz, FABORM, L.Ac.