About Rachel Pagones

I am a licensed acupuncturist, educator and author with a background in journalism. I have been department chair of the transitional doctorate program of acupuncture and Chinese medicine at Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego, where I taught clinical research design, evidence-informed practice, and preventive medicine and public health. I also supervised a free downtown acupuncture clinic for older adults until the pandemic forced us, to my dismay, to close indefinitely. My greatest clinical interests are older adults and cancer patients, two groups that often overlap. My primary academic interest is how Chinese medicine and acupuncture can benefit underserved populations. My book, Acupuncture as Revolution: Suffering, Liberation, and Love (Brevis Press) was published in 2021. Before studying acupuncture I was a journalist in London. Part of the attraction for me in journalism was getting to interview different people in diverse areas and delving into their stories, if just for a little while. A book allows one to delve more deeply and over a longer time, which is one reason I love both writing and reading books.