Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Audette.
Hi Sam, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hi, my name is Sam Audette and I am a second generation acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner here in Los Angeles. I have my private practice in Culver City at Felice Acupuncture Clinic and am an Assistant Dean at Yo San University, an acupuncture school in West LA founded by the Ni family 39th generation acupuncturists from China.
My two passions are education and the practice of Chinese Medicine. For me this journey into a somewhat off the beaten path career began with my father, Joseph Audette, MD an acupuncturist and pain medicine specialist in Boston, MA where I grew up. My father was always looking for alternatives and things that would fill in some of the holes in the allopathic model, realizing that it looked at a person in discreet pieces and struggled to form a holistic dynamic picture of the body and person. His journey into Chinese Medicine, and mine began, like many in the West, through Martial arts and Tai Chi when he found his teachers Master Kay Chi Leung and Master Harn Lin, a husband and wife duo who became like parents to my father and grandparents to me. Master Leung was a martial artist and acupuncturist who had immigrated from Taiwan to Boston and developed a dedicated following in the US.
Growing up around Master Leung I was always struck by the grace of his movement and stillness–the subtlety with which the body could express itself and how small changes could seem to be dramatic in their ability to realign the body’s energy.
I fell in love with Chinese Medicine myself as a young adult, helping my father with his course AcuMed: Integrated Structural Acupuncture, an acupuncture training program for physicians in Boston, which focuses on teaching palpation based Japanese acupuncture. What struck me when I began to get to know the teachers of the course, physicians from all over the world, was how much grace and wisdom they seemed to have embodied through their understanding and blending of eastern and western medicine. I could see how our students would shift during the course becoming open to a whole different world view and how learning a more holistic medicine changed who they were as people as well, making them more open, creative and humble.
The other pivotal person for me in this journey was my father’s and my main acupuncture teacher, Sensei Kiiko Matsumoto, who is a master Japanese acupuncturist in Boston who teaches all over the world. Kiiko sensei teaches a palpation based style of acupuncture in which you learn how to receive immediate direct feedback from the body as to whether and how the acupuncture is working for this person. She is able to blend ancient Chinese theory with insights from modern biomedicine in a way that is authentic to both traditions. She inspired in me the realization that Chinese Medicine is a lifelong learning endeavor and that there are so many layers, perspectives and depth to this 3,000 year old medicine that it will keep you curious for your whole life. I learned from her how Chinese medicine is both a creative and logical scientific discipline, truly a science and an art. The body has many languages that it speaks and there are many ways for us to listen.
I now practice in LA and specialize in pain management, gut health and hormonal regulation alongside the amazing Dr Felice Chan and Dr Sarah Viducic and work in the academic department at an acupuncture school that is at the forefront of blending eastern and western medicine while also going deeply into the authentic Taoist roots of Chinese medicine. Everyday I am grateful for the responsibility and honor to bring this medicine into the present and the future and give thanks to my teachers who continue to inspire me to learn more and do the best I can for my patients.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I was first deciding to go into medicine and acupuncture, I struggled with the decision whether to go the western conventional route and become a MD or whether to go to school more focused on Chinese Medicine and become a Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Practitioner. I chose the latter which is a more entrepreneurial and less established path here in the west because I wanted to go as deeply as I could into Chinese medicine, including learning herbal medicine. Chinese medicine school is a long 4 year process, including 5 licensing board exams to become both nationally and California certified. I am now back in school to complete my doctorate of Chinese Medicine as well with a focus on integrative herbal medicine at Yo San University. What keeps me motivated through this long journey is every time I see how profoundly this medicine is able to help my patients, not only live more pain free but also to become the best versions of themselves, more connected and more grounded.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In my practice of Chinese Medicine, I practice a palpation based Japanese style of acupuncture that integrates biomedical and eastern views of the body. This involves careful palpation of the abdomen, chest, neck and limbs to understand what are the key blockages for a patient. I integrate this with Chinese acupuncture approaches learned from various teachers here in LA and in Taiwan as well Chinese herbal medicine and integrative nutrition and supplementation. I help patients to see themselves as a whole, interconnected system not a collection of parts.
What matters most to you?
What is most important to me is helping this medicine grow and help more lives, to be the best doctor I can be and to help the next generation of acupuncturists be the best they can be. We are still in a place where roughly only 2% of Americans have tried acupuncture. I believe it is collaboration rather than competition that will help bring this medicine forward into an important seat at the table of healthcare in the US.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://samuelaudetteacupuncture.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/samaudette.acupuncture/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@samaudetteacupuncture
- Other: https://www.feliceacupuncture.com/
Image Credits
Tyler Aryai
