About Sunny-Kim
I’m Sunny-Kim Barden, the founder of Tao to Health. Born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Southern California, my journey has been about integrating the best of traditional East Asian knowledge with modern western science. Part of that journey involved witnessing my father recover from hemiplegia after a stroke shortly after we immigrated to the U.S. Conventional medicine alone could do little to help my father’s recovery. However, he was fortunate to have a dedicated and skilled acupuncturist who helped my father gain full mobility within a few years.
As a licensed acupuncturist, I’m trained in traditional East Asian medicine and have both a master’s and post-graduate doctorate degree in Acupuncture and Oriental medicine which included over 500 hours of training in biomedicine and research. I also have a master’s degree in public health which has made me acutely aware of deficiencies in our healthcare system. The U.S. spends the most in healthcare than any developed country but has some of the worst health outcomes such as the lowest life expectancy and the highest infant mortality rates.1-3
I use a personalized or individualized approach by reviewing your medical history and examining other factors that may be contributing to imbalances from an East Asian medicine perspective. Conventional biomedicine tends to use methods based on a standardized one-size-fits-all approach. For instance, if specific lab test ranges are suboptimal, you are more or less prescribed the same medications another patient with the same suboptimal lab ranges would be given. The fact is, stress is a part of life. Stress affects each person differently and can put your body out of balance which leads to illness. Traditional East Asian Medicine seeks to bring your body back to balance or homeostasis. Traditional East Asian Medicine uses diagnostic methods such as tongue, pulse and channel diagnosis to identify your unique pattern of imbalance. Based on your unique pattern, I would provide a tailored approach to assist your body to heal and regain balance (in addition to conventional biomedical approaches).
One of my inspirations is a traditional Korean scholar physician, Yi Je Ma, who is the father of Korean Constitutional Sasang medicine.4 Constitutional medicine is personalized medicine and recognizes that each person’s natural constitution is different, and therefore, the same disease must be treated differently for each individual. Yi Je Ma also believed a superior physician not only treats an individual, but a superior physician treats a nation by effectively treating individuals to thrive. My focus is on personalizing medicine because illness and health are personal and unique for each individual.
It’s my goal to help as many people find and embark on their unique path to healing using the best of traditional East Asian medicine that is personalized, alongside conventional medical approaches.
References:
- Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. (2018). Health spending. Retrieved from https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm.
- America’s Health Rankings. (2016). 2016 annual report. Retrieved from https://www.americashealthrankings.org/learn/reports/2016-annual-report/comparison-with-other-nations.
- Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L.R., Jha, A.K. (2018). Health care spending in the United States and other high-income countries. JAMA;319(10):1024-1039. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.1150.
- Kim, J.K. (2001). Compass of health: Using the art of Sasang medicine to maximize your health. Franklin Lakes, NJ: The Career Press.
- Personalized Medicine Coalition. (n.d.). The Age of Personalized Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org/Userfiles/PMC-Corporate/file/pmc_age_of_pmc_factsheet.pdf.
- National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. (2014). The NCCAOM Certification in Oriental Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.nccaom.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/OM%20Certification%20Brochure.pdf.