Press Release - October 20, 2021
For Immediate Release:
October 20, 2021
Contact: Editor in Chief Dr. Kathleen Lumiere, Bastyr University, Seattle (415) 758-3203 / editor@convergentpoints.com
New scientific journal Convergent Points brings rigor to the study of Eastern Asian medicine case reports
SEATTLE – Convergent Points: An East-West Case Report Journal, an open access, peer reviewed publication dedicated to acupuncture and Eastern Asian medicine (AEAM), launched this week with an editorial board that includes some of the most knowledgeable and respected experts in case reports and acupuncture research in the United States.
The journal’s aims are:
- To inspire practitioners to collect data that accurately reflect the scope of AEAM, as well as reflect social and environmental factors affecting patients' health.
- To provide a platform for leaders and emerging scholars in the field of AEAM to share knowledge and experience.
- To create a library and database for high-quality, scientifically rigorous AEAM case reports. The database can help generate more complex analyses in the future.
Bastyr University doctoral candidates are already learning about research and publishing through preceptorships with Convergent Points, as well as making valuable contributions to the profession by helping build the new journal and writing case reports of their own.
“Case reports are an essential component of traditional medical literature,” said Convergent Points Editorial Board Member Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson of the University of Utah. “Ideally, the case report will present insights into the clinical reasoning undertaken for the case, which can be instructive to readers.” They are also often satisfying and enjoyable to read.
The scientific weakness of case reports hinges on their having one subject. Also, case reporting is an observational form, as opposed to an experiment with controls. Other pitfalls are publication bias (toward cases with successful outcomes) and possible over-focus on the unusual (distracting from something more helpful or true). Convergent Points plans to correct for these deficiencies by compiling a database of rigorous case reports that then may be analyzed to yield statistical significance by using the tools of complexity science. If a case is submitted that meets the journal’s standards, it will be accepted (with the author’s permission) to a preprint database, whether or not it is published. The importance of a practitioner’s work and effort and the unique progress of their patient can thus be captured and their lessons shared.
“A good case report on acupuncture communicates evidence from the care of an individual patient that can be understood by non-acupuncture providers,” said Convergent Points Editorial Board Member Dr. David Riley, the principal founder of the internationally recognized CARE (CAse REport) guidelines. “Authors strive for evidence to be received by the reader.”
Convergent Points is committed to articulating diagnostic systems and explaining their meanings to a wider audience, as well as describing a rich diversity of treatment approaches. Through educating each other and allied professionals, we will also help to preserve and share the living treasures of our medicine.
Convergent Points will publish semiannually, with a first issue out in February 2022. Practitioners with acupuncture licensure or certification are invited to subscribe to the journal and to submit their case reports at www.convergentpoints.com.
Convergent Points’ seven-member editorial board includes:
- David Riley, MD, Portland, OR, senior editor at The Permanente Journal (TPJ)
- Lisa Conboy, MA, MS, ScD, Boston, MA, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and New England School of Acupuncture (NESA)
- Rosa Schnyer, DAOM, LAc, Austin, TX, University of Texas
- Jacquelyn Burrell, ND, San Diego, CA, completing her DAOM at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine
- Lisa Taylor-Swanson, PhD, MAcOM, LAc, Salt Lake City, University of Utah
- Lisa Price, ND, Seattle and Tacoma, WA, Bastyr University
- Kathleen Lumiere, DAOM, LAc, Seattle, WA, Bastyr University
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