Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Steffi Koerner.
Dr. Koerner, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Prior to practicing Chinese Medicine, I was working as a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry and in academia, for about 15 years. My latest roles were Lead Investigator at Arqule, Inc. and then subsequently Group Leader at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Instructor at Harvard Medical School. My cumulative research efforts contributed to clinical drug candidates- predominantly for oncology treatments, patents, and publications.
My path to Chinese Medicine was very much through serendipity. In fact, I like to say Chinese Medicine found me. I had a very intense migraine since being a teenager. On average, they occurred three to four times per week, excruciating headaches accompanied by severe digestive issues, sometimes even temporary partial blindness for a short time.
After seeing multiple specialists and taking strong pain medication on daily basis, I gave up hope for relief. I was told by all physicians I saw this would be part of my life forever and likely I would have to depend on prescription pain medication for the rest of my life… I learned to live with this condition. After completing my Ph.D. in Basel, Switzerland, I moved to California to conduct post-doctoral research.
In spite of my condition, I also started studying Kung Fu at Authentic White Tiger Kung Fu, San Diego. There I had my first exposure to Chinese Medicine. I did not at all believe in any of it and, at first, completely rejected the idea. But a close friend persistently convinced me to try the Chinese Herbs, which were suggested to her by my Kung Fu Master (Sifu Joel, who also became a very dear friend along the way).
To my utter surprise, I experienced significant improvement after just one month of taking the herbs. I became very intrigued and continued. The results were unquestionable. I became very intrigued. On several other health-related encounters, I also received relief/cure with acupuncture/Chinese Herbal Medicine. Being a scientist and having experienced the amazing potential of Chinese Medicine, I now truly became obsessed with it.
I decided to study it in depth at the New England School of Acupuncture, the oldest (and one of the top three rated) school of Chinese Medicine in the United States (now part of MCPHS), while still continuing to conduct pharmaceutical research.
After graduation, I left the biotech field. Now, I am fully dedicated to my patients and exclusively practice acupuncture and Chinese Medicine in my offices in Somerville MA and Newton NH.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Yes- there certainly were struggles. The decision of going back to school – again- after being in pharmaceutical research for over 15 years, and almost the same amount of time in school prior, was everything but easy.
At the time my two children were only six. My husband and I went back and forward on this topic – pros vs. cons. Certainly, the con’s weight out the pro’s, on paper anyways. Yet, I could not live without studying Chinese Medicine anymore and am lucky enough to have a supportive family. I kept my daytime job.
Most days, I left the house at 7 pm and came home not before 10 pm. Going to work full-time and then to school at night also was very challenging, not to mention most weekends were dedicated to studying. But at no point was I willing to quit.
My family and I are still very glad to have chosen this path and we enjoy seeing the business grow.
We’d love to hear more about your practice.
The vast majority of my patients seek relief from pain related conditions. I am in network with a lot of major health insurance companies.
Because of my own experiences, I developed a specific passion for the treatment of migraines. This became one of my specialties. Besides that, I am mostly focusing on orthopedic acupuncture, where I am spending the most effort on constantly further education myself, ensuring my patients receive state of the art treatments.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in a small village in East Germany with loving parents and wonderful friends. Everybody knew everybody. It was very safe. Nobody locked the doors then.
My dad was the local electrician. My mom runs his business. I was friends with most of my classmates, We still hang out, every time I go back. Yet I often felt out of place. Now looking back, I had no idea how lucky I was. My dad also was the local soccer coach and pretty well known as an athlete in the county.
I very much looked up to him and trained hard in our school track team to make him proud. My mom would have preferred, if I would have spent more time in the kitchen and cleaning the house, which unfortunately was not really that interesting to me.
As far back as I can remember, my favorite fictional character was Merlin. I admired him for his intelligence and skills and creativity. It is quite possible, this initially led me to chemistry and now, in a way also to Chinese Medicine.
Contact Info:
- Address: Main Office: 278 Elm Street Suite 227 Somerville MA 02144
Satellite Office: 41 Highland Street Newton, NH 03858 - Website: https://www.steffi-koerner-acupuncture.com/
- Phone: 3395451263
- Email: info@steffi-koerner-acupuncture.com
Image Credit:
Tigerlily Portraits (Nathalie Laya)
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