Eric Grey ’09 highlights the importance of patient relationships and continuing education.

Eric Grey decided to change course in his education and study Chinese medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) after he learned about the program through a community bulletin board outside a natural foods store. 

Grey had completed his bachelor’s degree in biology and philosophy from Oregon State University and was working toward a master’s degree in applied ethics with the intent of teaching at a college level.   

“It was pure serendipity,” said Grey, who soon after enrolled in the Master of Acupuncture with a Chinese Herbal Medicine Specialization (formerly MSOM) program at NUNM. “Once I’d made the decision, I was all in and have been ever since.”  

Once at NUNM, he said he thoroughly immersed himself in his studies, became involved in student clubs and served as president of the student government, while also raising a daughter at home. 

Upon graduating in 2009, Grey became an adjunct faculty member for NUNM’s Chinese herb lab and co-founded Watershed Wellness, a practice he and his wife started in Portland before relocating fully to Astoria. Their goal was to provide patient services such as acupuncture with an emphasis on herbal medicine. 

“I’ve always been a person who loves and resonates deeply with plants—all kinds of plants—and so leaning into plant medicine just felt very natural to me,” Grey said. “It still does.” 

He later received the opportunity to redevelop the business and practice management curriculum at NUNM and teach the coursework.

As an instructor, Grey said he wanted students to gain a deeper awareness of the realities of running a holistic medicine practice. In the classroom, he would draw on both his success with Watershed Wellness, as well as his experience coaching fellow practitioners and small clinics.   

“I don’t think everyone can be successful in private practice on their own and I think there are a lot of misconceptions about that,” Grey said. “Fortunately, there are many more employment opportunities available now than there were even 15 years ago, and you don’t have to run your own practice if you don’t feel the path is well suited.”  

Grey discussed with NUNM his approach to Chinese medicine through private practice and how he fosters connection with his patients to improve health and wellbeing.  
 

How did NUNM help to deepen your interest of herbs and Chinese medicine?  

Herbalism was my interest from the start. I’m famously needle-phobic, so while I’ve learned to love the power of acupuncture, I’ll always be first-and-foremost an herbalist. NUNM was unquestionably the best place in the country to study Chinese herbs, especially at that time. I feel very fortunate to have studied with luminaries like Heiner Fruehauf, Arnaud Versluys, and Haosheng Zhang while at NUNM. They helped me to develop my philosophy around patient health, such as how I consider lifestyle factors to be a major influence on the health of the patient, as well as my approach and reliance on the pulse. That said, I’m not sure I ever saw anybody practice the way I do, not exactly.

How did your role as an NUNM instructor shape your view on continuing education? 

I’ve always been passionate about teaching and generally about helping people in the profession to do their work with less stress and effort. You barely scratch the surface in medical school when you’re just learning how to avoid killing people, which is as it should be! The real learning happens once you’re out in the world, working with people, finding holes in your knowledge, and then seeking ways to fill them. I spend 20-30 hours a week reading, researching, writing, working cases, taking classes, re-taking classes, and going over two decades of relevant notes. I truly believe in the principle of lifelong learning for myself and those I work with. Classical Chinese medicine is a profession for nerds. If you’re not willing to devote the rest of your life to continual learning, I really think you should look somewhere else.  

How have these experiences influenced the way you approach your practice? 

Serving the community through Watershed Wellness is soul fulfilling in a way that’s hard to describe. I think we’ve cultivated a beautiful practice here, and NUNM grads are always at the top of the list for folks I want to hire. I’ve always believed more attention should be paid to the critical importance of being in deep dialogue with patients and the way I work with patients is fundamentally an outgrowth of how I interact with people more generally. I’m a conversational and deeply personal practitioner who finds it important to get to know my patients on multiple levels. I want to know about their work, their family history, current relationships, political and social views, how they eat and relate to food, their spiritual orientation and practice, and just about everything else. If I’m truly honest, my relationship with patients probably does more work than the herbs and acupuncture combined. The relational energy we cultivate together helps us explore habit changes and other factors in ways we otherwise couldn’t.  

Written by Ashley Villarreal, Marketing Content Specialist