My grandmother practiced Chinese medicine for over 70 years. She entered medical school at age 18 and retired in 2006 at age 95, just two years before she died. Her specialty, like mine, was women's health and the treatment of infertility.

My grandmother's journey in Chinese medicine began with an illness. As a teenager growing up in Shanghai, she became sick with a severe case of typhoid fever.  As she lay sick in bed, her family sought the help of countless medical doctors, but were told that her condition was incurable and she would likely die. Her father would not give up hope and desperately sought treatment for her from various traditional medicine practitioners.

With his daughter near death, he sought out the most renowned doctor of Chinese medicine in Shanghai, Dr. Ding Jie Wan. Though my great-grandfather had little faith in traditional Chinese medicine, he was desperate to try anything to save his daughter’s life.

After treatment with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, my grandmother fully recovered from her illness. When she was better, her father sent Bing Yin to study Traditional Chinese Medicine. During her severe illness, her father had made a vow to Guan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, that if Chinese Medicine could save his daughter, he would send her to study medicine to benefit the world.

My grandmother enrolled at the Chinese Medical Institute of Shanghai in 1929, and went on to continue her studies at the Chinese Acupuncture Research Institute in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and teach at the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong. In 1974, she emigrated to the United States, opening a practice in San Francisco’s Chinatown. I spent many childhood days at her side at her herb store and acupuncture practice. For the last 15 years of her practice, she worked at my uncle Henry's busy herb pharmacy in Oakland's Chinatown.

My grandmother loved what she did and had a loyal following in the Bay Area. When she retired at age 95, it was only because her failing eyesight no longer allowed her to properly diagnose and treat patients.  For her devotion to acupuncture and to her patients, she is an inspiration to me. I think she succeeded in fulfilling my great-grandfather's vow to dedicate his daughter to the service of others through medicine.