Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Rohrbaugh.
Hi Karen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Before becoming an acupuncturist, I worked in government and nonprofit management in Washington, DC and later in San Diego. After getting my BA at the University of Iowa, I moved to Northern Virginia to work in Washington, DC for 2 different nonprofits over 4 years. Living on the East Coast was a big adjustment to living in rural Iowa for most of my life. Sure, the weather was a bit milder, but everything seemed challenging, from getting your utilities connected, opening up a bank account and of course renting an apartment.
After about three years living on the East Coast, I decided that it was not a good fit for me and I began to ponder my next move. I spent my first five and a half years in the Los Angeles area and had returned a number of times to visit relatives. My father’s side of the family was from California. I decided to reach out to one of my relatives to see if she had any contacts in San Diego. That resulted in my sending my resume to her in London and her mailing my resume to San Diego and eventually getting an interview with the Mayor’s Office. I didn’t get that job, but a year later, I got the job as assistant director for the Downtown Marketing Coalition (DMC). In less than a year, the chief and the deputy chief of protocol left, so I took on the responsibilities of the protocol job as well. Soon the DMC was relocated out of the Mayor’s Office and I just handled protocol as deputy chief of protocol. I ended up working for the Mayor’s Office for 7 years under 2 different mayors. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and to discover San Diego. I did everything form meet foreign leaders, accompany the Mayor to events, give the Key to the City to dignitaries when the Mayor wasn’t available, give speeches, organize special events, work with volunteers to establish 4 additional Sister Cities and much more.
After leaving the Mayor’s Office I went to work for Deepak Chopra at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in La Jolla. I was laid off after a year and was recruited to be the Executive Director for the International Visitors Council of San Diego, now called Citizen Diplomacy Council. I spent 6 years there doing fundraising and running the nonprofit which received funding from the State Department and the City of San Diego. During my tenure there, I did LEAD San Diego, a 9 month program of San Diego leaders who learn about the City’s infrastructure and want to make a difference in their city. One of the speakers on the day that focused on healthcare was an acupuncturist. I became a patient and then got the idea to return to school at the age of 38 to become an acupuncturist myself. I started out with 1-2 classes over 2 semesters and then I decided, that yes, this was something I wanted to do and went back to school full time. I cut back my hours running the nonprofit and continued to juggle both for 2 years before stepping down from my job so I could put all my focus on going to school and my next career. The Masters of Science degree for Traditional Oriental Medicine was nearly 4 years long. In 2015, I returned to school to earn my Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Degree, DAOM.
At forty-two I opened up my acupuncture practice which I call Vitality Acupuncture in Bankers Hill, San Diego. I chose that name because as a patient, I feel increased vitality after each treatment. I have now been in practice for 20 years, having opened my practice in 2005.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
After passing the State Board Exam for Acupuncture I needed to find office space and build a practice. The practice building took longer than I anticipated. I was grateful to have a husband who was gainfully employed and who could support us both during this time as well as provide health care insurance.
After several years I outgrew the small office and another acupuncturist, whom I had shared space with, and I moved to Mission Bay to open up our individual practices. While the space serves us well, it has come with challenges, most currently, a huge increase in rent. We can’t increase our patient’s fees that much in one year and insurance won’t budge from the rates that they have been paying for the past 15 years. That is right, one insurance company has not increased its reimbursement rate for 15 years, even when I asked them to reconsider their fee schedule. I can only work so many hours a day, so many days a week and I love to travel.
Another challenge I have is to do marketing. I admit, I have been a bit lazy and unmotivated in this area. There was a time I had too many patients, mostly veterans who had to be seen so many times within a certain amount of time. My website is out of date and that is something I need to address.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Vitality Acupuncture?
My office is conveniently located right off the I-5 and Grand/Garnet/Balboa exit in a Medical Building. My treatment room is a serene environment that allow for optimal healing. The light lavender walls and soothing music ease a patient into deep relaxation and healing.
I treat a lot of conditions, but the most common one is pain, low back pain. I suffer from it too so I can really relate to my patients. I also treat issues with digestion, sleep, anxiety, mood, women’s health and more. My patients come from all walks of life and various age ranges. I have about an equal number of males as females. I continue to treat veterans for the local VA. I practice Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and incorporate TENS and micro current therapy, fire cupping and moxabustion. I also incorporate other healing modalities such as castor oil packs and aroma acupoint therapy where I apply an essential oil on a specific acupuncture point which works on the psycho-emotional level of healing.
I am in network with Blue Shield PPO and can bill other PPO insurance as an out of network provider. I treat one patient at a time and I am very generous with my time. I really get to know my patients, some I have had for over 16 years.
Before the first needle is inserted, I ensure that all the patient’s questions are answered and that they are physically comfortable on the table. This may include adding body supports, blankets and a heat lamp or a heated neck wrap.
In additional to relieving some or all of their pain, my patient would say that they feel deeply relaxed during their treatment and walk out the door feeling lighter and happier. Some even say it is the best sleep they ever get, even though it is only 20-25 minutes on the table, per side.
Being an acupuncturist is very rewarding as I get to facilitate positive transformation in a patient during their treatment. They walk out the door feeling much better than they did when they arrived. That in itself, is very satisfying.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I stayed open during COVID. It was my understanding that acupuncture was an essential service and we were allowed to stay open in the State of California. I took full precautions and always wore a mask and required my patients to do the same. I added an air purifier to my room that I continue to run. Everything was wiped down between patients and patients waited outside if there was more than one patient in the waiting room. I never caught COVID at my office nor did my patients to the fullest extent of my knowledge. I was able to assist my patients with their pain and their anxiety during this once in a lifetime pandemic.
I take time off to vacation on a regular basis and plan it in advance. I schedule patients several weeks to a month in advance and trust that they will support my decision to take time off. I return refreshed to treat existing patients and welcome new patients with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://vitalityacupuncture.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitalityacupuncture
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-rohrbaugh-aaba701/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/vitality-acupuncture-san-diego?osq=Vitality+Acupuncture
