The Record, Stockton, Calif., Business Spotlight Column. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Michelle Machado, The Record, Stockton, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Apr. 26--For 20 years, Dr. Yi-Po Anthony Wu has served the Stockton community through his private internal medicine practice and his volunteer work at St, Mary's Interfaith Medical Clinic.

A decade ago, he formed Pacific Complementary Medicine Center, which combines Eastern and Western healing arts and sciences.

Western medicine focuses on chemical and surgical intervention to treat acute conditions, whereas Eastern medicine looks at the whole body system to not only relieve symptoms, but to improve overall health.

The center's traditional Chinese component consists of acupuncture and herbal therapy treatment and Tai Chi, Liu Tong and Hatha-yoga exercise.

The center also offers therapeutic massage, stress management, meditation and referral to other holistic services.

Additionally, the center works with several San Joaquin County agencies to provide an acupuncture-based chemical dependency treatment program and provides a public annual spring seminar series, which this year begins on May 3

On Wednesday, Wu looked back at his life. In his own words:

'My father was a surgeon trained in Japan. He came back to Taiwan to practice medicine after the war (World War II). My grandfather was a doctor, too. My uncle was an herbalist and an acupuncturist.

Chinese use both doctors and herbalists. Most of the time, we don't want to see a doctor because it's a little expensive and it's really not necessary.

My father sometimes would ask my uncle to come in and help a patient. Even though they might go to my father if they needed surgery, my uncle might do the acupuncture. Cancer patients coming in, besides being treated with medicine or surgery, would have some herbs.

I graduated from National Taiwan University in Taipei, the capital. After graduating, I went to Hawaii to get my degree in public health. Then, I worked for about five years in a church with the Hawaiian indigent. After I met Teresa, I went to Massachusetts for my further medical training in internal medicine. I have a diploma in internal medicine.

I spent about six months as a hematology/oncology fellow at the University of Massachusetts. I found I could not stay any longer because oncology is a very depressing field. You see some of the patients one time, and they disappear.

I was basically interested in primary care, so I decided that was the way I would go.

'I was looking for a place to practice.

We were friends with a social worker in Massachusetts who said, 'If you want to serve humanity, go to Stockton. Did you ever read about Michael Harrington's 'The Other America', the rich side and the poor side? In Stockton, there is a north side and a south side separated by the Crosstown freeway.'

It piqued our interest.

I didn't know anyone here. I went to the medical society. I found there were some physicians here in town that came from my high school. I liked a town like this with multiple ethnicities.

We went back to Massachusetts. The next morning I woke up and said to Teresa, 'Let's go to Stockton.'

'We started with zero patients. I was very brave at that time. Now, I don't think anyone would dare to do that.

I went to visit some of the emergency rooms and said I am here if you need me, and patients slowly moved in.

Most of the physicians would not accept this. In the beginning, no physician would refer to me.

I rented for three years a suite from an established physician in town. At the end of that third year, I said that I might continue to stay, but he said I should not because it seemed that I was not going to make it. He said, 'Only the physician who cannot make it would do acupuncture.''

But now, it has changed a lot. Today, no physician would say that to me.

Physicians now refer to me. For surgeons, acupuncture is quite often one of the alternatives they will think about for pain control after surgery. Lung specialists, when they want a patient to quit smoking, and dermatologists, who have a skin condition they cannot handle, also ask for help.

But they are not going to tell the patient that acupuncture is the first choice. They use Western medicine first. The last resort is to go see Dr. Wu.'

Yi-Po Anthony Wu, M.D., M.P.H.

-- Occupation: Medical director, Pacific Complementary Medicine Center, 645 W. Harding Way, Stockton

-- Age: 57

-- Birthplace: ChangHua, Taiwan

-- Education: Medical College, National Taiwan University; School of Public Health, University of Hawaii

-- Family: Wife, Teresa Chen; daughter, Suzanne; and son, Albert

-- Quote: Dr. Albert Schweitzer -- 'reverence for life'

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(c) 2004, The Record, Stockton, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.