Portrait of the Practitioner through a Spreadsheet

Acupuncturist and researcher David Mayor, known for his pioneering work on electroacupuncture, has captured almost four decades of clinical practice in a single spreadsheet. The result is a monument to the effectiveness of acupuncture, to the potential of judicious data gathering, and, ultimately, to the power of the therapeutic relationship. Lara McClure talked to David in Spring 2025 about the process by which he created this unique resource, prompted both by curiosity about the nature of his practice from the vantage point of completion and by a hoarder’s sensibility. Here, she draws on that conversation alongside excerpts from the spreadsheet itself to celebrate the life and career of a prolific practitioner, teacher, thinker and collaborative author. Emergent priorities include the reasons why patients sought David’s help, the language they used to describe their health, and the reasons why their treatment ceased. David’s personal and intellectual backstory unfolds, and he advises fledgling practitioners on how to gather data within clinical practice for the benefit of patients, practitioner and profession.