On any given day, Fiquet Duckworth hurries between China, Mango and Blue. The three patient rooms in her acupuncture practice are named for their decor — China has a photo of the country, and Mango and Blue are the color of the bed sheets — and on any given day all three rooms are usually occupied by patients, sometimes a fourth takes up a bed in her office.

"Somebody once said to me 'what about your personal time?' " said Duckworth who works six days a week. "And I said, well this is about as personal as you can get, putting your hands on somebody else.

"I so enjoy what I do, helping people, getting them better, hearing their stories. Actually that doesn't occur to me that it's work. I'm very blessed and I'm very privileged that I get to interact with so many people."

Duckworth has been studying and practicing Oriental Medicine since the early '80s, and for the second time has been named the Acupuncturist of the Year by the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She also won the award in 2003.

"I think when you work really hard, people do notice," Duckworth said of receiving the award.

She first became interested in acupuncture in the early '70s when she sought relief from vertigo caused by Ménière's Disease through acupuncture. The treatment was a success and she made acupuncture her main medical modality and began studying with her acupuncturist, Masahilo Nakazono Osensei, at the Kototama Institute that has since closed in Santa Fe.

"It's one of those modalities that really, really helps other than taking massive amounts of drugs," Duckworth said. "So I think it's a really safe, healthy alternative."

But she does recognize that there are times when patients require treatment beyond what she can provide and she prides herself on running an integrated practice.

"I work with lots and lots of doctors and it's a partnership between all health practitioners," she said. "To get patients well, sometimes it takes the whole village."

Jill Fineworth, who's been seeing Duckworth for seven years, said Duckworth's genuine care for her patient's health and desire to get at the root of whatever is causing a patient problems are some of the traits that set her apart from other health professionals.

"She stays put and listens to all aspects of what could be causing the situations," Fineworth said. "She's not just focused on the physical, she's focused on the emotional, she's focused on the mental, all aspects. And she lets you know that you are being compassionately cared about, it's unusual these days. It's not the norm."

Duckworth understands that going to see an acupuncturist can be a scary experience for some, especially first-timers, so patients are always greeted by Lily Grace and Austin her Jack Russell Terriers who are happy to accompany any patient who is hesitant about the procedure.

In her nearly 30 years of experience in acupuncture, Duckworth has worked with patients of all ages and treated symptoms from headaches to pain relief. She helped open a nonprofit acupuncture clinic in Ensenada, Mexico, in the '90s, and for many years she was involved with psychiatric acupuncture, helping patients relax and be more receptive to psychiatric therapy. One of the psychiatrists Duckworth worked with specialized in multiple personality disorder, and she said it was one of the most interesting experiences she's had.

"I diagnose by taking people's pulses, you have six pulses on each wrist, three superficial, three deep, so there's 12 pulses," she said. "And with multiple personalities when they would switch personalities, their pulses would actually switch. It was very dramatic.

"To be able to feel somebody's energy like that was pretty wild and you don't feel that with someone who comes in with a head cold."

Along with running her private practice, Duckworth is the vice chairwoman of the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, serves on the Santa Fe County Health Policy and Planning Commission and is also a massage therapy instructor.

"I think that you get almost as much as you give in this profession because of the people that you meet and the situations that you end up interacting with and helping sort out," she said.

Contact Veronica Cruz at 986-3042 or vcruz@sfnewmexican.com.