I wrote this comment during my first year as a naturopathic medical student at Bastyr University.
I have come to the realization that integrating medicine must happen in order for patients to receive effective care.
Here is the comment I sent out to the entire Bastyr campus: (Id love to hear your comments….so please post them)
May 2002
Hey All -
Having been on campus now for about a year, I have heard discussions (and participated in) about ‘allopathic’ medicine and how screwed up it is – and we at Bastyr University are the saviors of the true medicine. I know firsthand that there are fellow students that do not believe this at all – that MD’s and ND’s are out for the same result – to improve their patient’s lives.
In order for us to make it in the future as successful ND’s, we must stop putting ourselves on some pedestal saying that we are better. We are not.
There are so many talks, forum groups, speakers, whathaveyou, that come on campus and tell us/ask us about the future of OUR medicine. How about the future OF medicine?
I sincerely believe that MD’s are out to improve lives just as we are. However, they are bombarded and directed by pharmaceutical companies…and insurance companies which direct their practice. And beyond that, their very traditional way of practicing is like a medical fraternity. Meaning that if one brother is out on a limb saying that nutrition is more potent than a drug for removing illness – that brother is banned or fired.
There is some contest out there asking us how we can Fix America’s healthcare system. Pretty simple. Regulate the pharmaceutical companies, lawyers and insurance companies – and then all will fall into place. How do we do that? By removing lobbyists and special interests. How do we do that – campaign finance reform – unlike the loophole filled document we have now. You can give the $10,000 to the scholarship fund.
I am impressed with all of us who are joining the ranks of ND’s. I believe that the only reason that we are different is due to the absence of pharmaceutical control/influence. That’s a pretty big difference and that is why I’m here. Naturopathic medicine is outstanding – if it is practiced correctly. Traditional medicine is outstanding – if it is practiced correctly.
How many times have we gone to the clinic/ND’s and walked away with a bag full of stuff to alleviate symptoms and not the cause? I can name a few.
Medicine becomes successful by those who practice it – not by what university you attend.
My main point here is to recommend a book that I believe should be required reading by the incoming class:
“Detoxification & Healing: The Key to Optimal Health”, written by Sidney Baker, M.D.
This book describes medicine the way it should be practiced – by finding the cause and working with it accordingly. It is very heavy on biochemistry so makes a good review. It also explains how MD’s have brought their ideas forward and how they got banned/fired for it. The author attended Yale Medical School and also teaches there now. It is people like him who make medicine successful – not by what letters come after your name.
If I pushed a few buttons in a few people, I apologize. I am not out to start a war – I am out to bring peace between the MD and the ND. If you are a bit perturbed, read this book and he will clarify any doubts – he is quite a bit more eloquent than I am.
Medicine becomes successful by those who practice it – not by what university you attend.
Best to all and good luck with midterms -
Ben
PS – if you don’t know who I am – I’m the short heavy guy with one leg
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Ben,
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I have had experience as a patient with both types of doctors. I much prefer the ND. I have presented with various complaints to both and was handed a couple of prescriptions from the MD and a list of diet and lifestyle changes from the ND. What a difference. Of course I never filled the RX and the advice the ND gave me was extremely helpful. MDs are so rushed, at least here in Saskatoon, Canada, that I once had a yearly physical that took 7 minutes! I had the fastest breast exam ever, lasting 3 seconds a side. Ridiculous! Anyway, I like reading your blog. Very useful information. Thank you.
hi ben,
well…i m looking for a career in medicine, where i cna help people and use and learn sciences, medicine and bio. But i dont have many chocies left as i have excluded pharmacist and MD being too long, hard on my health and competitive tog et it. only left is NDschool in Canada where i live. Two things bother me:
- 1) not being recognised as true HC professional and keep hearing that ND medicine doesnt work or is not backed and proven by evidence. It seems to me that on top of seeing that ND medicine didnt work in me and my mother, i also have to live with the fact that i practice a medicine that is not proven to work and give it to my patients and is useless , not very great to swallow. at least as MD you can say you are alleviating smyptoms. Evidence for ND therapies, are scarce as medical experts say, no many clinical trials, so only traditional years long used info avaialble to justify its use in clinical practice and to say it works? that doesnt sound scientific. Plus i would like to see it working before i undertake this education. what can you say to help?
2) the business side of ND practice scares me. I dont like running, managing and handling a business. i just want to spend 90% of my time helping, teaching and socializing with people about life and science/medicine. Now thats a problem. I was told that making living as an ND is verrry difficult and i was told we can make first few 5 yrs only 35-45K before overhead and taxes, because not many can afford our expensive fees and not everybody have insurance and we are competiing with quick relief giving free MD (in Canada). Now how a prospective student is suppose to convince himself that he isnot putting himself to a hardship, stressful and poor financial life by becoming an ND, no matter how much he likes medicine and care for poeple? Cn you clarify something in this? cuz i dont know what else i can do? and i know a lot of NDs who have told me that it is too stressful and they cant make a real living out of it.
Hi Ben,
I’m an ND student at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, Arizona. I am, however, Canadian! I read what you wrote and I agree. Especially with who cares who’s doing it right, as long as the job gets done. I guess what is troublesome for naturopaths is how we lost our ability to rightfully practice back in the 1900′s. If the MD’s “take over” again, we would all be out of job, and more importantly mankind would be loosing out. So in that regard, I can understand where ND’s are coming from when saying give credit where it’s due. Also, could you see an MD who has found some sort of awesome treatment for cancer, go on treating people and not brag about it, especially if it was pharmaceutically funded? There’s no way! So I guess all I’m saying is we have something really awesome in our hands, and we should shout it from the roof tops! And MD’s who are practicing in this way and not mentioning where they’ve gotten their ideas are from, are taking our credit for it, so I can understand how we are getting our noses out of joint.
But the reason I wanted to post here was because I would like to comment on Zam’s post. I recently heard of an ND who made $115 000 in their first year. I think that if you are taking the attitude of “I only want to heal and I don’t want to make a business for myself”, then either don’t and work for someone else and make pennies, and do what you love and make a small difference in the world, or take some initiative and go gitter’ done, start your own company in a small town and fill your practice with other great naturopaths and alternative medical practitioners and heal many more people than you could on your own!
As for medical school, it is what you make it. I had an intense senior year of university, and to me that was the hardest schooling I’ve done, the critical thinking was intense! Medical school seems easy compared to that, I am in my first year though. Also, ND school is different than MD school. ND’s know about how important your own health is, if you want to be able to heal people. In fact, I am taking a class next quarter called “Physician Heal Thy Self”. My mentor, a Canadian ND, told me to come to SCNM if I wanted the most comprehensive medical education. I can tell you that what I am learning is scientific. Maybe that depends on how you define scientific though. Perhaps you need to read about Hanhemann’s research from the development of Homeopathy. His provings are considered scientific. So overall I would say, sit in on some classes, go to the ND schools, and even the MD schools and decide if you want to treat the cause, and actually help people.
Lastly, you can’t get into naturopathic medicine and anticipate the easy ride you would get if you venture into allopathic medical school. Naturopathic medicine doesn’t have these strict guide lines like, ok, so everyone with dry eyes needs visine. Naturopathic medicine is so comprehensive that it takes more than just hearing the patients symptoms to determine the course of treatment. Homeopathy, for example, sometimes relies on the most random personality trait to help determine the best remedy to treat the patient. So what I’m getting at is it depends on your level of passion and commitment to helping people and mankind. Naturopathic medicine is an amazing and challenging field of work, but also amazingly rewarding and beneficial. Hopefully this helps
- Be safe, Be wise, Be educated.
Forget both the ND and the MD and look to Ayurvedic medicine, the oldest form of medicine on earth. It has been time-tested for thousands of years with millions of people — and with success.
In regards to Zam’s point, I think a lot depends on where you practice -ie whether there is a licensing law or not or what the scope of practice is – and how well you are capitalized.
yeah, i agree with you Naturopathic Dr NYC. I think it depends on where you practice and how dedicated you are to become expert in the field of your study.
Hello Everyone,
It is important, in my mind, that we meet the public where they are at. They don’t want or need us to tell them that conventional medicine is scary bad. They will make up their mind of that subject themselves.
In my mind no medicine is truly bad. There are strengths and weaknesses. It is more important to let the public and other related professionals know what we have to offer. To get to as many people as possible we have to educate, offer information about what we do and what makes our services unique. We have plenty to speak about in the positive. Let’s not add to a world of fear. Instead let’s offer a world of hope.
Our medicine speaks for itself that is why we have been growing so rapidly.
http://www.holisticsolutionsdoc.com
Dr Joseph Dubroff