Integrative Medicine
My book, Integrative Medicine, The Return of the Soul to Healthcare, emphasizes how the patient can utilize the best of Allopathic Medicine, Natural Medicine, and ancient healing practices. What I wish I had written more about ( and will ) is the importance of healers, physicians, and all healthcare practitioners also working in an integrative fashion.
In my office at Baybridge Chiropractic, that is how we practice. With the common goal of the best possible care and outcome of the patient, we truly work as a team. Sometimes we work together with the same patient. Sometimes we refer to each other. Sometimes we refer to a practitioner out of the office. I would like to see more of this way of collaborating within my own profession of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.
Where did we get this paradigm of competition? We are products of our culture, and our culture is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, ie. the survival of the fittest ( or as Bruce Lipton says, the survival of the strongest.) So everyone tries to be the top dog. As part of this paradigm, making money is of prime importance. We all have to make a living of course. But this focus places us in a survival way of thinking and a scarcity consciousness. Some cultures are not geared this way. They place more importance on the family and the community. We all have ancestors who were tribal at some point in history. They knew they thrived the best if they supported and collaborated with each other.
As practitioners none of us can be all things to all people with different needs, personalities, etc. So working together for the good of our patients makes sense. This is also Integrative Medicine.