It's Graduation Time!

The graduating class of 2011 is done!!  It seems absolutely unbelievable...I'm sure the reality of being finished internship will quickly set in as I begin to prepare for NPLEX and board exams, but right now I'm basking in the accomplishment.  And what a journey this has been...filled with a lot of ups and downs, the appearance of gray hairs and the skills to help improve health care in Canada.

One thing I was not prepared for this last month was saying goodbye and transferring the care of many patients I have got to know very well over the past year.  Although I'm sure their new intern will work as hard as I did, there was a sadness in not continuing along their health journey with them.  Well, I do not want to end on a note of sadness as this is a time for celebration.  So, congratulations to all the naturopathic medical students in North America who will be graduating this spring.  I wish everyone the greatest success.

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Real Health Care in Canada

With only 2 weeks remaining in my clinical internship, and the timing of this federal election, I was paying greater attention to the politics of the profession and the vital role naturopathic doctors have in changing the course of "health care" in Canada.  I put, "health care" in quotations because what our politicians have not yet been made aware of is that healthy people are not the ones being taken care of in Canada.  Rather, our conventional medical system is in fact a disease care system of medicine.

I realize this is my bias, but I would like to see naturopathic doctors (ND's) be the primary care gate-keepers of the health care system since we have the widest scope of practice of any health care provider (and subsequently the greatest number of therapeutic tools).  When necessary, ND's would also know when and which specialist would be best for the patient to be referred to within the conventional and complementary health care systems.  I believe this would revolutionize Canada's health care system which is in a state of patient care deterioration and financial crisis.

Most people feel like they are too busy to write or ask their local member of parliament about what health care truly means to them or to let them know about the benefits of naturopathic medicine.  But, we can all quite easily talk to our friends, mention our vision for a true health care system on Facebook or Twitter.  Many small actions will build into a large movement!

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