A New Paradigm
27 Jun 24
The time has come for the structure of medicine as we know it to change.
People are sicker than ever before, and whilst we may be living longer, the question we need to ask ourselves is, are we actually living better?
When I was working in General Practice, so many patients were living with chronic issues and on multiple medications that they didn’t even know the names of, much less know what they were taking them for.
This relinquishment of power into the hands of the doctor, with the old school “Doctor knows best” approach to healing, where the patient blindly follows the instructions of the particular professional they happen to come into contact with, is no longer serving anyone.
For patients, this system only serves to keep them stuck. Stuck in a disempowered state. Stuck in understanding their illness or symptoms from a limited vantage point, in which the impacts of their mind, their emotions and their soul are sidelined. When people are not routinely encouraged to understand how their life situation may be contributing to their health status, they miss the deeper messages the presence of the illness or symptom is attempting to bring to their awareness. That by changing that job, leaving that relationship, addressing their loneliness, finding a purpose for their life- are the things that may in fact help reduce or eliminate the physical issues they face.
Similarly for the doctors that treat them, this system is no longer working. The system we have created, where doctors are placed in a position where all the risk and responsibility of the patients they “manage” is in their hands, only serves to create a level of pressure and over-responsibility that cannot be maintained. The current rates of doctor burn-out, mental health issues and work dissatisfaction are only on the rise, and I think that it is these broader systemic factors at play that are significantly impacting this.
So what is the alternative?
I believe that an approach in which we restore the responsibility into the hands of the patient, is the way to both empower the patient and reduce the burden on the doctor, by creating a more equal partnership in the creation of health. We need to be focusing more on providing patients with all their options, and then supporting them to choose what feels right for them and their own bodies. This approach would require us to cultivate a level of self-awareness to avoid unintentionally speaking through our prejudiced view-points, which we all carry. When people are sick they are vulnerable. And when any professional speaks without enough self-awareness to know what their own biases are, and to remove them from influencing patient choices, they can unintentionally have a damaging effect on the person in front of them.
We are not here to tell others what path to follow. We are here to serve as healers. As guides to help people connect with themselves, and simply to use the knowledge we have obtained through our training to educate them as best we can.
It is through this approach that we may start to see a shift in the state of health of the greater community and society in which we inhabit. When people are informed and empowered, they have a chance to actually heal.
Other modalities are already employing these philosophies, and as respected leaders within our communities it is up to us to cease to judge and look down upon them. To do so is simply a result of buying into the collective conditioned ego of our profession. Naturopaths, Energy Healers, Acupuncturists, Hypnotherapists- the list is endless, are not our enemies but our allies in the facilitation of healing. We may convince ourselves that there are more “sham” healers to be found amidst the modalities indicated, however I ask you to reflect on the truthful fact that even amongst doctors there are those who fail to act in the patient’s best interest.
The time has come.
We need to keep up with our changing world.
An old school approach will no longer work.
Let’s become doctors who heal.
Our time is now.
Key messages:
The structure of medicine is no longer working, serving to keep patients sick and disempowered, and doctors over-burdened and stressed.
A doctor= a healer and a teacher to educate patients to make the best possible decisions for themselves.
Other modalities are of value and it is up to us to support patients to follow what they are drawn to and what resonates for them in the facilitation of true healing.