Rites of Passage

Photo by fallenpegasus via Flickr, used
under the Creative Commons License.

By Shiva Barton, ND, LAc
2011 AANP Physician of the Year

I recently returned from a family trip one with an interesting juxtaposition of  rites of passage. The first and last part of the trip was spent taking my high school senior daughter on college tours. Sandwiched in between these tours was a celebration of my aunt's 100^th birthday.

My Aunt Dot is my mother's oldest sister. My mother is 88 and you would never believe it if you saw her, but she doesn't get much attention or credit for that because she is the baby in the family and her sister is 100! Aunt Dot is in great shape; her mind is 100%. I still can't beat her at Scrabble, which I guess is a reflection on both of us. My aunt used to be a gardener, the first person I ever heard of who had a compost pile – actually 3 bins, each about 7 feet long by 3 feet wide by 4 feet deep. I remember digging in the compost pile and finding worms the size of my thumbs, big thick, pink wiggly things. Local newspapers would write stories about the Queen of Compost as they thought it was interesting, if unusual, back then.

Three and a Half Months In

Michael Cronin, ND
AANP President 

Members, there is a lot of good work being done by the volunteers and staff of the AANP going into the second quarter of 2012, this year of active transition. 

The Executive Director search concludes at the DC FLI.  The Board will decide between two very motivated and qualified candidates to make the final choice for our new team builder. Stay tuned.

The legislative committee chaired by Lorilee Shoenbeck, ND, Vermont, has been busy working with our lobbyists and staff. They are all working with AANP staff to organize the DC FLI and the training provided to ND’s at the event. This year AANP will offer 2-tiered 101 and 201/301 legislative training.  Our priority is to protect several key provisions of the Affordable Care Act including section 2706 on non-discrimination in health care. Our lobbyists, Deborah Senn and Rick Miller, have been helping us refine our federal legislative plans.  To that end, we will be asking Members of Congress to support our efforts at HHS.

Warm and Wonderful

By Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO
AANP Past-President (2008-2009)

Photo by ZakVTA via Flickr, used
under the Creative Commons License.

This week has been unseasonably warm in New England. Enjoying sunny days with temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s when we would normally be in the 50’s has been a treat – it has also been amazing to see how much happier and more agreeable people have been lately. This early taste of spring infuses just about everyone with a touch of optimism, a little more forgiveness and a warm spot of joy. With this goodwill, it is no wonder that people engage in kinder and gentler interactions.  And, really, this way of being with each other is exactly as it should be – always.

I don’t know if it is because I am getting older, or because I have experienced serious illness, or because of the losses that I have endured, but I am finding myself increasingly drawn towards kindness.  In the presence of kindness, I find myself being fully present. I want to be in this moment, engaged and interactive. In kindness, I draw from my own inner well of goodness and share mylove back. These are just genuine and tender moments and that is what life is best about – a string of one loving moment attached to the next. 

By the same token, in the face of arrogance or insincerity, I find myself increasingly intolerant. Not intolerant of the person, but of the emotion, motivation and interaction. I am less and less able to remain present when these attributes are at play. I just don’t want to be a part of these exchanges. I drift away, or I issue compassion, or if I get hooked, I breathe and smile and disentangle myself. Fortunately, with this unexpectedly magnificent, feel-good weather that we have been experiencing lately, my days are gloriously anointed with moment after moment of kind generosity.

When “Physicians Who Listen” Exercise Their Voices

Michael Cronin, ND

AANP President

Photo by rpongsaj via Flickr, used
under the Creative Commons License.

I invite you to add your voice to those of the many NDs and patients who will be attending the 2012 AANP DC Federal Legislative Initiative (DC FLI) on May 5-7, 2012. The DC FLI consists of two days of legislative/advocacy education and training, and, a third day, putting those skills to work on Capitol Hill advocating for our patients and for our profession.

The AANP uses the DC FLI to broaden understanding of federal law-making and federal agencies’ rule-making processes (for example, rules to include NDs in: medical homes, healthcare workforce provisions, patient-centered outcomes research (PCORI) and tuition forgiveness). Additionally, we will include discussion of the “Non-Discrimination” language in Section 2706 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Kids Are Alright

By Bill Benda, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
2011 Naturopathic Champion Award Winner

I’m at the Houston airport, after three days at the American Medical Student Association’s (AMSA) annual gathering of allopathic and osteopathic students from the United States and abroad. AMSA is the planet’s largest student organization at well over 50,000 strong and is quite influential in health care policy in this country. Previously the Students of the American Medical Association, they split from the AMA in the early 60s over disagreements with the AMA’s positions on the Vietnam war, tobacco and other social issues of the times. Today AMSA holds philosophical ideals quite analogous to our most liberal institutions, including global health, service to the underserved, women’s health and commitment to being “Pharm Free” (accepting no gifts or meals from the pharmaceutical industry).

So why was I here? To witness and assist with the third attempt by the Naturopathic Medical Student Association (NMSA) in appealing to the AMSA House of Delegates for admission as full AMSA members. Naturopathic students already hold several leadership positions within AMSA, secured through empassioned petitioning at the last four conventions. You can imagine that each naturopathic knock on AMSA’s door resulted in quite spirited public and private debate as to their qualifications. This time was no exception.