By Bill Benda, MD
I have always found AANP annual conventions fascinating, although exhausting, most likely because as a non-ND I attend exclusively as Board member, lecturer, and journalist. No alumni reunions or interesting practice enhancement presentations for me, replaced instead by meeting after meeting after presentation after exhibitor appreciation after AANP after HOD after SALT after NMSA after NDI, with a final acronym of zzzzzzzzz.
And still I look forward to it every year. There is something about this particular field of medicine, a certain cultural attitude I resonate with. Probably a déjà vu of my formative years in the 60s and 70s, life relatively unencumbered by social protocol or political correctness. Only it seems I get to exhibit less inhibition this time around; as I am not a native of this tribe, I am a bit more free to travel in and out of the lectures and social gatherings. A bit more lonely as well - a hybrid of participant and observer, collecting thoughts and perspectives rather than disbursing tales of what I’ve been up to since “the last time I saw you.”
The crowd in the conference center seemed a bit more sparse than prior years, fully expected by staff and convention planners in economically challenged times (although the hotel bar appeared to not suffer from inattention). And there were a few novel presentations, such as the “naturopathic approach to global warming” and “here come electronic medical records.” But this is the year that I discovered the real future of naturopathic medicine, unwittingly lured by an innocent request to fill the role of moderator at the annual ZRT Cup, an answer-the-medical-question competition between our seven naturopathic medical colleges for bragging rights, a trophy, and a check for $10,000. I find these students to be a treasure – innocent and worldly, full of desire to change a world that still confuses their (and our) minds and souls. I can easily perceive a distinct difference between them and us, a touch of purity and excitement and energy (in them). I don’t know where they coalesce in the evenings, but it doesn’t appear to be at the bar, at least not before this writer’s curfew. I imagine they are off somewhere strategizing how to fix this global mess we have gotten ourselves into. Or drinking in their rooms. Who knows?
Back to the ZRT cup competition. The early rounds were populated primarily by students participating or awaiting their turn, along with a few institutional mentors. But the competition was hot, with each panelist hungry for the opportunity to elevate their school to the top of a seven-institution academic pyramid. And one by one they rose or fell, with the final round to be between Bastyr and NCNM the following evening.
And what an evening it was. Beautiful room, full bar, and packed standing room only with students and graduate supporters (quite noisy supporters at that). As moderator I had my back to the crowd, but could feel the heat of expectation on my backside. No place for goofs on my part here – there was far more than the $10,000 prize at stake. NCNM won handily, although not so much from superior knowledge as from a somewhat risky strategy that paid off far more than left them stranded: hit the buzzer early, and trust you’ll know or figure out the right answer. A bit of aggressive behavior coupled with confidence bordering on cockiness, which certainly will come in handy when they enter our healthcare system.
Following the night of the ZRT came days of keynotes, and yes, more meetings. The Gala on Saturday night was quite sweet, and thankfully we finally had a band playing music I could dance to. After the final set, its off to the hotel bar, where last calls were called for over a half hour before security showed up to inform the naturopathic crowd that, yes, we are done for the night.
Sunday is the day most conventioneers reserve as a travel-home-hung-over day, but for our young charges it marks the annual Naturopathic Medical Student Association (NMSA) conference. I won’t list the speakers or content for the weary reader, but will emphasize that this fledgling organization already has a seat at the AANP board table, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the Naturopathic Coordinating Council (NCC), and the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC). If any of you eyeing this diatribe truly wish to invest in the future of your profession, support this organization. Now. With money. And time. And volunteerism in any way possible. www.naturopathicstudent.org.
Showing posts with label heal thy planet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heal thy planet. Show all posts
Reflections: Naturopathic Medicine, Convention and Volunteerism
By Sara Thyr, ND
First of all, while naturopathic medicine is still not more than a blip on the national landscape of health care, I was reminded yet again at what an amazing roll we might have in really, truly repairing not only the health-care system in America, but the health of all Americans. As we move into a new era of leadership in our community, I hope that this opportunity is realized.
Which brings me to thoughts about the resignation of our executive director for the past nine years, Karen Howard. I have a love-hate relationship with Karen and possibly always have. Let’s not call it love-hate. Let’s call it love-irritated relationship. We have very different styles of communication. I’m soft, squishy, and easy to tears—and dream of acquiring tactful disagreement skills. Karen is strong and outspoken and has no problem sharing her opinion, even if that may mean (what feels like) steamrolling over quieter voices. That said, I believe with all my heart that she has been the right person for our association for most of the last decade.
Karen has brought incredible awareness of our profession to our nation's capital—a stark change from the beginning of this decade. She has created networks within our own profession to assist more states in licensing naturopathic physicians, to help states with standing licenses to work together in improving scope of practice and marketability of NDs within those states, and she has taught so many of us how to come to our legislators with our information and expertise and ask for what we want. The DC FLI was an incredible undertaking and has blossomed with incredible success over the years. Most legislative health aids and legislators today know what a naturopathic physician is. This was not the case before Karen Howard took over the roll as full-time steward of our profession ten years ago.
Within the framework of the State Association Leadership Team (SALT), Karen taught us about strong associations and strategic planning. Many of us in our states' leadership roles brought this knowledge back to our states to assist local leadership in becoming more organized and stronger—not to mention becoming more proactive than reactive, learning to quit operating via putting out fires and start planning for the future.
When Karen took over as executive director, our association was fractured and deeply in debt. She thrives on picking up pieces in great disarray and building something that is stronger than it was before. And that she did. While I felt her resignation like a blow to the gut, once I recovered and began to breath again, I realized that she has equipped us with the ability to move forward and continue to achieve our goals as an association. And as one physician who has worked with her for many years, I feel that I will continue to be able to achieve my own goals with much of the knowledge and experience that she has helped me acquire. I am deeply grateful for her touch in my life.
While I was working as president of the New Hampshire Association of Naturopathic Doctors, I was inspired at a SALT conference to bring in a consultant to work with our association on strategic planning. It was a challenging process, but one where we moved forward as a group and all learned a lot. One thing that I have always held from those days of meetings was about volunteerism: our consultant impressed upon me that we should never separate our volunteers from their passion.
It takes a great deal of time and commitment to volunteer for any work—and perhaps most especially for this profession—because there is so much to be done and so few people to share in the tasks, which at times seem larger than life. I have worked on putting together speakers for the AANP Convention for the past four years—task which I think Karen inherently knew was my passion, and could rely upon me to spend many hours trying to perfect the process. It is bittersweet to let go of chairing that committee—made easier only by leaving it in such capable hands as those of Dr. Jacob Schor.
Karen Howard had an innate ability to recognize people’s passions – and help them find a way to fit service to our organization into their busy lives. I am not certain if it is testament to my lack of backbone or her great persuasive skills that I could not say no to her. Maybe I’ll try to hide for a while from our new ED! :’)
Hiring Rebecca Takemoto and her staff at Sync-Opate to handle our convention and other meetings such as the SALT and FLI was another insightful move on Karen’s part. Rebecca makes the convention run incredibly smoothly, and is perfectly cut out for a job where she is juggling 40 things at once and smiling calmly as she deals with the latest crisis. And let’s not forget the food. She makes sure that the chef’s anywhere we go provide fresh, green, allergy-sensitive foods—and as seen at the Biltmore—that taste wonderful.
When I look at our profession as a whole, from topics as diverse as the national legislative process to the process of trying to figure out what topics at a conference will be most interesting, I find myself perplexed. We are both so alike and yet so incredibly different. As Dr. Matthew Baral so eloquently said in his closing keynote address, there is no me, only us. There is no mine, only ours.
I wish many blessings for Karen as she finds a new place to share her incredible strengths.
The Arizona Biltmore. Photo by AANP President Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc.
Upon returning this week from the AANP convention at the Biltmore in Arizona, I have been very busy. Which is fantastic. I’m very grateful. But it has not allowed much time for reflection on all that has happened, one of the gifts that being away from our usual circumstances often affords us. But being at the convention barely allows time for a few deep breaths, much less assimilating what we are learning and assessing our place in our national association. So I will take a few moments here to offer some of my musings regarding our time together, a family of healing professionals, basking in the sun and the desert heat.First of all, while naturopathic medicine is still not more than a blip on the national landscape of health care, I was reminded yet again at what an amazing roll we might have in really, truly repairing not only the health-care system in America, but the health of all Americans. As we move into a new era of leadership in our community, I hope that this opportunity is realized.
Which brings me to thoughts about the resignation of our executive director for the past nine years, Karen Howard. I have a love-hate relationship with Karen and possibly always have. Let’s not call it love-hate. Let’s call it love-irritated relationship. We have very different styles of communication. I’m soft, squishy, and easy to tears—and dream of acquiring tactful disagreement skills. Karen is strong and outspoken and has no problem sharing her opinion, even if that may mean (what feels like) steamrolling over quieter voices. That said, I believe with all my heart that she has been the right person for our association for most of the last decade.
Karen has brought incredible awareness of our profession to our nation's capital—a stark change from the beginning of this decade. She has created networks within our own profession to assist more states in licensing naturopathic physicians, to help states with standing licenses to work together in improving scope of practice and marketability of NDs within those states, and she has taught so many of us how to come to our legislators with our information and expertise and ask for what we want. The DC FLI was an incredible undertaking and has blossomed with incredible success over the years. Most legislative health aids and legislators today know what a naturopathic physician is. This was not the case before Karen Howard took over the roll as full-time steward of our profession ten years ago.
Within the framework of the State Association Leadership Team (SALT), Karen taught us about strong associations and strategic planning. Many of us in our states' leadership roles brought this knowledge back to our states to assist local leadership in becoming more organized and stronger—not to mention becoming more proactive than reactive, learning to quit operating via putting out fires and start planning for the future.
When Karen took over as executive director, our association was fractured and deeply in debt. She thrives on picking up pieces in great disarray and building something that is stronger than it was before. And that she did. While I felt her resignation like a blow to the gut, once I recovered and began to breath again, I realized that she has equipped us with the ability to move forward and continue to achieve our goals as an association. And as one physician who has worked with her for many years, I feel that I will continue to be able to achieve my own goals with much of the knowledge and experience that she has helped me acquire. I am deeply grateful for her touch in my life.
While I was working as president of the New Hampshire Association of Naturopathic Doctors, I was inspired at a SALT conference to bring in a consultant to work with our association on strategic planning. It was a challenging process, but one where we moved forward as a group and all learned a lot. One thing that I have always held from those days of meetings was about volunteerism: our consultant impressed upon me that we should never separate our volunteers from their passion.
It takes a great deal of time and commitment to volunteer for any work—and perhaps most especially for this profession—because there is so much to be done and so few people to share in the tasks, which at times seem larger than life. I have worked on putting together speakers for the AANP Convention for the past four years—task which I think Karen inherently knew was my passion, and could rely upon me to spend many hours trying to perfect the process. It is bittersweet to let go of chairing that committee—made easier only by leaving it in such capable hands as those of Dr. Jacob Schor.
Karen Howard had an innate ability to recognize people’s passions – and help them find a way to fit service to our organization into their busy lives. I am not certain if it is testament to my lack of backbone or her great persuasive skills that I could not say no to her. Maybe I’ll try to hide for a while from our new ED! :’)
Hiring Rebecca Takemoto and her staff at Sync-Opate to handle our convention and other meetings such as the SALT and FLI was another insightful move on Karen’s part. Rebecca makes the convention run incredibly smoothly, and is perfectly cut out for a job where she is juggling 40 things at once and smiling calmly as she deals with the latest crisis. And let’s not forget the food. She makes sure that the chef’s anywhere we go provide fresh, green, allergy-sensitive foods—and as seen at the Biltmore—that taste wonderful.
When I look at our profession as a whole, from topics as diverse as the national legislative process to the process of trying to figure out what topics at a conference will be most interesting, I find myself perplexed. We are both so alike and yet so incredibly different. As Dr. Matthew Baral so eloquently said in his closing keynote address, there is no me, only us. There is no mine, only ours.
I wish many blessings for Karen as she finds a new place to share her incredible strengths.
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