In Defense of Doctors
If youve been following my blog series about Pink Medicine, youll see that Ive been kind of harsh to thedoctors of the Old Medicine. Ive put out aglobal apology on behalf of physicians everywhere. Ive ranted aboutdoctors who get annoyed with empowered, educated patients. And Ive suggested thatpatients have the power to heal themselves.
So if youre a doctor, you might be feeling a little raw right now and think I dont love you. (If you feel this way, read myLove Letter To Doctors andIm Sorry, Wounded Healers and youll feel better, I swear!)
It may seem like Im lashing out at the system, and that may be true in some ways, but I feel like its important to acknowledge what I love and appreciate about medicine. AsI wrote here, Ive had an on-again-off-again love affair with medicine, and Ive only recently made peace with the conflict I feel.
But before I keep writing about Pink Medicine and how I believe we can heal ourselves, let me speak just for a moment in defense of the profession Ive been immersed in for the past 16 years. Im not in any way suggesting that Western medicine doesnt ROCK. It does. The technological advances of the past 100 years have changed everything, and for the first time in history, we can truly alter the course of a persons life. W! e can av ert death, extend lives, and alleviate suffering.
The advent of antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, transplant surgeries, MRIs, and any number of other medical advances have revolutionized how we think about illness. We can keep preemie infants alive and repair diseased hearts. We can cure cancers and replace worn out joints. We can implant test tube babies into infertile women and rescue dying fetuses.
What we can do with the tools in our physician toolboxes is nothing short of miraculous.
As a doctor, I am infinitely grateful for my education, and I bow with great respect to the teachers who have trained me. As a patient, I am infinitely grateful for the medical advances that have granted me my health.
Im in no way suggesting that Western medicine isnt a key ingredient in the healing process. In fact, I think there should be a doctor at every healing round table.
What I am suggesting is that we docs get off our high horses, expand our minds, educate ourselves, and open our hearts to all the other healing modalities that are changing lives, healing bodies, mending hearts, calming minds, and liberating spirits. I am suggesting that we listen to our patients, recognize the power they have to heal themselves, and approach them as equals, honoring the great healing gifts they hold.
Where Is The Love?
Most importantly, Im suggesting that we reclaim the love. Pink Medicine is really the medicine of ancient times mixed with the advances of modern technology. A hundred years ago, love and a stethoscope is pretty much all we had. We didnt have complicated laboratory tests, chemotherapy, CT scanners, antibiotics, and open heart surgeries. When someone got sick, the doctor would show up, sit at the bedside, make efforts to alleviate suffering, nurture the family, prescribe herbs, and offer love.
Now, weve shifted 180 degrees. We now have many tools that offer great benefit to our patients, but were on the verge of losing what matters most. The greate! st heali ng power in the world is love. Plain and simple. We need to circle back another 180 degrees, so that weve come full circle, where we can reclaim the old and marry it with the new.
Therein lies the magic we have yet to fully embrace.
Lets Marry The Two
In Pink Medicine, Im suggesting that we marry the best of ancient medicine traditions like shamanism, herbal healers, and physicians of times past with the best of modern medicine. If you shake that all up in a test tube with Pop Rocks and sprinkle it with loads of love and cold hard science, you wind up with Pink Medicine, which can facilitate miracles.
Are You Ready For Your Miracle?
Make sure tobecome a Pink Medicine Revolutionary so we can keep in touch about Pink Medicine and the ways you can help The Movement!
Tell me what you think of all this? Id love to hear your thoughts.
Marrying the two,
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Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder ofOwningPink.com,Pink Medicine Revolutionary,motivational speaker, and author ofWhats Up Down There? Questions Youd Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.
Learn more aboutLissa Rankin here.
