happening with clients and open myself up more to what I could do to help . I ’ m trying hard to retire these days and haven ’ t seen any new clients for years , but prevention now is a far more important thing to my clients than treatment . Most competent practitioners can successfully treat most clients but keeping clients healthy in the long term without the need for any medicine , natural or otherwise , is a bit more of a challenge , and it ’ s what I like to focus on these days .
Have fluctuations in government policies and regulations over that time exerted much influence over the way you practise ? They have . The recent loss of private health insurance rebates for many of our modalities has obviously meant that they can ’ t be offered to clients and can ’ t be used as a marketing tool . Happily though , this is about to be remedied , thanks in large part to the hard work of a few key people in organisations like the ATMS , and it ’ d be nice to think that we can hold on to them once they ’ re back .
We continue to see a shrinkage in our dispensaries as more and more natural medicines are regulated out of our hands due to movements in the federal government ’ s Poisons Standard and associated Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons ( SUSMP ), both of which govern what we can and can ’ t stock and prescribe to clients . For example , when I entered the profession I had access to Blue flag , Borage , Lungwort , Comfrey , Coltsfoot and Ephedra . In recent times these have been placed in Schedule 10 of the SUSMP on the basis that they ’ re “ substances of such danger to health as to warrant prohibition of sale , supply and use ” and are therefore no longer available to us for internal use .
Do you have a referral network with other natural medicine practitioners / other health practitioners ? Yes . Referral networks are critical . We can ’ t do everything for our clients on our own but we can certainly get close to it if we have good connections to other practitioners . Over the years I ’ ve worked closely with massage practitioners , acupuncturists , osteopaths , chiropractors , Yoga teachers , medical practitioners , reflexologists , aromatherapists , psychologists , pharmacists , fitness instructors , counsellors and other naturopaths and homeopaths who could act as locums for me if required . I ’ ve referred lots of clients to these practitioners over the years and have had lots of referrals back from them .
What is your opinion about the integration of natural medicine with mainstream medicine ? In theory it ’ s a great idea but it depends on the model that ’ s used . Here in Australia the most common manifestation of that is the private integrative medicine clinic . The big ones frequently employ GP ’ s , mindbody practitioners , psychologists , acupuncturists , chiropractors , naturopaths and maybe massage practitioners and nutritionists . What I ’ ve noticed in the clinics that I ’ ve seen is that often the practitioners in those clinics who may have been trained in wholistic care become more reductionist / orthodox in their outlook and the way that they deal with clients . So I think it ’ s a great idea but for it to work everyone needs to stay connected to their philosophical roots .
Would you like to see natural medicine practitioners working more closely with mainstream medical or other health practitioners ? If so , why / if not , why not ? Yes , I would . Simply because of the advantages to clients - the crossfertilisation of philosophies and viewpoints that occurs when different healthcare modalities meet can produce some excellent results , both diagnostically and clinically . In addition , there ’ s a significant lack of trust between the average medical practitioner and the average natural medicine practitioner . This does nobody any good , particularly clients , and working more closely together reduces the potential for mistrust .
The reputation and acceptance of homeopathy seems to have suffered more than some other natural medicine modalities ( e . g ., remedial massage , acupuncture ). What are your thoughts about that ? The mechanism by which homeopathy operates is unknown , seems scientifically counter-intuitive , and for a lot of people , if they don ’ t know how it works , then it can ’ t work . A local GP came to see me a few years ago and said that he ’ d been to a medical conference overseas and had picked up Dengue fever . He specifically asked me to treat him with homeopathy . When I asked him why he said that so that he could be certain that it wouldn ’ t work . Unfortunately for his prejudices it did . And fortunately for me he sent a number of his friends who ’ d been to the same conference and contracted the same disease along to the clinic and most of them had successful recoveries . Most were great client referral sources . Experience tends to dissolve philosophical obstacles in those who are open to the experience .
What are your thoughts about evidence-based medicine ? Do you see any signs of increasing acceptance among mainstream practitioners and government policy-makers of the sort of evidence for homeopathy ’ s efficacy that you regularly provide to readers of JATMS ? I think evidence-based medicine ( EBM ) is great , as long as it ’ s done properly . If you read the works of John Ioannidis it ’ s obvious that it can be misused and often has been , regardless of the format , whether that ’ s the classical EBM instrument ; the randomised controlled trial ( RCT ), or the allegedly more comprehensive systematic review ( SR ). But if it ’ s done properly , with minimal bias and maximum objectivity , the RCT or SR are very valuable tools , particularly in the natural medicine arena where for lots of potential clients , Dr Google rules , and not very wisely .
What can individual practitioners and industry bodies like ATMS do better to encourage policy-makers and
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