Throughout the year, we’ve had a couple discussions on alternative/ complementary medicine, role of culture, traditions in a person’s health. There were a few lectures on acupuncture, one presentation on aboriginal health, some discussions on herbal meds, and even a session on hot yoga (and yes, it was VERY HOT, i.e. lakes of sweat, not pretty). But we’ve never actually seen first hand what this meant. I mean it’s one thing for someone to give a PowerPoint presentation or for us to do some research off the net. But it’s a totally different thing to actually see for yourself how important these factors are in people’s health.
For our small group session today, our facilitator took us to the city’s aboriginal health centre. Basically, it was a place for First Nations people to seek medical care, counselling, dieticians, social workers, etc. What was most interesting about this place was that they also provided their patients access to a traditional healer.
After giving us a tour of the centre, one of their traditional healers came into speak with us about his role in patient care, as well as what their traditional medicines entailed. He spoke about and showed us some of the natural herbs and medicines he used, as well as some of the prayers, rituals performed. He then explained how they were concerned with the person as a holistic being, and that healing meant fixing the spirit, the mind, all the while telling us some amazing stories from his own experiences. It was incredibly enlightening because I had never thought of some of these things from the perspective he gave. How experiences in a person’s life can lead to disease, and by treating their mind, you can heal their whole body and person was very interesting. A lot of what he had to say related to the belief that people were all inherently good and kind, and that by giving them hope, many things could be treated. Wow. It was a wonderful experience, and it really helped that he had one of those stereotypical story-time voices. I swear I could have listened to him all day, he was that mesmerizing.
So I think today really demonstrated the importance of a person’s culture and traditions in their health and healing. Clearly, there are many things that modern medicine cannot explain. Not that I’m saying I don’t believe in Western medicine (of course I do, I’m studying to become a doctor right? And evidenced based med, woot!) but at the same time I feel that as humans our complexity is sometimes utterly mysterious. I sincerely believe that the two can and should work together. Even the ‘healer’ shared this opinion. But I guess that’s what makes ‘healing’ and treating patients so interesting. And in the end we all have a common goal, that of giving our patients the best care possible.
[N.B. When asked the question how a person can become a healer in the traditional sense (Ojibway in his case) he said that a person is chosen, picked. They do not pick themselves. It comes to them, whether through their own dreams or from the elders. It is, inherently I suppose, a calling. Again, wow. Could it be that as medical students training to be doctors, we were chosen, called? Things happen for a reason right? Darn, I really should pay attention to my dreams more often – (although, somehow I don’t think that last one about Orlando Bloom counts =S)]
For our small group session today, our facilitator took us to the city’s aboriginal health centre. Basically, it was a place for First Nations people to seek medical care, counselling, dieticians, social workers, etc. What was most interesting about this place was that they also provided their patients access to a traditional healer.
After giving us a tour of the centre, one of their traditional healers came into speak with us about his role in patient care, as well as what their traditional medicines entailed. He spoke about and showed us some of the natural herbs and medicines he used, as well as some of the prayers, rituals performed. He then explained how they were concerned with the person as a holistic being, and that healing meant fixing the spirit, the mind, all the while telling us some amazing stories from his own experiences. It was incredibly enlightening because I had never thought of some of these things from the perspective he gave. How experiences in a person’s life can lead to disease, and by treating their mind, you can heal their whole body and person was very interesting. A lot of what he had to say related to the belief that people were all inherently good and kind, and that by giving them hope, many things could be treated. Wow. It was a wonderful experience, and it really helped that he had one of those stereotypical story-time voices. I swear I could have listened to him all day, he was that mesmerizing.
So I think today really demonstrated the importance of a person’s culture and traditions in their health and healing. Clearly, there are many things that modern medicine cannot explain. Not that I’m saying I don’t believe in Western medicine (of course I do, I’m studying to become a doctor right? And evidenced based med, woot!) but at the same time I feel that as humans our complexity is sometimes utterly mysterious. I sincerely believe that the two can and should work together. Even the ‘healer’ shared this opinion. But I guess that’s what makes ‘healing’ and treating patients so interesting. And in the end we all have a common goal, that of giving our patients the best care possible.
[N.B. When asked the question how a person can become a healer in the traditional sense (Ojibway in his case) he said that a person is chosen, picked. They do not pick themselves. It comes to them, whether through their own dreams or from the elders. It is, inherently I suppose, a calling. Again, wow. Could it be that as medical students training to be doctors, we were chosen, called? Things happen for a reason right? Darn, I really should pay attention to my dreams more often – (although, somehow I don’t think that last one about Orlando Bloom counts =S)]
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