FieldNotes from Natural Medicine
Life through the lens of my beloved field of medicine
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Naturopathic healthcare winter newsletter-march 2018
With a piece on c. diff!
https://tinyurl.com/nhcmed2018
xoxo
Amy
https://tinyurl.com/nhcmed2018
xoxo
Amy
Friday, December 29, 2017
Naturopathic Health Care Happy New Year Newsletter
FieldNotes from Natural Medicine- our latest practice newsletter. Enjoy and Happy New Year 2018!
Getting my winter sunshine! |
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Friday, April 21, 2017
Naturopathic medicine’s role in fighting the opioid crisis
I wrote this piece a while back & it was just published in the Boston Globe.
Unfortunately they cut out some of the parts I liked best AND ALL the references, so I've just put my entire piece up on the Huffington Post and can be read here.
Natural medicine has so much to offer patients suffering with chronic pain-- let's hope the right patients get to the right doctor when in need!
Love & light,
AMY
Unfortunately they cut out some of the parts I liked best AND ALL the references, so I've just put my entire piece up on the Huffington Post and can be read here.
Natural medicine has so much to offer patients suffering with chronic pain-- let's hope the right patients get to the right doctor when in need!
Love & light,
AMY
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Governor Baker Signs Bill to License Naturopathic Doctors in Massachusetts
Thrilled to share our happy, happy news after a 24 year effort!
Thank you for all your love & support in getting this over the finish line!
Here's an op-ed I wrote right before this bill was signed into law!
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2017/01/08/naturopathic-medicine-good-for-massachusetts/hfLdp9qUIcmqz9R6t5lUYL/story.html
And the press release that went out today:
Here we are at the State House the day before the Governor signed the bill! |
Boston,
Massachusetts, January 12, 2017.
Governor Charlie
Baker signed into law a bill that offers licensure to naturopathic doctors
(NDs) in Massachusetts. This licensure ensures the safe practice of
naturopathic medicine in the Baystate.
A
grassroots effort led by thousands of grateful patients helped get this
legislation over the finish line. Massachusetts’ residents will now be able to
access ND care locally instead of crossing state lines to seek such care. All
New England states, save Rhode Island, have licensed NDs for over 20 years.
This law affords people of Massachusetts an option to include well-educated and
trained NDs on their health care team for the ND expertise in both preventive
medicine and natural integrative care.
Naturopathic
doctors are rigorously
trained in post graduate, four-year, in-residence, regionally and nationally
accredited naturopathic medical schools. Graduates pass psychometrically sound
examinations prior to eligibility for licensure and require industry standard
continuing education coursework.
There has been a paradigm shift in
attitudes and acceptance of natural and integrative medicine, which is ongoing.
Scientific rigor applied to the evaluation of empirically based nutritional,
botanical, and other naturopathic treatments continues. Numerous naturopathic
institutions are recipients of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and
other grants to advance medical research. Naturopathic doctors have been
awarded competitive NIH fellowships.
Amy
Rothenberg ND, president of the Massachusetts Society of Naturopathic Doctors
(MSND) reports, "I, along with my colleagues in Massachusetts and across
the country, look forward to the opportunity to join the ranks of health care
providers in the Commonwealth. I
applaud Governor Baker and the legislative process that studied and vetted this
profession for over 24 years and came to understand the unique role that
licensed NDs can play in the state.“
Paul
Herscu ND, MPH and MSND Legislative Chair furthers, “Naturopathic doctors are
poised to bring evidence based knowledge and expertise to the Massachusetts
clinical, public health, teaching and research settings.”
“This is
the second state to gain licensure within the last two months. Governor Wolf of
Pennsylvania signed a bill into law in November, bringing to 22 the number of
states and jurisdictions that recognize naturopathic medicine,” states Anne McClenon
ND of Plymouth.
“Because
Massachusetts is surrounded by licensed states, we had become a haven for those
without appropriate education and training to use the term naturopathic
doctor,” comments Lisa Arnold ND of Cape Cod. This law protects public health
by enabling Massachusetts’ citizens to understand credentials of practitioners
seen.
“We have
a long history in licensed states of providing safe and effective care. In the
weeks leading up to Governor Baker’s signing this bill, high level state politicians,
Secretaries of Health and Human Services, and members of Departments of Public
Health from licensed states weighed in with their positive experiences with
naturopathic medicine in their respective states,” adds Allison Willette, ND
from Hadley. In addition, insurance company executives, leaders from the
business world, medical researchers along with scores of medical doctors and
other allied health professionals contacted Governor Baker urging the signing
of this bill.
In licensed
states, NDs work collaboratively with allied health providers, whether from
private practice, in integrative clinics or health care centers, and in clinics
that care for the underserved. Massachusetts patients will now be able to
safely access the skills and expertise of NDs in the Baystate.
The Massachusetts
Society of Naturopathic Doctors (MSND) is the professional association
representing licensable naturopathic doctors in the Commonwealth. For further information please contact http://msnd.org/contact-us/
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Leg of Lamb
Happy New Year!
During our holiday week, dear friends came over for dinner. We
had the idea of making something new. So I found a choice specimen at the
market of the required ingredient and came home to find Paul riveted to YouTube watching a French chef expertly
preparing a leg of lamb. One part
of the operation required Paul poke gentle holes in the leg, insert a sprig of
rosemary on which he had wrapped a curled up anchovy and a clove of garlic. These
flavor spears dotted the meat here and there and made for a pretty display. As
basically a life long vegetarian, this production might well have given me
pause, but actually there was a bit of a thrill, when some hours later, with a
modicum of artistry, Paul presented that leg on a bed of wavy kale, dotted with
raspberries on one side and succulent green grapes piled high on the other.
Life came rushing back in for me during 2016. I just pretty much said YES to
everything in 2015, to every invitation, every date, every new opportunity. And
then in 2016, I had to make good on my word! It was a whirlwind year with many
blessings and opportunities in both work & play. We saw each of our kids
take giant leaps professionally, we welcomed new people into our lives and
celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. A big ballroom dance party
where among other things, I
debuted my new (fledgling) skill- tap dancing, for which I had secretly taken
lessons for months. It’s hard to surprise a lifelong partner and Paul was
flabbergasted—just the reaction I was going for!
My health is excellent and my spirits run high.
And all of this over the backdrop of so much trouble in the world
and an unknowable future. I lean on many of the tools I sharpened during
illness to stay grounded and centered and forward facing, during the much
larger, deeply concerning national and global stresses of our time.
We all sit poised to welcome 2017 into our lives, to vision
it, to create it, live it, enjoy it and wring out all the goodness we can find.
Learning ballroom dance cracked
our world open to the thrill of learning something new, doing something
strange, meeting people whose paths we’d probably otherwise never cross, taking
chances, being silly, doing something just cause it’s fun. Sometimes we look at
each other and say, what else should we try? What else should we learn? What else can we get good at? Where else
can we let this life take us? Watching Paul wrap those little anchovies around that sturdy sprig of rosemary,
I loved that, a small gesture, the familiar hands, the focused concentration, something
I’d never see him do before.
I don’t know what your leg of lamb will be this year, but
hopefully there will be a few things, some smaller, some bigger that tickle
your fancy, enliven your tastebuds, bring new energy and love into your life.
May we all be blessed for a healthy & happy New Year in a world of peace.
With love & light,
AMY
New Year's Day Hike. Quabbin Reservoir Snow & Sand! |
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