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!

Tips to Stay Healthy During Winter Travel

Here's a recent piece from the Huffington Post you might find useful.

Enjoy!
AMY
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tips-to-stay-healthy-while-traveling-this-winter-season_us_5a3d55d2e4b06cd2bd03da6e

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

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

Here we are at the State House the day before the Governor signed the bill!

And the press release that went out today:

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/

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 30^th 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!