I will never forget a conversation I had with a GP colleague many years ago now, he looked tired and we were chatting about workloads etc. and he said to me, “If I had have known in uni what I know now about general practice I would have specialised!”  He then went on to describe the stress associated with fulfilling the role of the ‘one stop shop’, “I never know what’s about to come in my door and whatever it is: cardiology, obstetrics, oncology…I have to know what to do and how to best treat the patient”.  His overwhelm was palpable and he in fact was one of the most conscientious & competent doctors I knew.

I think, I’ve replayed & retold this conversation so many times because it translates readily into naturopathic practice.

When I qualified a squillion years ago, we all assumed general practice was the only option and the training with all its modalities left many of us fearing we would be ‘jack of all trades & master of none’ but nowadays, specialising, thankfully has become more common.  If you’re not yet doing this then it’s possibly time to have a serious think about it. Perhaps it’s a demographic (paediatrics, men, geriatrics) rather than a system and your specialisation does not have to be absolute…you get to make the rules 🙂

It’s my belief that with the ever increasing popularity of integrative medicine there is enough business out there for everyone and if we can each narrow our focus and become better at our given area, then the whole profession and industry will ultimately benefit.

Sometimes I think people are surprised when I openly declare, “I don’t do oncology and I don’t do fertility” and there are other things of course that I won’t treat or advise on because quite simply they’re outside my area of expertise. Far from feeling limited by this I find it always feels good to be able to say – ‘not my area, but let me give you the name of someone who’s excellent at this’.  There’s in fact a sense of relief at being able to instead spend my time more effectively deepening my knowledge and skills in the areas my patients and I really need me to!  The expectation from myself or from others that any of us will be across the latest investigation, dietary intervention and CAM treatment for every possible condition is unrealistic and likely to fail. By the way, I’ve often found patient’s respect for you increases when you say, “I’m not familiar with this condition/ this drug etc. so I am going to need to do some reading up on it”.

I got an email from an old client this morning who I previously treated for years with general health issues but she’s just had a complicated miscarriage and needs help…am I the right person…definitely not…but I know the names of some people who are excellent at this! 🙂

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