Sounds were emanating not just from me, but from everyone around me, at my table. Admittedly, I was sitting with some very seasoned practitioners, no doubt skewing how representative the sample was of our entire profession, however, at least one thing was clear. Allowing each sponsor the mic for 90 seconds to hard-pitch at us prior to each session of the conference – and sometimes that meant 4 sponsors back to back in a row! – didn’t feel, to experienced practitioners, ‘right’, ‘good’, ‘appropriate’ nor, conference organisers & sponsors please take note, therefore, ultimately effective. Now, of course, I don’t have data to base this on – I’m just going off the low-level groans – along with under-the-breath comments such as, ‘Let’s be sure to put this at the top of our feedback forms!’ Done.
Now recently, I wrote about not wanting to blog from atop a mountain 🌄
Because of course it’s an incredibly privileged position & one that offers potentially, a lot of protection from the realities of life actually on the ground.
Also, that’s a particularly risky take for someone with matching fingerprints! Having run a national naturopathic conference (& precisely 2.7 times -the 3rd all systems go until a nasty virus took us out), that received sponsorship $ from industry, I am all too familiar with the harsh financial realities of running these events. Actual ticket sales cover very little of the actual bill. Especially when we all enjoy the spoils of beautiful venues, edible offerings from caterers, along with all the bells & whistles, e.g. yoga at sunrise & networking drinks at sundown. Transforming what could feel like, yet more work, into something occupying the space between research & a reset. I mean, I’ve pitched pitching our own tents in some bush for a conference where we each cook our own meals over a campfire & entertainment ends with a bit of Kumbaya at 8 but only the most hardcore hippies among us seemed keen. Thanks Jason & Dawn for your boundless enthusiasm 😂
But whenever industry is involved it immediately takes a range of topics off the table.
I know this all too well. Great abstracts addressing some of the most important issues will never see the light of day. Certain people will never get a speaking spot. And even in the instance someone manages to get something onto a program that promises to explore issues on the edge of, or even out-of-reach, of what sponsors are prepared to financially support – perhaps that’s questions about the quality of their products & services, or the health & integrity of the relationship we, as a profession, have with our associated industry – the politics that then plays out is deeply disheartening. Either beforehand, via excessive editorial oversight, e.g. remove slides 4,5 & 6, or after the fact. This was the jarring & scarring experience we had first hand with the industry-sponsored, yet entirely independent, Australian Naturopathic Summit. After getting our audience in the mood, via some on-stage bad dancing to ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd, Jason, Nirala and me dared to present concrete de-identified evidence of some unethical behaviour by practitioner-only supplement companies. The first aftershock we all felt was right there in the room. As it became clear that many practitioners had swallowed the story whole sold to them: that these commercial interests were there to merely ‘support’ us, not ‘sell’ us anything (laughable considering practitioner-only brands supposedly only have one customer : practitioners) & certainly not ‘swindle’ us…ever! The second after-shock came later.
The backlash from some sponsors was fast & furious.
For others it was a long slow burn & grudge that meant that all future sponsorship of the ANS was in severe jeopardy.
And the 3 of us, as the presenters of this evidence, were independently targeted.
We all have thick skin (plumped by good nutrition😉) so that’s not the point but rather where do these conversations happen now? Not so long ago I had an off-the-record 4 way conversation with 2 leading naturopathic educators and 1 integrative GP who also offers training. It was prompted by a mentoring session a practitioner, who had only recently undertaken training with several of them, had with me. I was stunned because this well meaning and clearly well-educated praccie presented a case with a whole swathe of testing performed by a particular very dubious pathology provider. I went back to each educator and asked, ‘Are you recommending these guys?” and ‘Heck no!’ was the answer all round. With each adding something to the effect of, ‘Their results are entirely unreliable. I can’t openly say that for fear of litigation or at the very least backlash but we all know this, right?! [wrong 😥] …I share images of results from other providers in my training – trusting practitioners pick up on the fact that I never use them – that’s the best I can do!’ 😶
So now, a word from my Sponsors.
🦗🦗🦗
Yep crickets. I ain’t got none which is a good thing because I believe we desperately need a place to speak openly about the issues that matter. I am not anti-industry. And the conversations I want all of us to share in are much bigger and go way beyond this. But if we find ourselves in this place, where all the big names in naturopathic education know something that none of them can say out loud, such that practitioners continue to incorrectly place their trust, & spend their patients’ money, with companies underserving of that trust – well we need to find a better way 🙄
I am leaving the blogosphere.
Well not entirely but almost. At the EOFY all my weekly blogs will be accessible only to those signed-up to The Curious Minds Club.
Every event, practitioners tell me how they love these blogs. I’ve heard ‘learning while laughing (lmao)’ more than once and it never fails to delight! And I love this small kind of community that we’ve created here between you and me. I so appreciate being able to talk to you. To have the ‘other conversations’, the ones others can’t or won’t. The bigger ones, the tougher ones, the more involved, complicated ones, than most mediums and messaging allows. But I also have had a rapidly growing sense that I want to say more and I really want to hear from you.
So we’re switching on comments.
Because I want this to be an actual conversation between us – not me monologing from atop the mountain! too removed from the realities of our very real clinical lives. I want it to be a co-creation. So we get to address the questions that might remain for you about an issue, the weeds we need to walk through together, in order to come out the other side with real clarity. Whether that’s in relation to ethics, practice models, education, prescribing, diagnostics, industry, politics etc
I’m genuinely excited about this next chapter. More depth. More honesty. More conversation.
We’ll be in touch with the details soon.
Because you’re on our mailing list you’ll be first to know.