Where Were The Doctors?

Last week, I attended an all-day conference on mind-body medicine here in Santa Fe. At the beginning of the day, the speaker obviously wanted to know the professional make-up of her audience, so she called out various professions and had us raise our hands in response. Of course, nurses made up the majority of the approximately 225 people in the crowded room, and psychologists, counselors and social workers were also very well-represented. And when she asked about doctors, only one person raised his hand. A murmur rippled through the crowd, and there was much ironic laughter. So, where were the doctors?The presenter for this conference is a well-respected speaker and researcher with a long history at UCLA and UCSF, and her credentials are very impressive. In terms of quality of information, she drew her data from well-run research by her many peers in the fields of psychoneuroimmunology and mind-body medicine, and her grasp of the material was impressive (even if her delivery could have been more dynamic, but that's another story). From nutrition to cancer to mindfulness, she delivered interesting and thought-provoking material that could very well alter medical practice--or at least suggest new ways of thinking and approaching patient care. Chatting with some of my fellow audience members during breaks, I asked why they felt there was only one doctor in the room, and most simply shrugged their shoulders, rolled their eyes, or made somewhat disparaging comments about doctors ...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nurses Tags: nursing education health care mind-body medicine nursing care nurse physicians Source Type: blogs