WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:06.660 Everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Naturopathic Futures podcast. 2 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:15.700 Today, I am super excited to talk to an incredible integrated GP who I have had the honor of knowing for a while, and 3 00:00:16.295 --> 00:00:17.115 I am 4 00:00:17.415 --> 00:00:23.515 really excited to see where this conversation goes because we already have so much overlap in the health care community. 5 00:00:23.575 --> 00:00:27.275 And I'm really excited to talk to you today, doctor Rachel Bedza. 6 00:00:28.370 --> 00:00:30.150 It's a privilege to be here, Tammy. 7 00:00:32.770 --> 00:00:35.490 You didn't have doctor at the front of your nine when you were born. 8 00:00:35.490 --> 00:00:38.310 So how did you get to become a doctor? 9 00:00:38.850 --> 00:00:40.470 What took you on that journey? 10 00:00:40.864 --> 00:00:41.024 Yeah. 11 00:00:41.024 --> 00:00:48.004 Look, it's, it's always a funny question when people ask me that because in some respects, I almost feel like I I was born to be a doctor. 12 00:00:48.625 --> 00:00:51.664 It really was in my psyche almost from the get go. 13 00:00:51.664 --> 00:00:56.670 Privilege that I actually did grow up in a family with a lot of doctors. 14 00:00:56.890 --> 00:00:59.629 I've got five GPs and three pharmacists 15 00:01:00.170 --> 00:01:02.910 in- Five? That's an uncle sort of generation, 16 00:01:03.690 --> 00:01:06.030 including my own parents who were both GPs. 17 00:01:06.810 --> 00:01:07.310 And 18 00:01:07.850 --> 00:01:14.325 I just, from the get go, always had a real passion to serve people, to help people, 19 00:01:14.785 --> 00:01:17.845 and an interest in health, genuinely just being 20 00:01:18.225 --> 00:01:20.085 being strong, being fit, helping 21 00:01:20.800 --> 00:01:25.140 myself and helping people around me to just be the best version of themselves that they could be. 22 00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:30.580 So you could almost say that it was a foregone conclusion that would end up in medicine, 23 00:01:31.360 --> 00:01:34.820 but it the journey has had its twists and turns along the way, for sure. 24 00:01:35.235 --> 00:01:35.735 Yeah. 25 00:01:36.035 --> 00:01:42.855 And I imagine with a lineage like that, stepping into an integrative space must have been an interesting journey. 26 00:01:43.475 --> 00:01:46.055 Can you tell us about that? Yeah. So 27 00:01:46.835 --> 00:01:47.335 the 28 00:01:47.795 --> 00:01:49.095 the way I've approached 29 00:01:49.470 --> 00:01:56.430 medicine has always been with kind of the philosophy that our bodies really are innately designed with the power to heal. 30 00:01:56.430 --> 00:01:59.010 And I know I'm speaking to the converted humans, but 31 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:00.210 it was actually 32 00:02:00.910 --> 00:02:05.244 quite a challenging experience for me going through the undergraduate 33 00:02:05.705 --> 00:02:07.005 medical program. Because 34 00:02:07.305 --> 00:02:09.565 on the one hand, my very scientific 35 00:02:10.025 --> 00:02:15.950 learner, hungry to learn brain was soaking in all of the science and the biology and the pharmacology and the pathophysiology 36 00:02:16.330 --> 00:02:20.910 and the anatomy, and I was just soaking all of that in. But at the same time, there was this 37 00:02:21.290 --> 00:02:21.790 discordance 38 00:02:22.090 --> 00:02:24.510 in what I believed and what we were being 39 00:02:24.890 --> 00:02:25.870 taught around 40 00:02:26.489 --> 00:02:28.510 what to actually do with that pathophysiology. 41 00:02:28.890 --> 00:02:34.795 And pharmacology, of course, seemed to be a very dominant part of the learning in terms of treatment modalities. 42 00:02:35.415 --> 00:02:40.155 Really felt that there was such a gap in any sort of nutritional 43 00:02:40.695 --> 00:02:41.195 or 44 00:02:41.575 --> 00:02:44.720 movement exercise type science that we were taught. 45 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:50.239 But of course, as a very young 18, 19, 20 year old, trying to study, trying to work part time, 46 00:02:50.939 --> 00:02:56.799 building a bit of a church community I was in at the time, and dating, ultimately getting married, like, it just took the back burner. 47 00:02:56.955 --> 00:03:00.095 And I think There's only so many priorities when it came to you. 48 00:03:00.155 --> 00:03:08.495 You graduate, you jump into internship residency, and that was, baptism by fire, as I think it is for all of us when we jump into hospital medicine. 49 00:03:09.660 --> 00:03:11.280 So the actual 50 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:12.400 step 51 00:03:12.780 --> 00:03:13.280 into 52 00:03:13.739 --> 00:03:16.080 more of that lifestyle and integrative medicine 53 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:18.640 actually came about more 54 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:25.025 later in my career, and I'm not that late in my career still, but it was, I'd say, probably 55 00:03:25.645 --> 00:03:31.265 six to seven years after actually being out in the general practice community, 56 00:03:31.885 --> 00:03:38.250 and then after I had my son and took a little bit of a step back from clinical practice 57 00:03:38.950 --> 00:03:43.370 and sitting with some health issues that my son was struggling that I really 58 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:48.010 started to just open my lens of awareness and start seeking 59 00:03:48.390 --> 00:03:49.370 that broader 60 00:03:49.825 --> 00:03:51.125 kind of lifestyle integrative 61 00:03:51.745 --> 00:03:52.644 space again. 62 00:03:53.185 --> 00:03:56.885 And, yeah, really have then just gone full steam ahead towards 63 00:03:57.265 --> 00:04:02.885 building my own awareness and expertise and networking in that more lifestyle integrative space. 64 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:03.980 Yeah. Wow. 65 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:06.460 I love that you use the term lifestyle 66 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:11.260 there and that you use the term health before you use the term medicine when we were talking 67 00:04:11.720 --> 00:04:13.580 because there is so much 68 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:15.960 that impacts our health. Right? 69 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:24.164 What do you believe from the lifestyle factors that you have come into contact with because you have a very busy practice and see a lot of people? 70 00:04:24.465 --> 00:04:26.965 What are the compounding factors that you see? 71 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:28.720 Look. 72 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:35.220 Fundamentally, the model that I actually bring pretty much to any presentation that comes into my room is 73 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:36.820 looking at 74 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.700 again, just coming back to that philosophy that the human body innately has the ability to heal. 75 00:04:41.824 --> 00:04:44.485 So, if there is some kind of symptomatology, 76 00:04:44.945 --> 00:04:47.604 some kind of disease, and it may or may not have a diagnosis, 77 00:04:48.065 --> 00:04:54.945 a lot of the time diagnoses can sometimes get in the way because they become a label that people then go down a particular track. 78 00:04:54.945 --> 00:04:55.445 Whereas, 79 00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:58.290 actually if we just take a step back and look at someone's 80 00:04:58.750 --> 00:05:04.290 state of being and the symptoms that they're struggling with, for me it often comes down to 81 00:05:04.830 --> 00:05:19.115 one of three things, or it's usually a combination of these three, and it's really looking at what are the inputs, what are the things coming into this body that are adding to the sort of inflammatory load or processing load that has to be dealt with? 82 00:05:19.175 --> 00:05:23.915 And that could be nutritional, it could be environmental toxins, chemicals, etcetera. 83 00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:34.420 It could be emotional and trauma and mindset and self talk, self identity beliefs that that sort of are unhelpful and not serving that person's internal well-being. 84 00:05:34.880 --> 00:05:39.620 And then I'm looking at how their own internal landscape is able to 85 00:05:40.005 --> 00:05:40.745 process those things. So, 86 00:05:41.605 --> 00:05:48.505 the digestive capacity, the specifics around their circulation, their blood pressure, their lymphatics, their posture, their movement. 87 00:05:48.805 --> 00:05:56.700 And this is, I guess, where some of the integrative stuff comes in around knowing the detoxification pathways, methylation and sulfation and glucuronidation and all that jazz. 88 00:05:56.700 --> 00:05:58.860 Oh, you're speaking our language, yes. Yep. 89 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:03.280 And then the third one is looking at how well is this person able 90 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:04.240 to actually 91 00:06:04.700 --> 00:06:06.055 eliminate and clear 92 00:06:06.515 --> 00:06:11.895 the metabolic waste and so forth, which is a normal process, of course, that we should all be doing all the time. 93 00:06:12.035 --> 00:06:13.975 Peeing, pooing, sweating, breathing. 94 00:06:14.275 --> 00:06:21.015 And that emotional work of being able to actually meditate and ground and let go of toxic emotions and negative thinking. 95 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:25.840 So within that sort of framework that I'm assessing 96 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:26.800 somebody 97 00:06:27.259 --> 00:06:29.759 And look, virtually any diagnosis 98 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:33.195 can actually be looked at with that lens of working out where 99 00:06:33.995 --> 00:06:36.015 are the weak spots in this person's 100 00:06:36.555 --> 00:06:38.575 pathway, if you like, or someone's roadmap. 101 00:06:39.275 --> 00:06:40.175 But then I'm 102 00:06:41.195 --> 00:06:41.695 essentially 103 00:06:42.075 --> 00:06:43.295 trying to help empower 104 00:06:44.075 --> 00:06:46.735 that person to have the understanding for themselves 105 00:06:48.310 --> 00:06:50.250 on what are the small kind of 106 00:06:50.789 --> 00:06:54.650 achievable steps that they're able to actually do in their own world, 107 00:06:55.030 --> 00:06:59.850 just small things that they apply consistently each day that will actually help to move the dial. 108 00:07:00.575 --> 00:07:04.995 And then I can also potentially bring in some sort of a bit more tweaky or specialised 109 00:07:05.535 --> 00:07:09.875 steps in the process to really guide that along and hopefully accelerate the healing. 110 00:07:10.175 --> 00:07:12.915 But then, sorry, coming back to your question, you said lifestyle. 111 00:07:13.615 --> 00:07:17.650 Where I'm really looking at is to try and actually help someone 112 00:07:18.190 --> 00:07:18.690 understand 113 00:07:19.150 --> 00:07:22.130 real food, what to eat, how to eat it. 114 00:07:22.910 --> 00:07:23.410 Amazing. 115 00:07:24.190 --> 00:07:33.014 Movement, going a little bit beyond just the surface level of do cardio, do weights, to actually looking at how to how to move in a way that's 116 00:07:33.395 --> 00:07:38.854 organic and that brings flow and really helps to fit with that person's 117 00:07:39.315 --> 00:07:40.775 nervous system and their 118 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:45.940 their ability to be present and to feel and to be aware of their own body. 119 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:50.980 That would often include some awareness around things like the fascia and the lymphatics. 120 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:52.980 Looking at rest and 121 00:07:53.435 --> 00:08:01.055 sleep, obviously, being a huge component of that, but also looking at it's interesting to ask people, when was the what what are your hobbies? 122 00:08:01.355 --> 00:08:03.855 What do you do when you've got spare time? 123 00:08:03.915 --> 00:08:08.310 And to some extent, I preach to myself when I say this, because I must admit that's a little bit of a weak 124 00:08:10.310 --> 00:08:10.389 point for me. 125 00:08:10.389 --> 00:08:14.470 We always point out that that we have those waves of clients that come to us and we're like, here's the advice. 126 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:18.570 And you hear it coming out of your mouth and you go, that one's for me as well. Exactly. 127 00:08:18.950 --> 00:08:21.290 Yep. Yeah. But, unfortunately, it's 128 00:08:22.335 --> 00:08:23.715 obviously becoming increasingly 129 00:08:24.255 --> 00:08:28.515 harder to achieve in this busy, bustling world for people to actually find 130 00:08:28.975 --> 00:08:30.835 that place of rest and 131 00:08:31.215 --> 00:08:34.034 just mental switch off, let the mind wander, 132 00:08:34.495 --> 00:08:37.315 spend some time just breathing, just to breathe. 133 00:08:38.929 --> 00:08:42.530 Yeah. And then the importance, as well, of purpose and meaning. 134 00:08:42.530 --> 00:08:44.630 So I actually do spend quite a bit of time 135 00:08:45.170 --> 00:08:47.910 asking people, What do you want? What actually really 136 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:52.415 does light you up? What gets you up in the morning? What would you like to achieve? 137 00:08:52.415 --> 00:08:56.495 What would you like to be doing five years from now, ten years from now? 138 00:08:56.495 --> 00:09:00.755 How do you wanna show up for your kids in twenty years, or your grandkids? And actually just 139 00:09:01.135 --> 00:09:05.875 getting people to stop and ask that real question around meaning and purpose and values. 140 00:09:06.699 --> 00:09:11.839 And then the final one that that I always try to incorporate as well is social connection. 141 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:19.199 And the real value of having someone in your corner, doesn't have to be a lot of people, but even just the one or two people who 142 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:22.875 you can have vulnerability, have trust, have some accountability 143 00:09:23.495 --> 00:09:28.235 Yeah. Touch, affectionate touch, have a hug, and the space where you can be emotionally 144 00:09:29.095 --> 00:09:35.450 authentic and vulnerable, which people don't really think of that as part of their health often. 145 00:09:35.589 --> 00:09:41.510 Yeah. And it is it is so wrapped up in how well someone is. Yeah. I'm sure you see it. 146 00:09:41.510 --> 00:09:47.444 We've had the statistics in Australia for mental health post COVID just keep skyrocketing, 147 00:09:47.745 --> 00:09:52.964 and there is a lot of conversation around the social isolation that continued after COVID. 148 00:09:53.345 --> 00:09:57.764 So it's a really great point to be able to know that is somewhere that you 149 00:09:58.140 --> 00:10:06.560 focus on with your clients because it can be the root cause of so many issues that arise, or it can perpetuate it for sure. 150 00:10:06.780 --> 00:10:11.280 Yeah. So those last two, the sort of connection, meaning, purpose, and social connection, 151 00:10:12.015 --> 00:10:12.755 I often 152 00:10:13.135 --> 00:10:14.835 find that they 153 00:10:15.535 --> 00:10:23.315 can be a real part like, the missing piece, if you like, in someone who's not moving forward, or if you feel like you're going around in circles. 154 00:10:23.775 --> 00:10:25.075 Yeah. That 155 00:10:25.670 --> 00:10:33.130 can often be it's the missing piece where if they don't have the support, they don't have the self belief, they don't have the vision that they can actually 156 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:38.310 improve or the hope that things will get better, then that sort of does put a ceiling. 157 00:10:38.310 --> 00:10:45.125 It puts a lid on how well someone There's only so much pharmacology can do, and pharmacology is absolutely extraordinary. 158 00:10:45.345 --> 00:10:48.725 And we're very lucky to have access to so many different types of medicines. 159 00:10:49.185 --> 00:10:52.145 But For sure. Like you said, there's only so much it can do. 160 00:10:52.145 --> 00:11:01.660 And if all of those things fail, there is other things underneath around purpose and mission and vision and a life well lived in in touch with people that you care about. 161 00:11:01.660 --> 00:11:03.020 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 162 00:11:03.020 --> 00:11:10.144 One of the things I've often found encouraging to me is that there's quite a bit of research in the general practice space around 163 00:11:10.445 --> 00:11:13.985 the value of having a consistent care provider 164 00:11:14.365 --> 00:11:17.404 that you have you've built rapport and trust with over years. 165 00:11:17.404 --> 00:11:24.285 And I'm sure it's I'm not sure if they've done the study, but I'm sure the actual outcomes will be the same in the naturopathic community, that Yeah. 166 00:11:24.457 --> 00:11:25.450 Just the power 167 00:11:25.990 --> 00:11:28.970 of having someone that you know has got your 168 00:11:29.910 --> 00:11:32.010 power and can actually be that consistent 169 00:11:32.470 --> 00:11:38.725 partner or guide walking through with you is therapeutic. It has power in itself. Very much. 170 00:11:38.725 --> 00:11:40.425 I love hearing that from a GP. 171 00:11:42.485 --> 00:11:43.465 Do you think your 172 00:11:44.085 --> 00:11:45.785 your lean towards 173 00:11:46.245 --> 00:11:46.745 those 174 00:11:47.525 --> 00:11:48.585 intangible medicines 175 00:11:49.209 --> 00:11:52.890 came from your experience in building your church community. 176 00:11:52.890 --> 00:11:57.230 You mentioned that right at the beginning when you were training as a as a medico. 177 00:11:58.970 --> 00:12:00.910 Is there a crossover there, do you think? 178 00:12:01.595 --> 00:12:02.875 I think there probably is. 179 00:12:02.875 --> 00:12:12.095 I haven't spent much time to deeply interrogate that for myself, to be honest, but, certainly, the values that I hold, that we are 180 00:12:12.475 --> 00:12:13.615 created with 181 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:18.870 a meaning and a destiny and a purpose, like, that's embedded in my faith from a very young age. 182 00:12:19.010 --> 00:12:21.750 And also seeing the power of 183 00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:25.510 the church community that I've been part of to actually 184 00:12:26.050 --> 00:12:35.165 help a whole community of people to to really live their best life and to be healthy and to be motivated to actually 185 00:12:35.705 --> 00:12:38.685 invest in healthy behaviours and healthy initiatives. 186 00:12:39.065 --> 00:12:39.725 One of 187 00:12:40.105 --> 00:12:43.670 the unique things about my church community is that it's a largely 188 00:12:44.050 --> 00:12:45.190 migrant population. 189 00:12:46.209 --> 00:12:46.949 We're built 190 00:12:47.250 --> 00:12:48.470 largely from an 191 00:12:48.930 --> 00:12:50.370 Indonesian student community. 192 00:12:50.370 --> 00:13:07.105 So, young people who were coming here on student visas and without security of tenure, they often were having to study and work and deal with the sort of nuances of the immigration department, as well as adjusting to a whole new language, whole new culture, life without their parents. 193 00:13:07.645 --> 00:13:13.620 And so to a large extent, as my husband and I and another couple were really the four 194 00:13:14.180 --> 00:13:17.320 founding members of this church twenty years ago now, and 195 00:13:17.860 --> 00:13:24.200 we really had the heart to build a family structure around these kids. They're kids. 196 00:13:24.740 --> 00:13:28.454 They're now all adults, and they've now often quite a lot of them have started their their own families. 197 00:13:28.454 --> 00:13:29.915 They've started their own businesses. 198 00:13:30.454 --> 00:13:35.654 Some have gone back to Indonesia, but, again, they've really set up their lives in a really positive way back there. 199 00:13:35.654 --> 00:13:36.555 And Amazing. 200 00:13:38.295 --> 00:13:40.795 It is. Ripple effect to have that 201 00:13:41.150 --> 00:13:43.410 one on one when you see 202 00:13:43.790 --> 00:13:45.330 a patient and 203 00:13:46.110 --> 00:13:46.610 to 204 00:13:46.990 --> 00:13:49.330 have that be born in a sandbox 205 00:13:49.710 --> 00:13:51.250 of an incredible 206 00:13:52.270 --> 00:13:56.290 diverse community and in a group and a wider ripple effect 207 00:13:56.774 --> 00:14:02.214 potentially globally because it's like you're saying, it's international now. So yeah. Cool. Yeah. 208 00:14:02.214 --> 00:14:02.855 Yeah. Correct. 209 00:14:02.855 --> 00:14:09.514 So it's absolutely a lot of crossover, and I think that's, to some level, also been my 210 00:14:10.550 --> 00:14:16.010 outlet and my place where I've actually had a lot of soul renewal and regeneration, because 211 00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:21.430 it can be very tiring, it can be very exhausting, and you can get compassion fatigue when you're sleeping. 212 00:14:21.430 --> 00:14:24.310 It's a real thing for so many clinicians, yeah? 213 00:14:24.310 --> 00:14:29.155 And having that third space like you were just describing is so important. 214 00:14:29.155 --> 00:14:35.575 And for you to have such a very direct third space that is full of connection and purpose 215 00:14:36.195 --> 00:14:37.095 Yeah. Amazing. 216 00:14:37.795 --> 00:14:39.335 Yep. That's cool. 217 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:42.440 Yeah. And especially in COVID, actually. 218 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:52.620 It was a hugely protective space for us in COVID, because we did obviously have to everything went online, both in the medical clinic and for church and church community. 219 00:14:52.920 --> 00:14:53.420 Yeah. 220 00:14:53.605 --> 00:15:01.285 But there was still that really authentic, deep connection and deep sense of community, and we're in this together, which was there in the church space. 221 00:15:01.285 --> 00:15:04.105 And I was able to bring that to the 222 00:15:04.565 --> 00:15:08.220 the compassion and the care and the connection that I was still bringing into the clinic. 223 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:11.439 And again, I think you can't underestimate 224 00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:13.439 the power of hope 225 00:15:13.819 --> 00:15:16.879 for healing. Okay. But for that sense collectively 226 00:15:17.259 --> 00:15:23.899 that we are in this together and that we are gonna work our way through it, and it might feel slow and it might feel frustrating at times. 227 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:27.575 And for people who are sitting there with chronic diseases, chronic illnesses, 228 00:15:28.355 --> 00:15:28.935 and often 229 00:15:29.635 --> 00:15:37.235 often they may have seen multiple doctors before and tried so many different things, spent so much money on treatments and supplements. 230 00:15:37.235 --> 00:15:46.040 And I've got patients on my books who literally will have five or six specialists in different specialties that they are seeing, and they're being told one thing and one thing and another. 231 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:49.080 And it's just so overwhelming and so confusing. 232 00:15:49.540 --> 00:15:51.720 -Yeah. -And so I've really 233 00:15:52.404 --> 00:15:52.904 found 234 00:15:53.445 --> 00:15:58.025 that so much more even than the medical knowledge that I can bring to someone, 235 00:15:58.485 --> 00:16:01.625 it's the ability to sit with them 236 00:16:02.245 --> 00:16:03.785 in their complexity 237 00:16:04.805 --> 00:16:08.510 and just to really bring back that sense of 238 00:16:09.130 --> 00:16:11.070 hope and optimism that 239 00:16:11.450 --> 00:16:16.990 we will get through this. We will find a way. Let's just take it slowly, one step at a time. Yeah. 240 00:16:17.130 --> 00:16:22.575 And try and help decode all of that confusion and overwhelm that's come through, 241 00:16:22.895 --> 00:16:24.575 unfortunately, the medical system. 242 00:16:24.575 --> 00:16:38.195 I know there's quite a lot of medical trauma out there in in the chronic health space, unfortunately, but that's where I see someone like myself, and again, I think a lot of your audience with the naturopathic community, are are being able to help 243 00:16:38.550 --> 00:16:39.450 hold space 244 00:16:40.070 --> 00:16:42.490 and restore hope. I love that. 245 00:16:43.190 --> 00:16:46.310 Hold space and restore hope. Where do you where do you 246 00:16:47.750 --> 00:16:49.850 what is your sense of where 247 00:16:50.805 --> 00:16:53.945 naturopaths sit within your healing village? 248 00:16:54.085 --> 00:16:57.785 So for me personally as a naturopath on a high street locally, 249 00:16:58.245 --> 00:17:00.425 when I was running my full booked clinic, 250 00:17:00.885 --> 00:17:06.540 we had a GP practice that had half a dozen GPs on the on the high street. 251 00:17:07.020 --> 00:17:13.520 And I remember going in, meeting with the GP practice, had an amazing conversation with two of the GPs in particular 252 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:15.280 who were just 253 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:19.520 like you what you're describing, were just really 254 00:17:20.194 --> 00:17:20.694 concerned 255 00:17:20.994 --> 00:17:24.775 that each body part was being looked after by a specialist, 256 00:17:25.635 --> 00:17:28.855 but they were there to advocate and decipher 257 00:17:29.155 --> 00:17:34.855 all of those body parts. And what what they said was, it really does take a village, and 258 00:17:35.560 --> 00:17:46.540 part of that is lifestyle, diet, understanding what supplements do, understanding what other impacts, like you were saying, that over delivery of too many things, that under delivery of not understanding 259 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:50.545 deficiencies terribly well, and then that entire system. 260 00:17:50.925 --> 00:17:51.425 And 261 00:17:51.805 --> 00:17:52.625 for me, 262 00:17:53.245 --> 00:17:55.345 collaborating with those GPs 263 00:17:55.645 --> 00:17:59.905 on collaborative care with those clients, we get such better 264 00:18:00.285 --> 00:18:04.260 responses because we were aligned and we chatted about it. 265 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:10.100 Where do you feel like natural therapists sit within the context of your healthcare system? Yeah. 266 00:18:10.100 --> 00:18:12.840 Yeah. I would love to see naturopathy 267 00:18:13.540 --> 00:18:16.600 nested in every general practice clinic across the country 268 00:18:17.705 --> 00:18:21.885 Because, as I say, I think the conventional medical training really just 269 00:18:22.185 --> 00:18:25.405 lacks so much of this understanding and awareness. 270 00:18:26.105 --> 00:18:29.085 In terms of the culture of general practice, 271 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.740 look, I think it is changing, and I think there is a window of opportunity 272 00:18:33.840 --> 00:18:35.220 for it may 273 00:18:36.080 --> 00:18:46.655 need a little bit more onus on the naturopathy community to bridge the gap toward general practice because without dissing my colleagues too much, there can be quite a closed mindedness 274 00:18:47.275 --> 00:18:51.295 that unfortunately just comes about. It's part of the way our training is structured. 275 00:18:51.435 --> 00:18:54.575 And we have exactly the same thing in the naturopathic community. 276 00:18:54.795 --> 00:18:57.620 There are percentage of us that are a little bit less 277 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.960 inclined to talk to the GPs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 278 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:15.695 But there's there is a wave of change coming through general practice, and it's been it has been part of the chatter in the community, I think, at least for the last probably eighteen, twenty four months, that partly because we are seeing so many structural changes to Medicare. 279 00:19:16.155 --> 00:19:17.455 And so the whole 280 00:19:17.915 --> 00:19:20.335 kind of mindset or model that 281 00:19:20.635 --> 00:19:23.455 it's quite ingrained to general practice that Medicare 282 00:19:23.755 --> 00:19:24.255 funds 283 00:19:24.570 --> 00:19:26.330 what's relevant or good for medicine. 284 00:19:26.330 --> 00:19:34.510 So you look at the exercise physiologist and the dietitian and the psychologist, and that's the box of allied health people will refer to because Medicare will fund them. 285 00:19:34.570 --> 00:19:36.750 Yeah. I do think that is 286 00:19:37.304 --> 00:19:41.565 getting shaken up at this point in time because we are seeing 287 00:19:42.184 --> 00:19:43.164 the sort of structural 288 00:19:43.865 --> 00:19:44.845 state of Medicare 289 00:19:45.625 --> 00:19:48.284 shifting, as well as the empowerment 290 00:19:48.585 --> 00:19:49.225 of people. 291 00:19:49.225 --> 00:19:54.980 I think just the explosion of information and AI and a lot of people are becoming a much more informed, 292 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:59.540 like, much more informed in their own health, and they're actually coming with 293 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:00.420 questions. 294 00:20:00.560 --> 00:20:06.100 And I know speaking to some colleagues, they will ask me, what is the thing about this or this supplement or that 295 00:20:06.465 --> 00:20:10.585 methylation process? Because I had a patient that was asking me, and I don't know. What will I have? 296 00:20:10.585 --> 00:20:13.365 How do I learn this? What does it mean? Is it real science? 297 00:20:13.664 --> 00:20:18.725 And so I think there is, to some extent, gonna be a patient driven demand 298 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:22.659 for lifestyle and natural medicine solutions as well. 299 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:32.740 So who knows where that's gonna take the general practice community as a whole, but I do think there will need to be a lot more openness in general practice, and those doctors who aren't open minded are gonna get left behind. 300 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:38.525 Yeah. Yeah. It's so interesting. And we're seeing the rise of a lot of telehealth clinics online 301 00:20:38.985 --> 00:20:42.605 under the banners of things like metabolic care or perimenopausal 302 00:20:43.065 --> 00:20:44.345 clinics. Women's clinic. 303 00:20:44.345 --> 00:20:49.405 And those women's clinics do have naturopaths on board, and they do have a team of GPs. 304 00:20:49.545 --> 00:20:54.180 It's it's it's being done. It's just, an interesting thing to see where everyone 305 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.960 gets the feeling for it, how we can all fit in in this because we're all in it to help people, be well and stay well. 306 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:01.460 Right? 307 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:02.980 Yep. So 308 00:21:04.345 --> 00:21:06.685 just one last thing on the missing pieces. 309 00:21:07.145 --> 00:21:08.345 When a client 310 00:21:08.825 --> 00:21:09.945 or we call them clients. 311 00:21:09.945 --> 00:21:16.125 When a patient comes to you and they have seen every other person, like, possibly naturopaths, possibly 312 00:21:16.505 --> 00:21:17.860 random tests, possibly 313 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.140 a team of specialists, and they've got a gamut of 314 00:21:21.760 --> 00:21:24.100 what is the best thing for 315 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:26.180 or what do you think is missing 316 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:28.180 that doesn't make it easy 317 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.580 for them to be able to 318 00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:32.020 show up 319 00:21:33.195 --> 00:21:37.294 and you help them as best you possibly can. Is there 320 00:21:39.434 --> 00:21:40.815 what's your favorite client? 321 00:21:45.034 --> 00:21:45.774 I I 322 00:21:46.950 --> 00:21:47.610 am often 323 00:21:48.549 --> 00:21:52.890 more open to like, I I open my books to people who really have 324 00:21:53.669 --> 00:21:55.370 an investment in their own 325 00:21:55.990 --> 00:22:00.570 health and lobbying. I'm not wanting people who just want the quick fix or the quick script, because 326 00:22:00.870 --> 00:22:01.690 that's not 327 00:22:02.345 --> 00:22:04.285 lifestyle medicine or longitudinal care. 328 00:22:04.585 --> 00:22:09.245 So there's not I guess the thing for me as a generalist is that I'm not really 329 00:22:09.545 --> 00:22:12.845 niching in any particular condition per se, 330 00:22:13.225 --> 00:22:18.929 but it is it's the psychographic. It's the person who does want to really work on their own health. 331 00:22:18.929 --> 00:22:26.230 They want to be empowered to do the right things for themselves, but they're stuck in that overwhelm or complexity or polypharmacy 332 00:22:26.610 --> 00:22:29.175 often from all the specialists giving them this, that, and whatever. 333 00:22:29.655 --> 00:22:30.555 And so 334 00:22:31.255 --> 00:22:35.515 the first few sessions with me are very often just really about 335 00:22:36.135 --> 00:22:37.595 sitting with their 336 00:22:38.055 --> 00:22:40.155 health and taking a really good 337 00:22:40.535 --> 00:22:42.715 sort of symptom review, symptom history, 338 00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:44.490 and also a longitudinal 339 00:22:44.790 --> 00:22:51.610 history, trying to actually understand the timeline of how have they got to the place where they are now, 340 00:22:52.309 --> 00:22:52.809 and 341 00:22:53.190 --> 00:22:54.410 just using 342 00:22:54.790 --> 00:22:55.690 that opportunity 343 00:22:56.465 --> 00:23:03.365 as a way to actually bring certain things to their own awareness that they may not have necessarily ever been asked or had on the radar. 344 00:23:03.585 --> 00:23:04.325 And it's 345 00:23:04.785 --> 00:23:05.605 things like 346 00:23:05.905 --> 00:23:10.760 head knocks when they were playing sport or I've got someone who was in 347 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:11.640 a 348 00:23:11.940 --> 00:23:21.240 in a relationship that just went a bit south, and there was some things that she'd stored as trauma in her body and with digestive issues and fibromyalgia, 349 00:23:21.620 --> 00:23:23.720 and ultimately we were able to identify 350 00:23:24.205 --> 00:23:31.725 quite a lot of sensory processing challenges that meant things that seem like a normal person in vermicompas would have been totally fine with those things. 351 00:23:31.725 --> 00:23:40.659 But because she was dealing with these sensory processing challenges, it was just magnified to the nth degree for her, and her body completely spiralled into 352 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:47.039 a massive trauma response out of what was a seemingly normal teenage relationship kind of breakup. 353 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:49.779 But that was the end of the story. And that can only really be delineated 354 00:23:50.159 --> 00:23:52.555 when you're doing a timeline 355 00:23:53.815 --> 00:23:56.475 and getting people to make those connections 356 00:23:56.855 --> 00:23:58.935 themselves rather than you pointing it out. 357 00:23:58.935 --> 00:24:03.435 Because I'm sure you get a bunch of people that just come in with, here's all of my 358 00:24:03.850 --> 00:24:08.990 things. My results. Here's all my results from past for ten years. The folder thing. 359 00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:10.750 Yeah. 360 00:24:11.690 --> 00:24:19.075 And so doing a system review is something very similar for all of us, but that being able to give those 361 00:24:19.855 --> 00:24:20.355 moments 362 00:24:21.295 --> 00:24:28.275 because it is different when you've got a specialist on one arm and a specialist on a different part of your body and another specialist there. 363 00:24:28.415 --> 00:24:33.395 It's not making those connections when you've had those specialist appointments or those other issues. 364 00:24:33.649 --> 00:24:42.070 And like you said, tracking back to never been well since, like, a trauma a traumatic episode that seems to have really embedded. 365 00:24:42.529 --> 00:24:47.350 Do you have a lot of time to do that as a doctor? Like, how does that for you guys? 366 00:24:47.735 --> 00:24:47.895 No. 367 00:24:47.895 --> 00:24:57.115 That that's the big wrestle, and I'm continuing, and I probably will always continue to try and just wrestle with, how do I how do I structure this in a way that makes sense for both 368 00:24:57.415 --> 00:24:58.795 the patients and for myself? 369 00:24:59.095 --> 00:25:03.110 I am fortunate that my particular clinic has set twenty 370 00:25:03.570 --> 00:25:08.230 minute appointments as the default rather than the usual ten or fifteen practice. 371 00:25:08.770 --> 00:25:13.670 But I do have a much higher proportion of double appointments, which means forty minutes. Yeah. 372 00:25:13.890 --> 00:25:16.675 And, yeah, look, I am certainly working 373 00:25:17.135 --> 00:25:19.475 on some ways that I can actually have 374 00:25:19.775 --> 00:25:31.659 some off-site or online resources to be able to help utilise some of the just general knowledge, general tools in a way that's not taking up consultation time, but also helps helps 375 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:34.940 people to work through these things through the sort of structural 376 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:38.620 pattern that I would normally follow in a consultation as well. Fantastic. 377 00:25:39.159 --> 00:25:39.880 I love that. 378 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:45.955 I love being able to make sure that lifestyle medicine gets to a broader and you would know being family GP. 379 00:25:47.215 --> 00:25:50.255 Yeah. Mom come in and looking after the kid. 380 00:25:50.255 --> 00:25:54.330 And then all of a sudden mom decides, oh, actually I know I can trust you. I'll come and see you. 381 00:25:54.330 --> 00:25:57.150 Oh, actually you're really great. You can come and see my sister 382 00:25:57.610 --> 00:25:58.110 and 383 00:25:59.050 --> 00:26:06.090 being able to prepare them or being able to have them be able to share resources like that from somebody who has really trusted in their network. 384 00:26:06.090 --> 00:26:08.434 It'd be a phenomenal thing. Amazing. 385 00:26:09.134 --> 00:26:09.294 Yeah. 386 00:26:09.294 --> 00:26:16.755 It is actually one of the beautiful privileges I have, I have a few families under my care who I literally have four generations of the same family. 387 00:26:17.934 --> 00:26:19.554 It's just, it's such a privilege. 388 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:20.860 Wow. 389 00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:22.300 That's incredible. 390 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:23.900 Yeah. Oh, my goodness. 391 00:26:24.760 --> 00:26:27.420 What do you think is the future of lifestyle medicine? 392 00:26:30.120 --> 00:26:33.100 I think it's only got to get bigger and brighter. 393 00:26:33.195 --> 00:26:37.455 I think the challenge is going to be keeping it really just 394 00:26:37.835 --> 00:26:39.695 real and grounded and genuine 395 00:26:39.995 --> 00:26:41.294 in actually lifestyle, 396 00:26:41.595 --> 00:26:43.215 as opposed to all these 397 00:26:43.835 --> 00:26:49.460 supplements and tweaks and add ons that every influencer wants to add charge a fee for. Yeah. 398 00:26:49.760 --> 00:27:00.400 But at the end of the day, I think there's a common sense element that if we can just keep trumpeting the message loud and clear, that you've just you just want to eat well, move well, sleep well. 399 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.059 It's clean air, clean food, clean brain. 400 00:27:03.735 --> 00:27:06.075 Connect with people you love and live with purpose. 401 00:27:06.375 --> 00:27:06.775 Exactly. 402 00:27:06.775 --> 00:27:12.395 But if we can just keep that message going through loud and clear, and empower people with the 403 00:27:13.095 --> 00:27:15.270 belief, with the sense of optimism that, 404 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:18.010 actually, this is achievable, 405 00:27:18.470 --> 00:27:25.210 the small steps that they can just apply each day consistently and just layer in, it it is the way of health 406 00:27:25.910 --> 00:27:27.610 for the future. And, 407 00:27:28.294 --> 00:27:37.654 yeah, I think if we as you've said, if we can actually just continue to try and partner together more and more and each part of the team doing our part, none of us can none of us can do it alone. 408 00:27:37.654 --> 00:27:38.794 But if it's a profession, 409 00:27:39.255 --> 00:27:42.715 we just keep that message loud and clear. I think the way forward is bright. 410 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:43.740 Beautiful. 411 00:27:44.679 --> 00:27:46.220 This is such a hopeful 412 00:27:46.520 --> 00:27:47.020 conversation. 413 00:27:48.600 --> 00:27:51.020 Doctor Rachel, it's been absolutely lovely. 414 00:27:51.240 --> 00:28:03.675 Thank you for continuing to do the work that you do and helping in such a massive way in so many different communities that you are here to serve, and I'm looking forward to seeing where all the next parts of the lifestyle physician take you. 415 00:28:03.675 --> 00:28:06.815 Thank you again. Yeah. Lovely. It's been a pleasure. Thanks, Tammy.