Integrative Medicine Help

[avil0017]

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This is my third year of applying to PA schools and not getting accepted. I feel lost and need advice pertaining to what avenue I should pursue.

In short, I want to combine the best of both allopathic and holistic medicine. I believe that allopathic medicine excels in the sciences but does not efficiently produce healing outcomes. (Cost of care, managing symptoms instead of treating the underlying cause, management of patient care through different specialties, repeat visits etc.) I believe that integrative medicine is a great tool in healing the mind, body, and spirit but does not have the scientific literature to back their claims. Ultimately in whatever profession I pursue, I want to be able to practice preventative, functional, and integrative medicine. My focus will be on healing the mind, body, and spirit.

Mind - I want to utilize biofeedback and mind-body therapies in conjunction with pharmaceuticals to correct imbalances in the brain.

Body - With my background in Crossfit, I want to promote a nutrition plan based off the Paleo and Zone Diets in addition to living an active lifestyle. However, I also need the capacity to prescribe pharmaceuticals to patients who rely on them.

Spirit- I want to promote mindfullness based practices such as Yoga, meditation, and guided imagery. In addition, I want to be able to incorporate therapies such as healing touch, reiki, aromatherapy, music therapy, reflexology, acupuncture, and many others.

Am I crazy? Am I asking for too much?

I am a scientist first and found that some of the holistic modalities to be complete BS. For example in Reiki, you had to be "attuned" to gain access to the universal energy required to conduct Reiki healing. What a load of crap, right? However, there was not one individual who did not benefit from receiving reiki/healing touch from me. Was it a placebo effect? That is one possible explanation. Yet, I have no explanation for some events that have happened to me. How do I explain the TBI patient who miraculously spoke his first words to me after a month of being diagnosed as nonverbal? How do I explain the withdrawal patient being relieved of symptoms faster than I have ever seen? How do I explain a 100% success rate (n=6 🙂 ) of alleviating nausea by using a simple acupressure point? There is definitely something happening that I can not explain but whatever it is (electromagnetic?, chi?, the force?), it is a cheap and safe alternative to pushing pills.

Which is the best path for me to take?

1) Keep trying to become a PA and incorporate integrative therapies in my work? I have gotten interviews to Iowa, Northwestern, Touro, and St. Catherine University but ultimately was not accepted. I believe they may have been turned off by how holistic I was? I am 26 years old and like the length/cost of schooling and the flexibility between specialties.

2) Pursue a career as a Doctor of Osteopathic medicine. Agrees with my healing philosophy while still having the capability to prescribe medicines and therapies. However, requires me to take the MCAT (which I loathe taking/studying for), possibly more competitive, and costs more money/time.

3) Pursue a career as a MD. More or less the same predicaments as DO.

4) Obtain a Master of Nursing. Nursing is definitely more open to holistic healing. I would have to wait a year to apply but it opens the avenue to become a DNP. 16 months to obtain a Masters, 2 years practice, 1-2 years DNP. Will provide financial security sooner, but the length of time is essentially the same as med school. Less student loan debt always a plus.

5) Pursue a career as a Naturopathic doctor. Agrees with half of my healing philosophy. Lacks prescribing capabilities in most states. Costs more time and money than PA. Relatively unknown field to me but I hear that they teach pseudoscience? I want a career based off scientific reasoning instead of a "Doctrine of Signatures".

Sorry for the long post. I tried to keep it short 🙂. I appreciate any feedback you guys give me.

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Here are my credentials:

26 y/o male, 1st generation Filipino-American
I attended the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, Double Major in Anthropology.
Currently in the Master of Biological Science program at the U of M - TC with my thesis focused on integrative medicine, specifically the actions of phytotherapy/nutrition on our immune system vs infectious disease.

School:
Undergrad GPA - 3.241
Undergrad Science GPA - 3.069
Graduate GPA - 3.926 through 28 credits (Ruined my 4.0 last semester 🙁 )
Graduate Science GPA - 4.0
CASPA GPA - 3.16
CASPA Science GPA - 3.04

Work
2011-Present- 2000 hours by the end of Feb 2013 working as a Patient Care Assistant in Trauma (a CNA with added duties such as removing foleys, discharging IV's, bladder scans, etc.) @ Regions Hospital

2011-Present- 200 hours as a CNA working at my mom's home care. In charge of administering daily meds, nutrition, activity, hygiene, and transportation to therapies/appointments. Patient population include Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Schizophrenia, Dementia, Diabetes, and Depression.

2007-2009- 2250 hours as a PCA in the ICU cluster (SICU, MICU, Burn, Trauma) @ Regions Hospital.

2005- 100 hours as Guest Service Associate at Regions Hospital

Volunteer/Shadow

Present-
-Logistics Strike Team - Medical Reserve Corp
-Volunteer Coordinator - Golden Key International Honour Society
-Member - Be The Match on Campus
-Member - The National Society of Collegiate Scholars

2004-2009 - Habitat for Humanity - 1 year as Volunteer Coordinator

21 hours of shadowing PAs (Orthopedic Surgery & Family Medicine)

Research
2008-2010 - Research Assistant -Research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, specifically "Functional Gene Studies of MASH Transcription Factor Gene Family in Muscle Stem Cells" -Winner of the Undergraduate Award at Marzolf Symposium (2009). -Presented research at National Conferences on Undergraduate Research, Minnesota Muscle Symposium (2008, 2009), Marzolf Symposium, and University of Minnesota Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Other
-Certified Reiki/Healing Touch healer
-I enjoy Crossfit, cycling, pretty much anything nature.
-I grow herbs and make my own tinctures, creams, rubs, oils, teas, etc.
-I like to brew beer/hard apple cider.
-While going to school and working, I was a DJ/Light technician at a prominent nightclub in Minneapolis. Reduced my DJ hours to focus on school in the past 6 months.
-Anything with the Arts. Was in a year long run of Anything Goes! my freshman year of college (messed up my GPA). Love playing guitar, singing, and dancing (Tap, hip-hop)
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[gyngyn]

Any of your scenarios might work. It will all depend on your MCAT.

 

[avil0017]

Thanks for the reply! I know any of the scenarios might work but I do not have enough knowledge in the field or the resources to ask which option would fit my situation the best. Which programs would I have a realistic chance of getting in on my first try? Which vocations are more flexible to accommodate my integrative vision of healthcare? Even though I am a very patient person, 3+ years of pursuing my goal of becoming a PA has made me extremely anxious to start my journey as a healer.

Is there another forum that may be helpful to post in? Does anyone know someone who practices integrative medicine?

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks for the reply! I know any of the scenarios might work but I do not have enough knowledge in the field or the resources to ask which option would fit my situation the best. Which programs would I have a realistic chance of getting in on my first try? Which vocations are more flexible to accommodate my integrative vision of healthcare? Even though I am a very patient person, 3+ years of pursuing my goal of becoming a PA has made me extremely anxious to start my journey as a healer.

Is there another forum that may be helpful to post in? Does anyone know someone who practices integrative medicine?

All do. The length of your journey as well as the direction it might take will depend on data points you do not yet have to give us.

 

[ChE04]

5) Pursue a career as a Naturopathic doctor. Agrees with half of my healing philosophy. Lacks prescribing capabilities in most states. Costs more time and money than PA. Relatively unknown field to me but I hear that they teach pseudoscience? I want a career based off scientific reasoning instead of a "Doctrine of Signatures".

I don't think you should consider this if you're into scientific reasoning. For example, according to the American Association of Naturopathic "Physicians", one way to treat asthma is by "taking baths with a cup or so of 3% hydrogen peroxide in the water to bring extra oxygen to the entire surface of the skin, thus making the lungs somewhat less oxygen hungry."

Aside from that, the options you have listed are so radically different from each other, I think you have to make your own mind up about what you want your role in medicine to be. You can certainly take a holistic approach in any one of them.

 

[Goucher2013]

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre might be a book worth reading.

 

[avil0017]

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre might be a book worth reading.

Hmmm... looks like an interesting read and maybe right up my alley. Thanks for the recommendation.

Can you recommend a career path for me? lol

 

[impact2d]

Your philosophy sounds to me very similar to that of a Chiropractor.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using SDN Mobile

 

[DrMidlife]

Your stats are low for PA school, but I think the real problem you may be having, in getting accepted, is that you're not a candidate, you're an agenda.

Schools for health care professionals need to evaluate you on conventional terms, and you are up against a very conservative industry, with respect to admissions.

Honestly it sounds like you want the sanction and authority of the title of PA/NP/DO/MD, but you then want to use that title to do a very different job. You won't get very far with professional schools until you show enthusiasm for the job they train you for.

I have two suggestions.

1. Find a mentor who is doing the work you want to do. Pick some cities on the west coast, like Santa Cruz, Eugene, Seattle, and google yourself silly looking for practitioners. Get somebody, preferably multiple somebodies, to fill you in on the unexciting work that fills at least a decade before you have the choice to practice integrative med. One thing you'll be told, undoubtedly, is that you won't make enough money to pay back your student loans with services that aren't covered by insurance. Your practice will depend on wealthy neurotic individuals who read the same stuff you read, who don't really need your help all that much, and whose loyalty changes rapidly.

2. Make friends with the aspects of healthcare practice that are a dreadful slog of nastiness. For every patient encounter where you find an opportunity to connect to the spirit, there are 100 obese diabetic hypertensives who need to get back to work and just want the script.

I think ND is the job you should be going after, if you don't see the MCAT as necessary work to reach your goals, and if you don't want to wait until your 40's to try to have an integrative practice. If you are in a region of the country that has more enthusiasm for naturopathy, you will have more support in wanting to use respected science in a practice that includes Reiki/herbs/etc. In any west coast city, you'll find ND's who use no evidence-based methods, ND's who use only evidence-based methods, and everything in between. I definitely think it would be worth it for you to investigate ND more - look for an older practitioner who works on something serious like wellness for cancer patients, who gets referrals from MDs.

Best of luck to you.

 

[QofQuimica]

Ok, I have to ask. Did you list "Certified Reiki/Healing Touch healer" on your app? Because growing your own herbs and making your own tinctures, creams, rubs, oils, teas, etc. is cool and interesting. Stating in black and white on your app that you believe reiki is real to the point that you took some kind of certification training in it would likely convince most adcoms that you aren't an adherent of the natural sciences.

Personally, I love the concept of reiki. Any time I go to examine a patient who is complaining of pain and they scream without my having even touched them, I inform the attending that the patient felt pain when I adjusted their energy flows via reiki. Usually the attending doesn't know what the heck I'm even talking about, but after I explain, they either think I have an odd sense of humor or they laugh and mock the very idea. I'm telling you this so that you will understand what you're up against here, and to hopefully convince you that on your apps, you should keep your reiki to yourself. 😉

Otherwise, I basically agree with Dr. Midlife. You definitely come off like an ND in the making to me.

 

[FunkyHealer]

Hey, avil0017! So 2 years later, where are you now???

I can relate to this! I am currently a licensed massage therapist and into a lot of what you are talking about. My office is inside of a DO Direct Integrative Care/Functional Med clinic so I KNOW what kind of amazing healing can be done w natural medicine (and pharmaceuticals if necessary).

I am currently shadowing a DO who is unhappy w the limitations that he faces in the "system" at one of the major hospitals and ends up referring patients seeking holistic care to the doc I work w as well as other practitioners around the city (nutritionist, ND). He suggested that I look into ND programs b/c I would probably also be unhappy in a conventional MD/DO mold.

Well, maybe so maybe not. I'm one of the least "fluffy" LMT's you'll meet. I'm still searching for the correct path. I plan on shadowing anyone who will let me in the door so I know without doubt that I am making the right choice. Milwaukee has a surprising # of integrative and functional med docs who work in and out of the system. Looking forward to my time w them. What concerns me about ND schools is the low admission requirements. I would NOT want a doc w a 2.75 gpa treating me, just saying...

So here's another question that I have not had answered yet: how can a PA utilize functional med? Do you have to work under a functional med doc? Being limited in my scope does not agree with me, but I promised some people I would explore PA.

Looking forward to some info