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background resources in PDF |
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some CAM/IM publication links |
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Written by John Weeks
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Wednesday, 08 August 2007 |
Columns & Commentary from Bill Benda, MD, Integrator Adviser
William Benda, MD
 Bill Benda, MD
_______________________
September 22, 2008
If
one cares about one's cultural competency for practice with
practitioners from other disciplines, this set of comments is
excellent, raw and eye-opening material for reflection. In a recent Integrator column,
Bill Benda, MD asserted that "integrative medicine" will always be
MD-centered. Then he responded to prior columns by Tom Ballard, ND and
Peter Glidden, ND, strongly arguing that it was time to stop bashing
medical doctors. These new comments - alternatively conciliatory, insightful, re-focusing, direct, congratulatory and inflammatory - are from
naturopathic student leader Cheri King, 40+ year chiropractic
practitioner and NCMIC president Lou Sportelli, DC, Inner Harmony Group
founder Peter Amato, AANP board member Michelle Clark, ND, and Bastyr
University educator and clinician Christy Lee-Engel, ND, LAc. Their
contributions surround responses to Benda from Ballard and Glidden,
each of whom felt Benda was engaging in his own bashing. I sent these
to Benda prior to printing, who comments again. I conclude with some
words from the poet Robert Graves.
September 7, 2008
Bill Benda, MD, weighs in forcefully on the recent series of Integrator articles, guest columns and commentaries on who owns the term "integrative medicine" and some of the attendant name-calling. It's been a little ugly, seeing the disparate perceptions, hurt feelings and
psycho-spiritual-economic rifts between the diverse parties with a
stake in the integrative practice movement. Benda focuses on two points he feels must be made, once and for all, regarding "allopathically-centered
integrative medicine" and the need to end "MD bashing" by naturopathic
doctors and other complementary healthcare practitioners. Benda's
addition to this difficult exchange reminded me of what may be the best
therapeutic course for those wishing to take this healing seriously:
the knowledge, skills and values in the 1994 Pew-Fetzer Task Force work
on practitioner-to-practitioner relationships.
February 5, 2008
Bill
Benda, MD uses the fresh face of a naturopathic medical student,
working a conference booth as a nutraceutical company representative,
to launch a reflection on the slippery slope of product and practice
relationships. In this column, originally written for Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal,
Benda suggests educators and for the industry need to step up to avoid the patterns of the past.
June 5, 2007
In 2004, Bill Benda, MD, quietly began working to create collaboration
between three organizations of healthcare professionals: the American Holistic Medical
Association, the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and
the American Holistic Nurses Association. "The potential for communal impact is enormous," says Benda.
He brought the leadership of these organization together into a retreat
in 2005. He presently sits on the boards of the first two and is on the
advisory council to the latter. What might these organizations
accomplish together? What do you think is the very best use of this collaborative trio in advancing health care transformation? The Integrator
sent Benda some queries via email. Here are his responses on his effort
to create some new clout for holistic and whole person primary care.
April 16, 2007
The selection
of the new director of the NIH National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine may be the most important decision for integrative
medicine in the next half decade. The Integrator has weighed in on the topic. Now Integrator advisor Bill Benda, MD, takes another look at its importance. Benda wonders if NCCAM has drifted in recent years from the
"philosophical beauty and awe that comes from awakening to a new
perspective for the first time" and offers ideas on what might right
its course.More ...
March 13, 2006
This column from Bill Benda, MD, initiates a new Integrator feature: occasional columns from members of the Integrator
editorial advisory board or guest writers. Benda is an emergency room
physician and graduate of the residential fellowship of the Program in
Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona who has a strong interest in public policy in integrative medicine and integrated health care. He is a regular columnist for Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal
and is the first medical doctor to serve on the board of the American
Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Benda writes on the power in
the decision by the American Nurses Association to recognize holistic nursing ... More
October 10, 2006
My tales
of my September hospitalization with a complicated appendix removal
("In the Belly of the Beast") brought many notes from readers. Thank
you. A few colleagues sent longer accounts and reflections. The idea
began to grow in me to ask them for their permission to share what they
wrote. The
result is this thought-filled, multi-voiced, and multi-dimensional
quintet on our relationships with hospitals - with a short comment from
George Orwell, writing in 1946. Enjoy!
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Last Updated ( Monday, 06 October 2008 )
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