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The Practice of Medicine and the Proactive Patient · Truth in Motion with Dr. Jocelyn

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Truth in Motion with Dr.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Jocelyn, where insight, clarity, and wisdom help you thrive.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you're joining me.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Last time we explored what a doctor is and what a patient is.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: We learned that doctor comes from the Latin word for teacher, and that patient means one who is bearing something, but not one who has to be passive.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: We looked at medicine as an art and a practice, and we heard an idea from Chinese medicine that I love.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: The patient is the root and the practitioner is the branch.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Today we get practical.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: We'll look at what the practice of medicine actually means legally, why the word medicine has come to mean drugs, and what applied pharmacology is.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Then we'll talk about what you can reasonably expect from a good doctor and how to be a proactive patient.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why this matters.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: As always, let's start with why this matters.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us walk into a medical appointment assuming we know what's going to happen.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: We'll describe what's wrong, someone will figure it out, and we'll walk away with something to take.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: That expectation didn't come from nowhere.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was shaped by how the law defines medicine and by how medicine has been practiced for the last century.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: When you understand that, two things change.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: You understand why so many appointments end with a prescription, and you understand what you can ask for beyond that.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with the law.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Here in Wisconsin, the law defines what it calls the practice of medicine and surgery, and it is remarkably broad.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: It includes examining into the fact, condition, or cause of human health or disease, or treating, operating, prescribing, or advising for it by any means or instrumentality.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: It also includes penetrating, piercing, or severing the tissue of a human being.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now listen to how the law defines disease.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: It means any pain, injury, deformity, or physical or mental illness, or any departure from complete health.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Put those two together, and almost anything you do to help another person's body falls under the practice of medicine.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's why every other healing profession, including mine, has to be carved out with its own license and its own scope.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: But notice one word in there, cause.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on to that word.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're coming back to it.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because in everyday practice, medicine has come to mean something much narrower.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how we talk.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Did you take your medicine?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody means did you go for your walk or did you get to bed on time?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: We mean did you take your pill?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: In everyday language, medicine and drugs have become the same word.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the law reinforces that.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a drug isn't defined by what it's made of.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's defined by what it's intended for.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: If something is intended for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, the law considers it a drug.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: That has real consequences.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's why an herbal formula or a supplement can't say on its label that it treats arthritis or cures anything.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what are the causes a good doctor should be looking for?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: This deserves its own episodes, and it's going to get them.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: But let me give you a taste.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Some causes are physical, injury, toxicity, genetics, structural imbalance, dental issues like amalgam fillings and cavitations, infections and parasites, hormonal disruption, side effects from medications.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Some come from how we live, movement out of balance, too much or too little, starvation at the cellular level, not from a lack of food, but from lack of nutrients, a poor diet or a gut out of balance, poor sleep, chronic stress and overwork, and sometimes too much rest, even our environment, mold, damp homes, climate.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Some causes live in the heart, emotional imbalance, trauma, stifled expression, the things we never let ourselves say, sexual activity out of balance, too much or too little, loneliness, and patterns passed down through generations.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And some causes are spiritual, unforgiveness, bitterness, losing our sense of purpose.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: The ancients spoke of shi qi, evil or pathogenic qi.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sun Sei Mao even described 13 ghost points for treating what looked like possession.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I believe spiritual influence, even demonic influence and possession, is real, and that deliverance ministry still has a place in healing today.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Chinese medicine has been sorting causes like those for thousands of years.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Long before anyone used the phrase root cause, it was mapping how weather, emotion, diet, overwork, and injury make people sick.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's a long list.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Each of these deserves its own conversation, and we'll get there.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So what does that look like when you're the one sitting in the office?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the doctor.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: What can you reasonably expect from a good one?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: First, a good doctor listens, not just to the symptoms you come in with, but to your story, how it started, what makes it better or worse, what else is going on in your life.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Second, a good doctor teaches.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Remember that's what the word means?
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: You should leave understanding what's happening in your body in words that you can repeat to someone else.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Third, a good doctor tells you the truth about where things are headed.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's the prognosis, what to expect if you do nothing and what to expect if you act.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, a good doctor gives you options, not just orders, including the option to wait and the option to try the least invasive thing first.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, a good doctor asks why.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Why did this happen?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: What's driving it?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: What can we change?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, a good doctor isn't ashamed to say, I don't know, and we'll send you to someone who does.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: In my oath, it reads, I will not be ashamed to say I don't know.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's the doctor's side.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about yours.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Being a proactive patient doesn't mean being difficult.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: It means showing up as the root.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what that looks like.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Come prepared.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Before your appointment, write down what's going on.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: When it started, how often it happens, what you've noticed makes it better or worse.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Bring a list of everything you take.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Prescriptions, supplements, herbs.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your memory will fail you in the exam room.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Paper won't.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ask questions and keep asking until you understand.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is this?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's causing it?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: What happens if I wait?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: What are my options?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: What can I do on my own?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Get copies of your records and your lab results.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're yours.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Learn to read them even a little bit.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Bring someone with you when it matters.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: A second set of ears catches what you miss when you're nervous.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Know that you can get a second opinion.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: A good doctor won't be offended.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then this is the big one.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Do your part between visits.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Remember Yang Sheng, nourish life?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: How you eat, how you sleep, how you move, what you think about, who you spend time with.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: No doctor can do that for you.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's where your power is.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Taking responsibility for your health doesn't mean blaming yourself for being sick.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: It means owning your part in getting well.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: We've covered a lot of practical ground today, so let's bring it together.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: In Wisconsin, the practice of medicine is defined very broadly, and it includes examining into the cause of disease.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Under federal law, a drug is defined by what it's intended to do diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Our everyday language followed until medicine and drugs became the same word.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Much of modern practice is applied pharmacology, using drugs to change what's happening in your body.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: That has its place, but a good doctor also asks why.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: The roots of disease can be physical, emotional, and spiritual, and Chinese medicine has been mapping them for thousands of years.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: A good doctor listens, teaches, tells the truth, offers options, looks for the cause, and knows when to say, I don't know.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And a proactive patient comes prepared, asks questions, owns their records, and does their part in between visits.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: You are the root.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Join me next time where we'll dig into the root cause of disease.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: We'll look at what functional medicine is, why I call Chinese medicine the original functional medicine, and how both compare to the way Western medicine is practiced today.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you there.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the conversation going.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Find your next steps in notes from a fellow traveler, my blog.