While shopping at a "big box" retailer this week for some items
I needed around the house, I was presented with a situation that,
while not shocking given the volume of customers for that business,
gave me a good reason to think about the type of practice I want
and another point on why I chose to practice naturopathic medicine.
Keep in mind that while the first part of the story may sound a bit
like I'm griping, I'm sharing this incident to reinforce why I am
choosing to become a naturopathic doctor. :)
The store was huge and packed with weekend shoppers, like me,
who wanted to get errands completed and back home as quickly as
possible. I was at the checkout and an item was mispriced. The
clerk called for the mislabeled item's department over the store
intercom for a price check. No answer came from the department, so
the clerk asked someone else at the front counter to make a quick
run and check the price.
The clerk then turned to me and asked me politely to step aside
for the next customer to be checked out. While I was reluctant to
move, I understood that others simply wanted to get their errands
finished so they could relax at home. So, I moved out of the way
for the next three customers to pay for their items as the
mispriced item was researched. Once the price was corrected, the
clerk asked me for my payment; I paid, and was given a cursory
"thank you" while being handed the bag full of merchandise.
The most shocking thing to me during this experience was no
apology for the mispriced item, and no apology or explanation for
asking me to step aside for the error on the part of the store. I
was simply another body in the line and my mispriced item was
preventing the line's movement. The store needed to keep the line
moving. This is done by tracking the number of customers per hour
that the clerks bring through their line. If a clerk doesn't have
"x" number of customers per hour, then they are retrained,
reprimanded or disciplined until they lose a sense of customer
service and concentrate more on "keeping the line moving."
As I processed this experience, this made me remember one of the
reasons I chose naturopathic medicine. I am becoming an ND because
each patient is an individual and not a number or statistic, nor
one of six patients I need to see each hour to satisfy numbers for
an insurance or reimbursement program. I am choosing to learn this
trade, this profession, this practice, so that I can get to know my
patients along with their pathologies, motivations, compliances,
and best path to a healthier life where at all possible.
Since I cannot predict the future, I don't know exactly how I
will practice. I will do my best to stay away from a high volume
practice model. I know that any business needs a break-even point
and profitability to keep the doors open. I am certain that I can
build a practice schedule that will allow time with my patients up
front to get to know them along with shorter duration follow-up
appointments. As we progress together on the healing path, our
meetings, if all goes well, will become more economical with time
length. We can accomplish all we need and plan our next steps until
the day comes when as many of our patients as possible will be able
to exit our practice as healthier individuals and not as
patients.
Here's my whole food pic for the week. This is wild caught Ahi
Tuna marinated in lemon juice and capers. The sides are my roasted
root veggies from last week (carrots, parsnips, beets…all organic)
along with steamed organic baby spinach.
Doc Rosco's Lemon Juice and Caper Wild Caught Ahi
Tuna
Ingredients
- 4-6 oz. Wild Caught Ahi Tuna Steak
- 6 oz. Organic Lemon Juice
- Capers (to taste)
Instructions
- Marinate the tuna in the lemon juice for two hours, turning
every 30 minutes in an oven-safe baking dish. Add capers to taste
during the marinating.
- Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Place baking dish with tuna,
lemon juice and capers in the oven.
- Check at 30 minutes and tuna should be done.