The Reasons Why I Became a Doctor - Essay Example

The Reasons Why I Became a DoctorMy intrinsic desire to study medicine arose when I was a young girl. At this time the distinctive direction of medicine I was interested in was not very clear. All I felt was a great passion to learn medical related materials. This later in life came to review itself as an inborn desire to help people suffering from sickness to regain their health. I remember at a very tender age I would take my father’s newspaper and straightaway go for the health section.

Reading this section was fun to me, I wanted to know all that concerned medicine. When I was in college, I spent lots of time writing research papers on alternate medicine. Later on, I learnt about Pilates, and it became my way of spending my weekends. Since then, my weekends involved attending workshops to learn and develop precise understanding of mechanics of each movement and how that knowledge could help improve the health of the spine. When I joined my accounting profession, I quickly became the person everyone in my office would consult in case of an ailment.

It was evident that despite the environment I was in, medicine was part of me. An occurrence in my life changed my whole life for good. I fell sick with an ailment that was not very common with the doctors in the area. It took many doctors’ visits, many hours of travelling and a lot of research to finally identify a practitioner who was a specialist in the illness I had. My encounter with this doctor defined the course I would take in medicine. This was the genesis of naturopathic medicine.

This encounter again gave me the motivation I needed to pursue this specific field of medicine. Upon understanding the symptoms of the disease my practitioner cautioned me that the healing of that disease would involve a lot of commitment on me in managing my diet and lifestyle. I was ready to follow the doctor’s advice little did I know that this was the turning point. I was now to quit my job as an accountant and pursue naturopathic medicine. This happened due to the desire that rose in me at that time.

In the process of managing my diet, I decided to read further on the condition and the alternate ways of treating it. As I obtained more tips to deal with my condition and my health kept improving I realized my desire for research was growing. This research ignited a fire within me and I now wanted to know about all the illnesses we encounter in our day to day life such as cancer and diabetes. At this point, my illness became the catalyst for positive change. I now want to know about all of the treatments for various diseases and help the people I care about.

When I consulted with my practitioner, I learned that I could become a similar type of practitioner and directly study these types of healing modalities while in medical school by becoming a naturopathic doctor. Once again, I began to research and I was in awe of what I had learned. Despite my earlier interests in health, I never explored the idea of becoming a doctor or dietician because I simply believed that more natural ways of healing should come first. For the first time in my life, everything aligns.

Since I joined naturopathic medicine I have had quite some exposure in philosophy and modalities applied in naturopathic medicine. I have now learnt that naturopathic medicine is foundedd on a number of philosophical foundations. First is the recognition that an individual possesses inherent ability of self-healing. This is also referred to as power of nature. Secondly, an understating that it’s possible to utilize therapies that are less risky and invasive in restoring health. Third is the principle if identifying and treating underlying causes of a disease and fourth is individualized medical care and continuous education of healthy lifestyle in an attempt to encourage healthy living.

In the course of naturopathic medicine I have also developed an understanding of several modalities. These modalities include botanical medicine which involves use of plants in therapy as therapeutic agents. Nutritional therapy is another modality that involves improving the patient’s diet for better heath. Another modality is Homeopathy which is a medicine system that was developed long ago that involves using substances to treat. Hydrotherapy is yet another modality that involves using water as the healing agent.

Another modality is physical medicine which involves use of forces such as light, heat, vibration and magnetic field in healing. These are among the many modalities that I have learnt in the course of naturopathic medicine. I really believe that I am now where I ought to be. Works citedChaitow, Leon. Naturopathic Physical Medicine: Theory and Practice for Manual Therapists and Naturopaths. Churchill Livingstone. London, 2008. Print.