Who is your Primary Health Care Provider?
Let me begin by emphasizing that YOU are responsible for your own health. Not the government, not your doctor, not me, or your neighbor. Not your mom or dad. YOU are your own health care provider first and foremost. Got it?
Good!!
But who do we call upon for professional health advice beyond the scope of our own education?
A Primary Healthcare Provider can be defined as the first professional you contact in the healthcare system when you have a health problem.
Let’s redefine this as ” a primary healthcare provider is a health care professional you visit even especially while you are healthy, in order to supercharge your health and prevent illness”.
Choosing a Primary Healthcare Provider can be a daunting task- but it is your choice, and an important one!
For some of us just starting to transition into the world of proactive wellness, where do we start?
First, we start with SELF. Check your MINDSET. Move into the mindset of proactive health and wellness.
You are no longer going to sit back and be told what to do with your health. You are moving into collaboration, facilitation, self-responsibility, and auto-accountability.
The discussions will be centered around how can YOU promote your best health rather than blindly following “doctor’s orders”. You may experience a complete paradigm shift here!
This takes WORK. Now, you must educate yourself every step of the way! It isn’t easy but boy, is it fulfilling and worthwhile!!
Primary Healthcare Providers come in many different forms. The list below includes both Australian and US terms.
- Integrative Medicine Practitioner
- Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner
- Medical Doctor
- GP (General Practitioner)
- Osteopathic Doctor
- Naturopathic Physician
- Naturopath
- Nutritionist
- Physician Assistant
- Dentist
- Physiotherapist/ Physical Therapist
- Nurse/ Nurse practitioner
- Acupuncturist
- Chiropractor/ Chiropractic Doctor
- Functional Medicine Practitioner
- Midwives
A little about my approach to health here in Costa Rica…..
My family and I see an Integrative Medicine Practitioner who combines her knowledge of allopathic medicine with complementary medicine to design health protocols best tailored to our individual needs. We visit a chiropractor regularly, and an acupuncturist/ TCM practitioner. Our dentist is traditionally trained, yet practices holistically, and offers sessions in dental decoding as well as therapy for the soul.
I believe that optimal health flows when we are in alignment with our soul’s purpose. We can make all the right choices when it comes to nutrition, lifestyle and physical exercise, however, without honoring our soul purpose we may be missing out on complete health.
My tertiary education right after high school was Naturopathy/ Bachelor of Health Sciences in Complementary Medicine. Nutrition was the subject that made a lot of sense to me, and to this day, the science of nutrition is the baseline from which I approach optimization of my own, and my family’s health. I act as my own Nutritionist and have found that most states of dis-ease, if caught early enough, and before pharmaceutical interventions, can be reversed and full health reinstated.
When my husband required hernia surgery, we decided to send him to an Osteopathic Surgeon in Tampa, FL. This surgeon was one of very few who offered mesh-free hernia surgery using the Desarda technique. There were none we could find who offered this in Costa Rica. This surgeon dove-tailed primary medical care, surgery, and pharmaceuticals with homeopathy to create a holistic experience that went far and beyond any expectations we had. I share this experience with you, as an example of how we do things a little differently.
I am exceptionally grateful to have come from parents who showed me both extremes of approaches to health. Somehow the combination of a father who came from a paradigm of “Doctors are Gods” and a mother who was into organic foods, meditation, self-development, massage therapy, and alternative health, created in me a determination to think outside the box in almost any complex situation that life can present.
I look forward to hearing your ideas, questions, comments, and anything you wish to share that can enhance this conversation. I write and share with the intention of lighting a little flame of curiosity in you so that you will be inspired to blaze your own path!