Psychiatrist Enhances Clinical Practice Through Holistic Tick-Borne Illness Practitioner Training Program

Prior to starting this training program, I actually was in an academic setting. at the time I was somewhat restricted by, let's say, more conservative and conventional modalities of treatment. I'm actually a psychiatrist by training, so I was seeing a lot of patients with Lyme disease and tick-borne illness, but hadn't really had the more nuanced medical perspective. So that was something that I was looking to gain. I already was anticipating the fact that I knew private practice can be kind of an isolating experience. And I was really looking to meet with a group of like minded providers basically discuss really complicated topics and go over individual cases. I have always really admired his incredibly holistic approach coach to patients. I think a lot of doctors are very good at treating the science of complicated things like Lyme disease and tick borne illness, and there are other doctors who are very empathic. What I was inspired the most about Dr. Tom and everything kind of he does is his holistic approach I think it's a very unusual and kind of unique set of traits to have as a physician. So that was really something, somebody that I wanted to learn from. It's a really great environment to learn about big topics. For example, we'll have a lecture about how to use double dose dapsone. That's something that's a really really complicated thing to do. But then at the same time, we will learn an individual case that you know is perplexing us or bothering us in our private practice. The other interesting thing that I've been really inspired about regarding the program is that there are opportunities for outside speakers to come in and talk to us about things that I know I would never have been exposed to unless I got it through this practitioner training course. For example, a few weeks ago, we learned about a postbiotic supplement called Thaenabiotic, which is meant to help restore your gut microbiome. And it was an amazing lecture. And that has changed my practice. I just learned about it a few weeks ago, and I already logged in to become a practitioner. So that's just of something I've already integrated into my practice Well, I think of the LDPC program as a mechanism to further my education and also further my career. it was definitely worth to invest in this course. prior to this, I had been working in the field of tick borne medicine for many years, so I definitely appreciated that it's an incredibly difficult area of medicine for many different reasons. For the politics, the sort of sociopolitical aspects of things, the infection part of things. So just biologically, these infections are very stealthy and complex. And I realized that as a doctor in this field, there's so much uncertainty and controversy, and really there's more questions than answers. And so being in a group with Dr. Tom and other colleagues, really, it's kind of unparalleled. Because I realized that when you're around like minded people who are also committed like you are, and interested in treating these really difficult patients, it's like a perfect learning environment for an otherwise very difficult and kind of risky environment to be in as a doctor. But I always am completely admire and inspired by his ongoing energy and enthusiasm about life. It seems like he has energy to do absolutely everything. And so maybe a different portion of the mentorship program will be teaching us how to bottle his energy and use it for ourselves. I'm Dr. Shannon Delaney from New York City. New York.