Student Spotlight
Sandra Newell, N.D. candidate
For someone who worked in hospital settings for 18 years, Sandra Newell did not always dwell in the halls of allopathic care — nor does she now!
Growing up, her family drank parsley tea to clear up urinary tract infections, she recalls, rather than running to the doctor. Dandelions were the basis of her mother's annual "springtime tonic" and, with scores of other folk remedies, their use of live medicines (herbs, weeds and other plants) was mainly for preventive maintenance rather than intervention. She learned about vegetable gardening on her grandfather's rural farm land!.
Her husband's family were mountain people who made their own soap and chose to live hours away from the stressful pace and pollution of big-city life. Years later, Sandy's mother-in-law would concoct a remarkable red clover skin salve that perhaps saved an older relative's life — it certainly saved his sun-damaged skin.
The Newells raised their three children to rely on natural, common-sensical health options rather than the "magic pill or quick fix" approach — and now their five grandchildren are also reaping the benefits. Their five-year-old granddaughter recently treated her own topical fungal infection with tea tree oil! Sandy is becoming ever more confident in her ability to offer her family competent natural health advice along with the allopathic answers of her previous profession.
"When I worked in the Emergency Room, I became aware of environmental dangers such as mold and carbon monoxide poisoning. Sometimes the answer isn't just a steroid inhaler or pain meds for chronic headaches. We are a dangerously overmedicated society. Nurses can sometimes take the opportunity to quiz patients, whereas doctors might write a prescription before the patient even finishes their train of thought."
Sandy's advice, in any medical setting is: Be your own advocate, and realize that nobody knows or cares as much about your health as you do. Tests can produce a false negative or a false positive, she observes, and too many medicines, together, can of course be toxic.
These days, retirees Sandy and Charles feel blessed to be living a relatively unstressful life, and they grow even more of their own vegetables. "As a Registered Nurse, I saw the conventional healthcare system go through strikes, mergers, downsizings, and ultimately, too much of a treat 'em and street 'em approach for me. You might say I retired early enough to maintain my own health and sanity."
Adding that she always dabbled in different theories of natural health, Sandy is grateful to now have the time to bring it all together, within a structure that fits her life. In fact, her Masters degree studies were so rewarding that she chose to re-enroll in our N.D. degree program. Compared to the constant deadlines of her conventional college experiences, she much prefers being able to "study every day for a month if I choose to, or skip a month when I need to."
Sounds like a classic case of When the student is ready, the teacher will come.
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