Why was this book written?

This book came about when Dr. Valerie Olmsted, a licensed Naturopathic Medical Doctor, became angry at previous physicians' lack of care provided to patients who eventually came to her practice.

Patients with chronic--supposedly 'incurable'--diseases were showing up in misery, desperate for help (but not really expecting to get any). Some patients had been to enough doctors in one year to have been 'blacklisted' by the medical doctors and labeled as 'problem patients'. Those patients did not have drug-seeking behavior; they were simply people searching for relief from their physical symptoms.

Some of those patients related horror stories about their experiences at the hands of the medical community. Most of those patients were angry at the physicians they had seen. They swore they would never go to a doctor again and that "all doctors are horrible and uncaring!" (At which point Dr.Valerie asked "What have I done to make you so angry?" Each patient said the same thing: "OH--Not YOU! You're not like them!")

"Well, I AM a doctor, you know" was her response. She found herself having to calm the patient down by explaining that doctors are just people too and not infallible, nor should patients expect an MD or DO to act like an NMD, and vice versa. By explaining the role each physician takes due to the training and philosophy of their particular discipline, patients began to realize they were expecting too much from one physician.

The book Choose Your Doctor As If Your Life Depends On It (It Does) was written in response to the fears and frustrations of those patients. The need for a simple book covering the most important issues of healthcare was obvious.

May this book help you to navigate the seas of healthcare in the most safe and harmonious way possible.