We were both trained in Western medicine—BA to MD to residency to fellowship. We ran on a linear pathway (admittedly, Sheeva way faster than Jaime!) without even as much as a water break. We spent endless hours burning the midnight oil (that’s why we know all the good coffee spots!) studying, memorizing, and analyzing. We went from the classrooms to the wards, from the laboratories to the clinics, and finally from trainees to attendings—always focused on Western medicine. We believed that cures only lurked in pills or scalpels, not herbs and pressure points. We were smart, but we were naïve. We had no idea how wide the world of medicine was.

We have matured a lot over the past several years (as evidenced by our grey hairs!). We have met many talented clinicians and practitioners who practice ALL types of medicine. We have been awed by their knowledge, amazed by their patience, and impressed by their skill. We have learned that what you eat really matters, that meditation is more than humming in a dark room, that yoga is more than stretching, and that acupuncture is more than a bunch of needles. We are humbled by the genius of the many disciplines we never even knew existed 10 years ago! We feel privileged to have formed relationships with those who have exposed us to medicine and healing from all parts of the globe.

We for sure don’t have all the answers (as much as we wish we did!). We know that, although our training was very, very, very long, it didn’t even come close to touching the surface of medicine as a whole. We recognize that medicine is changing faster than the lead car in the Daytona 500 and there is no way to keep up with it alone.

We are not sure if you noticed this by now, but every sentence in this post started with “we.” We did this to prove how important it is for all practitioners, Eastern and Western, mind and body, to work as one—to listen to each other’s voices and opinions and learn from each other. We have no desire to go back to medical school or pull all-nighters in the library, so we are all ears when we meet new practitioners that have new ideas and new treatment strategies. We can’t wait to hear what they have to say!