Blending Naturopathic Oncology & Conventional Medicine with Dr. Lise Alschuler

Robert Todd Hurst (0:02)

Hi, I'm Dr. Robert Todd Hurst, and here's what's coming up on today's podcast.

Lise Alschuler (0:06)

And I'm going to say, this goes both ways, because there are some, not so much like naturopathic doctors, but there are some alternative practitioners who also are very dismissive of conventional treatment. So it's not just conventional providers, but in the case of the example that you gave, that's unfortunately not uncommon. And it's really hard for me to understand, because that's actually, first of all, not an evidence-based stance.

Robert Todd Hurst (0:33)

So welcome to The Healthspan Podcast, where we talk about building the system to add healthy, strong, mentally sharp years to life. And today we have a truly special guest, Dr. Lise Alschuler, President and CEO of Sonoran University Health Sciences. You know, I met with Dr. Alschuler recently personally, and I got to tell you one of the things that just caught me, you know, right off the bat, was how much I appreciated her approach to medicine. You know, she's not interested in defending one camp of health care against another. She's interested in the same thing I'm interested in, is what's best for the patient.

Dr. Alschuler really has a tremendous career. She has practiced naturopathic medicine for more than 30 years, just like me, in traditional medicine.

Is board certified in naturopathic oncology. She's been a leader in integrated medicine, an educator, researcher, author, and now CEO and lead Sonoran University. And she has spent much of her career thinking about, how do we bring all these different disciplines together to provide better patient care? And that's what we're going to focus on today. So we're going to put aside some of the dogma that's out there. On both sides, it has traditionally existed between conventional medicine and naturopathic medicine and tackle a central question. Why should you have to choose between conventional medicine and natural medicine when both have something valuable to offer? With that, Dr. Alschuler, welcome to The Healthspan Podcast. I'm really excited to have you on with us.

Lise Alschuler (2:16)

Thank you, Dr. Hurst. It's so great to be here with you. And I so enjoyed your visit to Sonoran University. And I want to thank you publicly for giving a chance to some of our faculty to come over to your amazing clinic.

Actually, they are all so excited to be just kind of learning from you and potentially partnering with you in patient care.

Robert Todd Hurst (2:38)

Yeah, it's exciting for me because I have to tell you, I know my patients are really interested in a natural approach, but these are some of the things that, and me too, frankly, it's not like this is alien to me, but it's also not my training. It's not my area of expertise, and I don't want to guide people on things that I'm not expert at. But I also wanted to find a resource of somebody that I could work collaboratively with in my practice because I know that there can be some dogma on both sides between conventional medicine and the naturopathic community.

The patients often get caught in the middle, like I don't know where to go, I don't know who to believe in this. I got a totally different message from you. I'm going to start with that big question that I asked at the beginning. Why would people have to choose between these two when both have so much to offer?

Lise Alschuler (3:40)

Yeah, you know, and it's, I have to just say it really, it actually hurts me to know that people still have to make that choice as an either or choice. And I think what you and I both resonated on is that if we come, if we establish some common ground, then both systems, all systems can work together for the benefit of the patient. And I think some, so it's really finding those common grounds. So I think both you and I are very interested in an evidence-based approach. And I'm sure we'll talk more about that, but really understanding how we can apply our recommendations, pull all the labels off whether they're conventional or natural. But what's the most likely to be a benefit to the patient with the least likely risk of harming the patient? And how do we know that? I think if we can all ask ourselves the question, then it really becomes irrelevant as far as whether it's a so-called conventional treatment or a so-called natural treatment.

And I think the other thing, if we continually think about everything that we do is for the benefit of the patient, so that you and I, if we were seeing a patient, the same patient, we would both be aligned because we're working for the patient, not for my own, well, just what I want to do or not for you and you want to do it for the patient. And I think if we can align on patient-centric care, that's at least evidence-informed, then it really becomes a both-and.