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  • From: "Rainbow Vogt" <rainbowv@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Teleconference w/ Joel Salatin Wed. evening
  • Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:41:10 -0800

hi sunshine- how's sicky? i thought you might be interested in the
below...also, i was hoping you could give my personal statement a read
through : )
love,r

I am very excited to apply for the Training in Research in Integrative
Medicine Fellowship. For the past 7 years, I have been dedicated to the
development of my career as a researcher and health practitioner,
specializing in preventive medicine. My research career was initiated during
predoctoral training at NIH where I gained experience in laboratory
techniques. As noted in my CV, I earned a PhD in nutrition from UC Davis
where my research focused on primary prevention of nutrition-related
diseases in schools. Becoming a credentialed CAM practitioner in Jin Shin
Jyutsu is the most recent aspect of my preparation for a career in
researching integrative medicine.

During my studies, I sought out approaches that empower individuals with
tools to attain health by their own means and was introduced to the guiding
concept of health self-sufficiency. Health self-sufficiency, or *Arogya
Swaraj* in Hindi, means "health home rule," and the concept has its roots in
the Ghandian concept of Indian independence. In the latest permutation of
this concept, there is a movement toward health independence through the
promotion and development of alternative medicine in India. Increasing
accessibility to indigenous forms of medicine among the associated cultural
groups is a priority in my research career.

Jin Shin Jyutusu and plant-based nutrition are the means by which I promote
health self-sufficiency in my professional and personal life. Through Jin
Shin Jyutsu, I practice methods of healing that can be used for numerous
conditions, covering the mental, emotional, and physical spectrum. Jin Shin
Jyutsu can be self-applied, so it is a particularly useful tool for health
self-sufficiency. Likewise, food is the means by which we nourish ourselves
and dietary choices represent a critical juncture of our understanding of
self-care for optimal health. Studying nutrition and toxicology, especially
with regard to maternal and child health, provided me with the skills to
assess environmental disease exposure. Jin Shin Jyutsu and nutrition are the
methods I will use to research prevention of diseases starting at the
preconception stage.

*Arogya Swaraj* is a drastically different system of medicine from what we
have in the United States today. In particular, it strongly emphasizes
health promotion throughout the life span to prevent the unnecessary
incidence of disease. There is much work to be done in this area and my
previous experience in studying environmental exposure and disease
susceptibility among multi-cultural and disadvantaged populations
demonstrates my commitment to the pursuit of understanding and promoting
health self-sufficiency.

My graduate work focused on primary prevention, the most comprehensive
approach to establishing and maintaining standards for healthy environmental
and institutional atmospheres. I studied a novel school food program to
understand the forces at work in institutional behavior change. This is an
area of particular interest for me as schools have a major influence on the
public health of children, our next generation. In particular, the food
served to children in schools strongly influences the dietary patterns of
minority and disadvantaged children. The program I studied characterizes a
shift away from corporate-controlled meals and toward student attainment of
skills to grow, prepare, and enjoy healthy, fresh food. I also composed a
report for the California Department of Health on the same program, focusing
on hands-on educational strategies used in conjunction with school food
improvements.

To gain experience of disease prevention in an international context, I
lived in India following my doctoral research where I studied the health
self-sufficiency movement and the associated modalities of medicine. This
experience strengthened my resolve to research integrative medicine because
of the widespread use and reliance upon holistic therapies there. Two
modalities I focused on were Ayurvedic medicine and yoga. Whereas healthy
eating and physical activity are two preventive approaches used in the west,
Ayurveda and yoga are two examples of their eastern counterparts. Ayurveda
heavily relies upon specific foods and herbal medicine for treatment. Herbal
medicine, like nutrition, is a readily accessible source of healing that
comes from the environment in the form of plants. Yoga is of interest
because while it is used primarily for physical benefits in the U.S., it is
recognized for its physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits in its land
of origin. The use of the physical body to heal the body, mind, and spirit
is the inseparable companion to herbal medicine—both of which I plan to
study in my research career.

Since arriving back in the U.S., I have continued to study prevention along
with health policy research. At the Stanford Prevention Research Center, I
conducted data analysis for a project examining disease exposure in a
predominantly Latino farming community. Data on this under-researched
population confirms previous data on health disparities, demonstrating the
limited access to and affordability of health care and services experienced
by low income Latinos. Incidentally, I had the opportunity to teach yoga at
Stanford for my first integrated academic work experience.

At the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, I am currently researching novel
health programs that improve access to health care among minority
populations specifically. This has been an opportunity to gain expertise in
the impact of health care on vulnerable populations. In this project, I am
gathering data on programs that provide culturally appropriate care to
minority populations to generate recommendations for addressing
discriminatory practices in the medical system. The resulting report will
demonstrate methods of improving minority access to health care and will be
distributed to policy makers nationwide.

Finally, in line with the philosophy of *Arogya Swaraj* that healing begins
within the individual, I care for my health through yoga, Jin Shin Jyutusu,
meditation, vegetarianism, gardening, and by using a bicycle for
transportation. This pursuit of personal health inspires my pursuit of
global health.

*****

Health self-sufficiency takes a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary
approach to medicine by acknowledging the patient *and* her social context.
The experience I hope to gain during the T.R.I.M. Fellowship consists of
delivering preventive care to disadvantaged populations through clinical,
community, and research settings. This experience would facility meeting my
career goals as an independent academic investigator.

First, I would like to obtain clinical training in holistic care use, in
conjunction with allopathic care, to better understand the essential
elements of each in providing comprehensive and culturally appropriate care.
I am eager to participate in the Advanced Training in Clinical Research
Program to enhance my ability to study the application of alternative
medicine in the clinical research setting. I also look forward to the
possibility of using Jin Shin Jyutsu in the clinical setting and expanding
my knowledge base indigenous forms of medicine to which culturally diverse
populations are most responsive.

Within the clinical setting, I hope to gain exposure to the delivery of
preventive care to a diverse patient population, particularly with regard to
cultural sensitivity and patient-practitioner communication. Minorities
report the lowest satisfaction with medical care compared to whites, and
have the poorest health outcomes. Sub-standard care and discriminatory
delivery of care are inexcusable elements of the current system considering
that medical expenditures exceed $15 billion in the U.S. I hope to focus on
maternal and child health in the clinical setting because families have the
most to gain from preventive medicine. The Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and
Parenting Program would be an excellent opportunity in this respect.

In the community setting, I would like to obtain training in conducting
outreach with disadvantaged populations at critical points to improve health
outcome. Examples of such time points include pre-conception, adolescents
becoming sexually active, and women returning home from prison. Though there
are a great number of health care sites along the allo-naturopathic
spectrum, the quality and accessibility of health care varies greatly
depending upon the demographics of the individual. This is true to the
extent that there is a lack of knowledge and resource transfer in the
community. Establishing replicable models of communication networks is
essential to improve the health outcome of disadvantaged populations.

In the research setting, I would like to gain experience in guiding the
development of a new health care system through informed research,
curriculum development, and policy making that encourages cost containment
and prevention. One example of is a cost/benefit analysis of providing care
and preventive services to those in need, which would be useful in
understanding the actual cost of health care as opposed to current care
models. To incorporate holistic health, culturally appropriate, and
economically viable care into medical training, I would like to participate
in curriculum development for and teaching of health professionals.
Development of programs to increase cultural diversity of health care
professionals such as the UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education
and Research is also a priority. Finally, I would like to continue examining
the interrelationship of policy and health care to identify methods of
creating improved and more affordable care. Novel health care programs such
as Healthy San Francisco and the Kaiser Permenente Farmers Market are
excellent opportunities to document improvements to the current U.S. health
care system.

Gaining the experience described above would facilitate meeting my career
goals of becoming an independent researcher with strong clinical research
training. Through future research, I plan to document outcomes of
plant-based nutrition therapy, Jin Shin Jyutusu, health education, and
various public health initiatives on:



· prevention, treatment, and reversal of non-communicable, chronic
diseases

· toxic exposure

· reproductive and peri-natal health measures

· recovery rates and use of medication during childbirth and among
surgery patients

· STD treatment and prevention

· intentional reproduction

· mental health and happiness



The overarching goal in researching integrative medicine as a T.R.I.M.
fellow and beyond is to increase health self-sufficiency. The beginning
stage of this work is documenting and applying those methods that allow 1)
equity in health care and 2) individuals to be healthy through their own
means. Plans for my research career will be carried out through my
experience in health education and Jin Shin Jyutsu to promote optimal health
at the individual, community, and population level. At the individual level,
a marker of success is that individuals are empowered with knowledge,
skills, resources, and support to make wise lifestyle choices. At the
community level, a marker of success is that residents have access to clean
air, water, food, spaces, and a usual source of culturally appropriate care.
At the population level, a marker of success is that institutions play an
active role in health promotion by working synergistically with individuals
and communities. The end point of health self-sufficiency is prevention of
disease among the most vulnerable populations (e.g. minority populations,
the poor, and the uninsured), and thus the prevention of lower quality of
life and unnecessary resource use (e.g. medical services, medications, and
surgeries).

Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this program. I would be honored
to participate in this one-of-a-kind training fellowship. The program
curriculum and guidance of the distinguished faculty at UCSF would offer
invaluable experiences to my development as a researcher and future leader
in integrative medicine.



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <SArjuna@aol.com>
Date: Jan 29, 2008 1:21 PM
Subject: [permaculture] Teleconference w/ Joel Salatin Wed. evening
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org


You may be interested in the following invitation.
Shivani in WI

AN INVITATION FROM THE FARM-TO-CONSUMER FOUNDATION

Please join us with the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation in our first educational
seminar, featuring sustainable farming guru and visionary Joel Salatin.
Mr.Salatin will discuss the importance of creating local food networks - how
farmers
can organize with other farmers, and how the consumer can play a role to
advance local sustainable farming.

We visualize farmers and consumers stepping up to the plate equally to
ensure a world where small, sustainable farms can thrive and where, as
consumers, we continue to have excellent food choices. Indeed, at this
critical juncture in the history of farming and food, we must all make it a
priority to do everything we can to support our alternative food sources.
The Foundation is organizing educational seminars as a vehicle for learning
what we can all do to help.

Sincerely,

Taaron Meikle
President

BRINGING FARMERS TO THE PLATE
The Challenge of Rebuilding the Local Food Web Through Farmer Cooperation
and Consumer Awareness
WHEN: January 30, 2008

TIME: 8:00 p.m. EST

COST: $20.00

REGISTRATION:
https://www.ptfassociates.com/secure/ftcldf/seminar_signup.html

You can write to healthsolutionsnow@earthlink.net and ask to join their
e-mail list.



**************
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.

http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
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