So humans do so many
(chuckles) horrible, terrible, wrong, crazy things.
And one of them is we dissect medicine
into separate segments and we don't blend them, right?
So acupuncture is great for certain things.
Massage therapy is great for certain things,
a dietician, herbal medicine, conventional medicine.
Like if we were like, "What is best for the patient?"
Like for me, like a medical system would be amazing
if people understood their own talents
and how other skills work.
So I would say the Ithaca Free Clinic
is a mixed modality clinic,
offering both conventional
and less conventional services for free
for anybody who is interested.
(gentle music)
The Ithaca Free Clinic
grew out of something called the Ithaca HOURs.
And those things were based
on trying to make Ithaca more self-reliant.
And here's how I got involved.
So I have a good friend who's an herbalist
and one day she's saying,
"You know, we have this thing that we're doing.
We're getting together and trying to open a free clinic,"
and "7Cynics," so "7Cynics" here,
thought, "No way, like nobody's going to..."
Like, "They're not going to have herbalists
to open up a free clinic."
And it took like a month or two to convince me,
and I went to a meeting and it was exactly that.
It was a group of people of conventional practitioners,
doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, people who worked
at the hospital, mostly reception, so not like the CEOs,
but people who worked in the hospital
and saw a need for this.
And then there was massage therapists
and some, well, maybe alternative or holistic practices.
And so I went to a meeting, I was like,
"Damn, this thing is really happening!"
And so that was about 2005.
And I basically have stayed involved ever since.
I'm the last person who's been involved
in the early meetings.
And so definitely having worked at the Free Clinic,
I feel like I have a much better sense
of conventional medicine and herbal medicine
work often very well together
within the parameters of critical thinking.
You know, in other words, not always
and not for everything.
(gentle music)
On a personal level, I think one of the things
that I often offer people
or I hope to offer people is being a bridge
between the more conventional medicine
and the less conventional medicine.
A lot of people really don't have a good understanding
of the different courses of treatment that they can have.
And as somebody who studies physiology, pathophysiology,
anatomy, for people who are interested in this,
I would like to have them to understand more
about what's going on in their body.
If people understand a little bit what's going on
and the choices offered, it gives them more agency.
And the one thing our modern system doesn't do...
our modern system has a bunch of flaws...
so I definitely separate the modern system
from the practitioners.
Our modern system with its very speedy consultations
offers people almost zero agency.
People are told what to do.
They're not really told much more depth.
You could have an excellent doctor,
but the system is set up where that is less true.
So one thing that I would like to do if you're asking about,
you know, services is I would help the patients
or individuals with their agency and understanding things
so they can make choices or put them in touch with people
that can help them make choices with their healthcare.
(gentle music continues)
I want to point out, if people are watching this
and want to see me at the Ithaca Free Clinic, you can,
but here's the stipulation.
We don't send medicine.
So anybody who wants to have a consultation,
I mean, I see a lot of people who don't live in Ithaca
and the consultation is free,
but we just don't send medicine, way too complicated,
way too expensive.
If you're in Ithaca though, hello Ithaca
and Tompkins County people and people living around here.
If you live nearby, we may give you your medicines
and they're free and the refills are free, so...
(gentle music continues)