Excerpt from “The French Stethoscope” by Dr. Chris Gilbert

We hope you enjoy this excerpt from Dr. Chris Gilbert’s book, The French Stethoscope: How a French Doctor Turned Life Challenges Into Opportunities and Deep Appreciation. In this personal memoir, Dr. Gilbert shares her life’s secrets – the successes, failures, dreams and losses she’s endured on her journey towards wisdom, happiness and fulfillment.

I started practicing only general medicine, but quickly realized that most of my patients would benefit from homeopathy and acupuncture, which is what I had been doing in France. That’s when I decided to recreate exactly the kind of practice I had in France. My practice became general medicine, homeopathy and acupuncture. I thought I would be one of many physicians having this kind of practice in LA, but I had the shock of my life – very few physicians had a similar practice.

Most physicians in LA were spending 5 to 15 minutes with each patient, going after the money rather than the quality of work. I couldn’t work like this. They were getting burnt out and depressed but still continued that kind of practice. I knew that kind of practice. That’s how Harbor UCLA and the Long Beach VA had trained me. I hated that. I decided to go against the national rule and habit. I decided to create my own way of working and spend at least one hour with each patient. Each of them would be special, and my focus would be on their well-being, rather than on the money.

Very quickly, I started having more and more patients. My way of working was so different than other physicians that my existing patients would tell their family and friends about me, and soon after, I got their whole family and friends as patients.

By spending one hour with each patient, I had time to review their past medical history and all their medications. I had time to ask about the origin and trigger of each of their symptoms. I discovered that a lot of patients were taking too many medications. Each time they would go to their doctor for a different complaint, another medication would be added. Nobody had taken the time to see if they really needed such strong medications or if after six months, the medications were still needed. Most physicians were looking for a quick fix and not looking at the whole picture.

I was asking each patient to bring in all the dietary supplements they were taking, and I noticed that many of them were taking too many supplements. Some supplements interacted with their regular medications. None of their regular physicians had asked about dietary supplements. I found that many patients reacted well to homeopathy and acupuncture. Very often, with only a homeopathic treatment and one acupuncture session, I would be able to avoid giving a conventional medication. Only if the symptom persisted would I give a regular medication.

Dr. Chris Gilbert practices general medicine, homeopathy and acupuncture in the Los Angeles area. Her books, Dr. Chris’s A, B, C’s of Health: When Your Body Screams, Listen to It! and The French Stethoscope, are available at www.amazon.com.