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If We Want a New Medical Paradigm, We Must Support the Practitioners Brave Enough to Build It
I was inspired by the conversations that occurred at this year’s MAPS conference and by the growing movement of practitioners and parents questioning conventional approaches to children’s health. The experience left me with a renewed sense of hope — and a reminder that creating a new medical paradigm requires all of us to support the practitioners brave enough to build it.
I always leave conferences like the Medical Academy of Pediatrics & Special Needs (MAPS) feeling invigorated and energized. But this year, representing Children’s Health Defense at our booth, I was especially struck by how much this movement continues to grow.
There were the OGs who have been doing this work for decades, people awakened by the craziness of COVID who are now asking questions they never thought to ask, and practitioners who were taught to trust the system but who are now questioning it and looking for better answers.
There were also countless vendors offering products, services and resources for families and practitioners.
The new practitioners were easy to spot by their white lanyards. Whenever they came to our booth, I would ask, “How is it going? What are you learning?”
So many told me they had learned more in a few days about getting to the root of children’s health challenges than they had throughout medical school.
One practitioner came to me with tears in her eyes, wishing she had found this information sooner. I reminded her, “It doesn’t matter when you arrive. What matters is that you arrive.”
One conversation in particular stayed with me. I met a practitioner who was attending the conference but working in a practice that didn’t accept unvaccinated patients.
My first reaction was emotional, so I took a breath and started asking questions.
How do you reconcile what you’re learning here with the policies of your practice? How do you approach informed consent? How do you educate families?
The practitioner explained that having no unvaccinated patients actually made things easier because many families weren’t asking questions — they simply wanted to follow the vaccine schedule.
I kept asking questions because I genuinely wanted to understand, but also because I needed to hear the contradiction out loud: What happens when what you’re learning conflicts with the system you’re working inside?
Eventually, the conversation turned to why I do this work, so I shared the full, unedited version of my story: my experience with secondary infertility following a flu vaccination during pregnancy; my son’s years of ear, nose and throat issues; ADHD, PANS, and food allergies; and ultimately leaving our pediatrician to find someone who wasn’t looking to put a Band-Aid on the problem but to understand the root cause.
The pediatrician we eventually found, who was also speaking at the conference, played a pivotal role in my son’s health. At one critical point, that doctor told me it was OK to pause, a decision I believe protected my son from potentially catastrophic harm.
The practitioner then shared that she had thought about going out on her own but was afraid to take that step. I told her, “If you ever do, our community will find you.” But as I walked away, I wondered if we actually will.
We tell practitioners to leave the system, but then one of the first questions we ask is, “Do you take insurance?” We want change, but we often still rely on the broken system that shackles practitioners.
MAPS is doing its part by educating and empowering practitioners to think differently. Now we have to do our part.
If we want a new medical paradigm, we have to seek out, support and invest in practitioners who are willing to build it. Practitioners can’t do this alone, and parents can’t do it alone. Together is the only way forward.
I left MAPS with plenty of information, but more importantly, with hope — hope in the practitioners asking better questions, the parents demanding better answers, and a movement that continues to grow.
Now we just have to be willing to support the people brave enough to build what comes next.
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