Tuesday, November 26, 2013

CLOSING THE CHASM BETWEEN ALTERNATIVE AND MAINSTREAM MEDICINE

THE IMPORTANCE OF Dr. SUNITA VOHRA






Dr. Sunita Vohra is the 2013 recipient of the Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (THE CANADIAN PRESS/University of Alberta-Michael Holly)

"Alternative medicine" was once the domain of new-aged mystics, in shadowy back rooms. It was to be approached with skepticism ---  perhaps as a last resort.

But over the past few decades, things have changed.

Acupuncture and  echinacia are in common use.

And what used to be a shadowy unknown has been pulled into the light of scientific medical research. One of the doctors leading this change is a Canadian --- Dr. Sunita Vohra.

She has become a leader in both complementary and alternative medicine, and conventional medicine. She is working to bring the two communities closer together.


Dr. Vohra attended medical school at Dalhousie University, and later studied paediatrics and clinical pharmacology at The Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto. She also holds a master's degree in Epidemiology from McMaster University.

Dr. Vohra is now a paediatrician in Edmonton and a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta.
She is also the founding director of CARE - Complementary and Alternative Research and Education at the University of Alberta. It is the first academic paediatric integrative medicine program in Canada.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Vohra was awarded the 2013 Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. At 250,000 dollars --- it is the largest prize of its kind in North America.





No comments: