Global Digital Store – Ebooks and Softwares

Tag: history

  • Can Animals Get PTSD? Yes! Animal Communication and Energy Healing Can Help

    [ad_1]

    Today, many rescued animals experience PTSD. They need help to heal before they can integrate into your family. Animal Communication and Energy Healing are two powerful tools to assist them.

    Why do so many animals experience trauma today?

    Many of the reasons are similar to those experiences that can cause PTSD in humans.

    ~~ Too early separation from the mother dog, cat, or horse, for whatever reason.

    ~~ Separation from their human family due to hurricanes, storms, flooding, fires, earthquakes, and other weather or earth-changing event in which people and their animals can become separated.

    ~~ Being shuffled from one rescue place to another in the genuinely loving effort to find the rescued animal a new home.

    ~~ Traumatic loss because the family is no longer able to keep the animal due to financial and/or health changes.

    ~~ When animals are dropped off at shelters or abandoned without explanation, they are confused, scared, hurt, angry, grieving, and afraid – just to name a few emotions that come up for them.

    ~~ When the shelter is one that kills animals after so many days, the animals know they might be killed, and the spirits of other animals killed there may be lingering, making the situation even more uncomfortable.

    This is not a complete list, but this list illustrates that one or more of these experiences may make integrating into a new loving family a challenge for the animal you’ve so lovingly adopted.

    The good news is that animals can recover from PTSD.

    When you adopt an animal from a rescue facility, you may not realize immediately that the animal is having difficulty adjusting.

    I’ve had clients ask for my assistance after struggling for a year or more to connect with a cat or dog or horse who has experienced a traumatic event.

    These clients are good, kind, loving, nurturing people who have tried everything they can think of to help their new animal companion adjust. Often they have been pouring love to an animal who is not open to receiving it.

    Of course, the sooner you ask for assistance, the sooner you and the animal will begin to build trust and open a loving connection between you.

    When an animal is emotionally shut down, afraid of experiencing yet another loss, and/or distrustful that this will be their “forever” home, something else must be added to the equation to assist them.

    Whatever history you have about the animal is also a very important piece of the puzzle.

    Using my Animal Communication and energy healing skills, I can offer you and your new companion special assistance.

    Over several sessions, I am able to establish a rapport with an animal who is very shut down.

    It can actually help me connect with them because I’m not physically present.

    Working from a distance, I can easily make a telepathic connection, which some animals experience as less intrusive than a human stranger being physically in the animal’s space.

    Furthermore, telepathically and energetically…

    ~~ I can feel what the animal is feeling because I’m a strong emotional empath.

    ~~ I can feel if the animal has a huge wall around themselves, or just needs some additional reassurance.

    ~~ I can feel if the animal is distrustful and can suggest ways of building trust.

    ~~ I can often feel if the animal is hiding something or lying to me and/or to themselves.

    ~~ I can ask other animals in your family for any insights they want to share, assuming they have already met the new family member. These often prove to be of immense value in understanding what’s going on with an animal who is too closed down to share very much.

    ~~ I can scan the animal energetically, with the animal’s permission, to pick up energy patterns in their auric field, chakras, and physical body.

    Once we have a better understanding of what’s going on for that animal, we together develop a plan of action.

    ~~ Sometimes Flower Essences are a good way to start. I am able to suggest appropriate essences to assist you and your animal companion(s).

    ~~ As a Certified Practitioner of The Emotion Code™, developed by Dr. Bradley Nelson, I know what a valuable tool this is for assisting an animal with PTSD. (This system has also been shown to be effective with humans.) Releasing emotional blocks and reducing or eliminating walls around their hearts will bring about huge healing shifts.

    ~~ As a Certified Multidimensional Healer, I work with healing teams from Source to remove the energy patterns of trauma, repair chakras and other damaged areas, assist the animal’s bodies to rebalance, and bring the animal into a space of harmony, peace, and openness to their new life circumstances.

    ~~ I may also refer you to other practitioners who offer many other alternative services that will assist the animal, such as acupuncture, chiropractic, Theta Healing, and basic training for dogs and horses.

    Having a “plan of action” helps you and the animal know what next steps to take and have a sense that there truly is hope of healing the animal and the entire situation.

    Have you recently brought home a new animal or are planning to adopt from a rescue place?

    If so, keep in mind that while coming to your home is the best thing for this animal, in some cases you many need to take some extra steps to help the animal integrate and become part of your loving family.

    [ad_2]

    Source by Nedda Wittels

    Views: 0

  • Healing Flowers to Grow in Your Garden

    [ad_1]

    Can you imagine yourself swinging outside your lawn smelling the sweet scent of the blossoms that are vividly blooming? Isn’t calming? Simply seeing and getting a whiff of flowers will give you calmness– a spiritual healing.

    Across history and cultures, we have witnessed how flowers are used for medicinal design. You know what’s the best thing? These gifts from Mother Nature can easily be grown in your garden. Indulge in the wonderful activity of gardening with these invigorating blossoms.

    Calendula

    These flowers come mostly in yellow and orange. Ironically, the fire-colored blooms help in healing. Cream created from brightly colored calendulas is perfect for treating skin burns and wounds. A plus to this flower is that it is also edible. It will give your salad a kick with its spicy and zesty flavors.

    When growing calendulas, they prefer a cooler atmosphere. You can care for them indoors. But, always remember that any plant requires the sun for nourishment. It is advised that you place them where they get enough sun and shade.

    Dandelion

    From its roots to its leaves, dandelions are used to cure various ailments. A round of applause to Mother Nature for creating such wonderful plant. Ancient people use the leaves for curing illnesses. These are perfect for problems with kidneys, gallbladders, and skin among many other ailments. Herbal healers use the roots for detoxification. Surprisingly, it can cure your hangovers. You should probably stack-up on these roots or better yet grow it in your backyard.

    The dandelions are very adaptive to its environment. It can grow in almost anywhere! These vigorous flowers can also thrive in the summer and winter. You should prepare a well-fertilized and drained soil to grow healthy flowers that could last.

    Lotus

    You guessed it right. The lotus came from China (as it is known) and some parts of Asia. It has been a used as a traditional healing plant. Say goodbye to diarrhea, high blood sugar, and cholesterol. Like dandelions, the lotus’ roots promotes healing. It is used to cure upset tummies.

    Despite growing in the mud, the lotus flower is tantalizing and even aromatic. The roots are deep into the mud while the leaves and flowers are above water. Growing lotus is an exciting change of gardening technique that will challenge your green thumbs.

    Peonies

    A bouquet of flowers made from peonies is a wonderful gift. But, a cup of peony tea is the bomb! The roots may help with menstrual cramps and muscle pains. These flowers are not only pretty but, they are truly relaxing as it relieves you from bodily pains. Peonies are beauty and value grown in magnificent blooms.

    You can grow peonies in your garden during the spring or fall season. These blooms require colder weather to grow healthy. They can be nourished in the garden or in pots. Be sure to water them regularly.

    Allow yourself the relaxation that you need in this mad world we live in. Go and have fun growing them!

    [ad_2]

    Source by Lexxa Molijon

    Views: 0

  • Top Network Marketing Company – Why Are the Products So Expensive?

    [ad_1]

    I’m sure you’ve heard this question before, Why are top network marketing company’s products so expensive?

    This is one of those ever-present questions that networkers and direct sales people will continue to encounter (probably) forever–and there’s always more to it than meets a simple answer.

    One key is not to side-step it. There are good and genuine reasons for legitimate, premium-priced products–and of course there are over-priced ones as well. Honesty is best, as always, and I’ll endeavor to give you the general truth with my answer to the question.

    Special Products at Special Prices

    First, the products available through top network marketing companies sales and distribution model are mostly what are called “specialty” items. They are higher priced products to begin with, having more costly ingredients and more complex designs or formulas; they are simply more expensive to make and package. Some well-known non-network marketed examples are Clinique makeup and fragrance products, Apple computers, iPods and iPhones, Armani clothing, Mercedes and Lexus automobiles.

    Unless you’re dealing with a scheme or a scam, these premium products outperform their cheaper, off-the-shelf counterparts, giving consumers more and better benefits. Since they have greater value, they cost more.

    If these products are being outsourced by the networking company (produced by a “third-party” vendor/supplier), they tend to be manufactured in smaller production runs that do not allow for all the optimal low-cost advantages of buying and making in the high volumes mass-marketers enjoy. The manufacturing processes are more complex and exclusive. The profit margins are higher. This results in a higher quality product with more attention to detail and quality control.

    The reason manufacturers and marketing companies select network marketing and direct sales is because these higher-priced products are of higher quality, and they therefore require special methods of distribution and sales.

    Simply put, they cannot compete with the lower-priced, lower quality “commodity” products, which are sold based mainly on discounted mass-market pricing and brand awareness alone. Think Wal-Mart and Costco.

    Specialty products are “education-intensive.” They need greater explanation; for example, what formula, ingredients and/or processes makes the product more expensive than those mass-market goods available through direct response marketing (such as the Internet and mail-order) or retail chain store sales. Many require demonstration.

    Mass-market products depend on advertising, promotion and merchandising at “point-of-purchase,” all of which are required to get consumers’ attention, let them know the product exists (to create “trial” especially if it’s “brand” new), and to give them enough compelling reasons to purchase and keep on purchasing.

    Going head-to-head with nationally advertised products, many to most of which are heavily discounted and sold at the lowest price possible, is a tough game for just about all smaller businesses to win. Imagine trying to sell vitamins or nutritional beverages or “prestige” cosmetics against a major manufacturer selling through Wal-Mart, or a natural toothpaste against a tube of Crest® through Kroger or Publix supermarkets.

    Specialty products are perfect for the person-to-person, information-rich education, demonstration and service oriented methods of network marketing.

    And that’s where the important second aspect of network marketing’s “higher price” comes in: the added value which you as a “distributor” add to the specialty products you sell.

    Added Value Added

    Network marketing and direct sales representatives add significant value to the product they sell and they are well paid when they do so successfully.

    We reach consumers with the awareness of new products and services that ads and merchandising–no matter how persuasive or promiscuous–would not be able to reach out and touch. And by virtue of our one-on-one, personal relationship with these buyers, we appeal to them with a level of trust and service no mass-market, retail product advertiser could hope to compete with.

    The extraordinary level of service Network Marketers provide is not available when buying through mail order or retail outlets. It is a real and tangible benefit, part of the product’s value–and its price.

    For example: Someone tries a network marketing anti-aging health product. It’s personally presented for them–either in person or via mail–with a host of educational material about the product: scientific studies, article reprints, even books or tapes explaining how the product was made, how to use it, its unique features and its benefits.

    Within one to two days, the network marketer again contacts the person to follow up, asking how they are doing, checking to see that their customer is following use directions properly, make recommendations, etceteras. These service calls continue daily, bi-weekly or weekly until the customer is satisfied and happy.

    The network marketer will also continue to send informative and educational material such as updates from scientific literature. He or she will also let the customer know about other products the company offers that this particular customer with his or her unique needs and wants might also enjoy.

    This is an extraordinary level of service that is a real and tangible benefit for the consumer. This kind of personal and knowledgeable attention is not available when buying through the Internet alone, or mail-order or most all retail outlets. It is one of the things network marketers are paid for and it is part of the product’s value–and its price.

    Are there cases where the above education and service are not offered? Of course.

    Are there products that do not have special ingredients or qualities that support a higher price? Sure.

    And are there times when a network marketed product is simply more expensive to pay for the multiple-level commission structure? Yes.

    Back in the early 1950s, a dog grooming service was opened in New York City to serve people living in the exclusive Park Avenue, 70th and 80th Streets area. They charged $25 to shampoo and clip a dog. They had no customers. Then they jacked-up their prices to $250 per visit–and were an instant success. The Cadillac Seville, when first introduced in test-market showrooms priced at under $10,000, bombed; at $14,000 the very same automobile became an instant best-seller.

    Value is a perception. The relationship between quality, benefit and price, i.e., value, is in the mind of the consumer-beholder. Businesses price goods and services according to what the market will bear. Successful marketers come up with just the right mix of value-benefit-price.

    The majority of network marketing direct sales products are of the genuine higher-quality variety, not available in stores, special in ingredients, design and making.

    Most offer the convenience of in-home or on-line ordering and to-the-door delivery. They are also special in terms of…

    Marketing and Customer Service

    The network marketing “sales person” adds value to the product through his or her education, service and sales to the customer.

    All of this has its price. And according to consumer trends and the explosive growth of network marketing direct sales companies and their products worldwide, more and more people every day think it’s worth it.

    What’s the truth about the price of products offered through network marketing? Are they too high? And if so, why?

    The full answer to this one is complicated. If you need a short one, mine is:

    High? Usually, yes.

    Too high? Sometimes… yes, but generally no.

    So, if they are high, why? Let’s start with looking at what kind of products we’re really talking about here.

    The Truth is, Specialty Products Cost More

    Network marketing is predominantly a “specialty products” business: The products we sell most often tend not to be the type you’d find in supermarkets, drug stores or any other mass merchandiser. They are not the kind that combines the lowest possible price for the least acceptable level of quality. For a conventional retail parallel, look at the products in a natural or health food store, beauty salon, boutique or upscale department store.

    Specialty products cost more to make. The ingredients are unique and high quality and production is low quantity–the amounts manufactured usually are not great enough to take advantage of the economies of scale enjoyed by big-time, high-volume, mass-market producers. So these products more expensive–both to make and to buy.

    Also, specialty product makers usually cannot depend on major advertising to increase sales: they don’t have that kind of money. So they have to use more expensive forms of distribution, such as small, individual retail outlets whose profit margins are higher than mass-market stores and chains.

    Profit Margins and Markups

    Here’s an example: a discount chain drug store might be able to markup a bottle of vitamins that normally sells for $3.00 wholesale for less than the normal 33 percent retail profit margin. And, because they buy in large volumes, they’ll get the product for less than $3.00 to begin with.

    A natural or health food store might buy that same product at the full $3.00 wholesale price, and use a markup of 50 percent to get their full 33.3 percent retail profit margin.

    To the consumer, buying at retail, here’s the difference: $3.99 at the drug store and $4.50 at the health food store.

    And then there’s “what the traffic will bear.”

    There are sexy boxes of imported chocolate that go for $38.00 each, and poly-bags of 50 mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups you can get for less than $3.80. If your taste tends towards expensive, you’ll generally pay more–in “margin” percentages to middle-people and in total dollars.

    Let’s look at a comparison of one single product offered through the conventional manufacturer-to-retailer distribution system and the exact same product sold through network marketing.

    $$$ From Conventional Manufacturer to Consumer

    We know specialty products cost more to make; again, the ingredients are unique and high quality, and the production is low quantity, so they are simply more expensive.

    Manufacturers speak of “Cost of Goods” (CoG): that’s the figure that a product costs the company to make, including overhead, ingredients, packaging and labeling, sales commissions (such as broker’s fees), etc.

    The very minimum a manufacturer needs to sell that product for is double, or a 50 percent margin. Considering that most competitive businesses operate on a six percent pre-tax profit, that leaves them 44 percent to pay for everything else. So, the $2.00 CoG product they make, they sell for $4.00.

    Now, some manufacturers sell direct to retailers–not many, but a few do, and when they do, they’ll take a higher profit margin to pay for the Cost of Sales (CoS).

    However, most manufacturing companies deal through distributors, who charge for warehousing, shipping and selling the products to retail stores. Normal wholesale is a 25 percent markup, which you get by multiplying the purchase price–plus freight if not included–by 1.33. So, our $4.00 item would be sold by a wholesale-distributor to the retailer for $5.32. (Again, plus or not freight costs which can run 10 to 15 percent additional.)

    To achieve a 33.3 percent profit margin, the retailer has a 50 percent mark-up–or higher. Our $5.32 product ends up on the shelf at $7.98.

    Now, this is the minimum scenario–not what normally happens except in the more strongly competitive markets. It’s not the least bit unusual to find the manufacturer selling that $2.00 CoG product for $5.00 or $6.00… the distributor working on 35 percent instead of 25 percent… and a retailer – especially from a specialty market segment–look for a 50 percent profit (i.e., a 100 percent markup), instead of “only” one third.

    And if all of that were true, the retail price of the product through that sales and distribution system would be more like $14.95.

    $$$ In Network Marketing Direct Sales

    Let’s work this one backwards (because that’s how most of the numbers are figured for your commissions).

    If the networking company’s product sells to consumers for $15.00 it will have an average retail commission to the networker of from 20 percent to 40 percent. So, using a 30 percent retail commission, the company’s “wholesale” price to the mlm distributor will be about $10.50.

    Let’s say that your company pays out a full 50 percent in “downline” or organizational commissions. That means that the company’s lowest from-the-warehouse price for the product would be half of wholesale, or $5.25.

    That’s right in the ballpark for specialty manufacturing, distribution and sales.

    It’s a Question of Value

    There is also a greater value, beyond the “specialty products” issues of ingredient quality, cost of manufacture and so forth and that’s the education, information and service delivered by the person-to-person distribution network.

    Learning the product’s proper use, additional uses, history, all about the ingredients, etceteras, is all part of its value. And products offered through word-of-mouth network marketing have more of this “added value” than any others.

    This last point begs the question:

    “Are products purchased through network marketing higher priced to make up for the compensation or commission payments to distributors and their networks?”

    Can they be? Yes.

    Are they… usually? No and Yes.

    In an authentic, intelligent, sincere and sensible network marketing direct sales company, one that’s well-managed and directed… a company that understands that the financial health and well-being of the men and women in the field MUST lead their mission, decisions, strategy, policies and procedures… no.

    But that new ostentatious corporate headquarters in the prestige location… corporate jet… an army of “distributor service” personnel… rock concert “conventions”… $50,000 “big name” keynote speakers… resort vacations and incentive cruses to exotic locations paid for by the company… luxury car allowances… are all expenses that need to be paid for. Where does that money come from?

    Directly (in terms of potential commissions that will not be paid out to people) or indirectly (in over-priced products and/or inflated charges for marketing materials, self-replicating websites, business building tools and trainings), the money comes from only one place… the men and women in the field.

    “So… do network marketed products cost more?” Sometimes yes and other times no.

    Can they be more expensive than similar items of equal value offered in a conventional market such as a retail store? Yes, they can.

    In fact, you can find numerous examples of both conventionally retailed products and networking products of similar sizes, shapes and qualities at prices that vary by as much as 30 to 40 percent or more.

    The only sure rule in product pricing the world over is, “What the traffic will bear…” No matter what distribution and sales route the product travels. It’s not so much a game of “Let the Buyer Beware,” as it is and always will be…

    “Let the Buyer Be Aware.”

    Factor in the at-home shopping convenience… the customer service… the satisfaction guarantee… personal attention… education and information–and in today’s increasingly competitive global marketplace, the “aggressive pricing” posture being taken by more and more networking companies around the world–along with the generally superior quality of the products available through network marketing and direct sales…

    … and I believe a growing number quality-conscious consumers will agree with me, top network marketing company’s products represent outstanding value.

    [ad_2]

    Source by John Milton Fogg

    Views: 0

  • Department Administrator Interference in the Doctor-Patient Relationship

    [ad_1]

    I contacted a resident doctor in Internal Medicine at a teaching hospital and asked if he would be interested in becoming my primary care physician (PCP). My note briefly described my background in health outcomes research and two of my prescription drugs. He wrote back that he would be honored to be my PCP, and came across as professional, humble, and sincere. A new doctor-patient relationship was formed, and I contacted my existing doctor’s office to arrange for my medical records to be transferred, which immediately informed that office that I must be dissatisfied and going to a new doctor. I also shared with the resident doctor confidential information from my medical records and a copy of one of my professional presentations at a health care conference.

    A department administrator then contacted me to say the resident doctors are not available every day of the week for clinic and are not even here when they do their ICU rotation. Also, the Internal Medicine department protocol would not allow the resident doctor to write me a drug prescription for off label use. Finally, she was concerned that in the past I have ordered and correctly interpreted my own blood tests. The administrator’s attitude reflects one of the chief complaints Americans have with the health care system: the system is coming at them and requiring them to get health services in some predefined structure to which the facility is accustomed but which eliminate any potential for individualized treatment according to individual patients’ needs.

    Apparently the administrator did not spend enough “careful consideration” to get her facts straight. I do not need to see my PCP daily or even monthly. My track record shows I saw my existing doctor once in a calendar year, and the prior doctor before him I saw once in a 15-month period. So the administrator based her decision on her own ignorance of the facts.

    She also misstated facts concerning off-label prescriptions for drugs by resident doctors. One of the drugs we are talking about is Clomiphene. Both a resident doctor and an attending faculty physician at the teaching hospital advised me that they would be willing to write me (off-label) prescriptions for this drug, and the attending physician did indeed phone in a prescription for one of the drugs at my request. Similarly, the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB-GYN) advised me that their doctors, both resident and attending, have prescribed Clomiphene to patients. Therefore, residents in Family Medicine and OB-GYN (both primary care departments) can write prescriptions for Clomiphene, but “protocol” prevents residents in Internal Medicine (also primary care) from writing off-label prescriptions. What kind of a cockamamie rule is that? What, the residents in Internal Medicine are too dumb or too naive to understand off-label benefits of medicines?

    Finally, I had planned for my resident PCP to order and interpret blood tests each time I visited him. The administrator could have learned that fact if she had bothered to call or write me before jumping to conclusions and interfering in my doctor-patient relationship. I strongly reject the Director’s paternalistic view of medicine in which she feels she has to protect resident doctors from patients who order or interpret their own blood tests. These resident doctors are young professionals who have completed their medical degrees; they don’t need paternalistic oversight from a department administrator telling them who they can and cannot invite to be patients.

    Apparently, an overwhelming number of patients who visit this teaching hospital’s doctors want to be told what to do and how to feel. I am the exact opposite; I take personal responsibility for and manage my own health, which is strongly advocated under health care reform. Having a more equal, collaborative relationship with my PCP works for me, and that seems to be the true reason for the administrator’s interference. Studies show that medical malpractice rates drop with a non-paternalistic model of health care services. That fact of reducing litigation risks is pushing more health care systems across the country to migrate to a non-paternalistic model.

    LEGAL ANALYSIS

    I. Formation of Doctor-Patient Relationship

    The first question to address is whether, based on this fact pattern, a doctor-patient relationship was formed. When I gave the Internal Medicine resident doctor confidential information on two off-label drugs that I take, that act would be analogous to a prospective client approaching a lawyer with facts about his case to see if the lawyer will assist him. Contacting a lawyer this way does not create an attorney-client relationship. However, the lawyer is under an ethical duty to protect the confidentiality of the information shared by the prospective client. Similarly, the resident doctor was under an ethical duty to keep the information I shared with him confidential.

    When a lawyer responds to a prospective client, “I agree to take your case,” or “I will be your lawyer,” or words to that effect, then an attorney-client relationship is created, and the protection afforded to the client’s information rises to the level of constitutionally protected attorney-client privilege. In this case, when the resident doctor responded that he would be honored to be my PCP, we have offer and acceptance forming a contract. The offer-acceptance could be construed as my offering to be his patient, which he accepted, or his offer to be my PCP, which I accepted.

    But offer and acceptance are only two of the three required elements to form a contract. The third essential element is exchange of consideration, expressed in Latin as the quid pro quo. In this case, there were several separate exchanges of consideration that complete the formation of a contract and thereby render it enforceable in a court of law. Consideration is defined as some act or some transfer of an item from one party to the other, for which the receiving party had no legal right to otherwise obtain that consideration. There is no requirement that the consideration have intrisinc value. For example, the transfer of a scrap piece of paper can constitute valid consideration that renders a contract binding and enforceable.

    The initial disclosure of confidential information from my health history amounts to sufficient consideration. Second, the fact that both I and the doctor each began pursuing scheduling an appointment for me to see him is also consideration: neither of us had a prior legal right entitling us to that action by the other person. Third, when we continued to correspond after offer and acceptance, with additional information being shared back and forth, further consideration was exchanged. My sending the resident doctor a copy of one of my professional presentations was a fourth example of consideration. Finally, my request that my medical records be transferred to the resident doctor’s clinic constituted an obvious legal detriment based on reliance rendering the contract enforceable.

    If a lawsuit were filed for enforcement of this contract, I am confident that the plaintiff would overcome any attempt to dismiss the lawsuit by the teaching hospital’s attorneys based on the absence of a contract. Defendant might attempt to argue that no contract could be formed, because the resident doctor is not licensed. According to the website http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/resident+physician, a “resident physician is a graduate and licensed physician receiving training in a specialty, usually in a hospital.” The resident’s licensing status would not prevent the formation of an enforceable contract, as we have in this fact pattern, for treatment in the supervised residents’ clinic.

    In court, we would pose a series of questions: 1) Is the resident a graduate of a medical school? Yes! 2) Was our conversation focused on health care treatment? Yes! 3) Does the resident see other patients (whether supervised or unsupervised) in the resident clinic? Yes! 4) Are the resident’s services billed to the U.S. government and to private insurers as the services of a doctor (not a student or a doctor’s aide)? Yes! 5) Did we both use the term PCP in describing our relationship? Yes. 6) Did the resident undertake to assist me in obtaining a medical appointment to see him? Yes! With these answers, any court of law is going to recognize if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. Therefore, the defendant’s argument on licensing will be viewed as a red herring and will fail. In a similar vein, courts have noted “it is axiomatic that a doctor-patient relationship may arise from, briefly exist, and be limited by the unique circumstances presented in a transfer situation.” Sterling v. Johns Hopkins Hosp., 145 Md. App. 161 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2002). It does not matter how long the doctor has been seeing patients or how brief the contact with any given patient, a doctor-patient relationship can be formed.

    Selection of a PCP and other medical decisions are “core” private decisions. A fundamental tenet of privacy jurisprudence, as it has been applied to other types of personal matters, is that the individual most directly concerned is entitled to make and implement the protected decision autonomously and free from paternalistic government intrusion. See, e.g., Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374, 54 L. Ed. 2d 618, 98 S. Ct. 673 (1978) (decision to marry); Moore v. East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494, 52 L. Ed. 2d 531, 97 S. Ct. 1932 (1977) (decision to live with extended family members); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 14 L. Ed. 2d 510, 85 S. Ct. 1678 (1965)(reproductive choice). I would argue that the constitutional right to privacy also protects autonomy in selecting a PCP among a wide choice of available doctors, selecting which medications I want prescribed, and choosing what lab tests I want to order myself to monitor my health.

    In 2005, the Supreme Court of Arkansas provided the best statement in American jurisprudence on the elevated status of the doctor-patient relationship. The court noted the relationship of doctor-patient is unique. “The loss of this relationship, even temporarily, causes irreparable damage to the doctor and the patient. There is no adequate remedy at law because the loss is a loss of a one-time opportunity.” Baptist Health v. Murphy, 362 Ark. 506 (Ark. 2005)

    The court noted that the hospital had violated the Arkansas Department of Health rules and regulations for hospitals by failing to enforce policies that protected the doctor’s selection of patients and the patient’s choice of a physician. “We interpret this to mean that an otherwise qualified doctor must be granted access to his patient for the purpose of treating his patient, if that is what both the doctor and the patient want. Or, stated another way, a hospital cannot deny the services of a physician of the patient’s choice if the patient is already being seen by physicians at the hospital. Baptist Health v. Murphy, 362 Ark. 510-511 (Ark. 2005)

    Based on reading Baptist Health, I will now forward a copy of this article to the state Department of Health to determine whether the teaching hospital violated any of my state’s regulations requiring Tennessee-licensed medical centers to have policies or bylaws that respect the patient’s right to select his own physician. If so, then the teaching hospital is violating those regulations.

    II. Tennessee’s Tortious Interference Statute

    Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-50-109 is captioned, “Procurement of breach of contracts unlawful – Damages.” The administrator tortiously interfered in my doctor-patient relationship and prevented the resident doctor from performing his services under our contract. She therefore procured a breach of that contract. The administrator will argue that she was merely performing her duties, but that is no excuse for interfering in an existing doctor-patient relationship.

    Although Tennessee jurisprudence does not have a case on point, courts across the country have taken a dim view and expressed disapproval of employer interference in the doctor-patient relationship. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court stated, “The ethical objection has been that intervention by employer… makes a tripartite matter of the doctor-patient relation. Since the contract doctor owes his employment and looks for his pay to the employer… rather than to the patient, he serves two masters with conflicting interests.” United States v. Oregon State Medical Soc., 343 U.S. 326, 329 (U.S. 1952).

    [ad_2]

    Source by Michael Guth

    Views: 0

  • Weight Loss – How I Went From 340 to 199 Pounds, Part 1

    [ad_1]

    I spent two years losing over 140 pounds the old fashioned way: proper diet and exercise. No fads. No pills. No surgery. No crazy machines. I was 30 years old and 340 pounds. With a history of heart disease and obesity in my family, I decided it was time to shed the pounds.

    Almost every day I get people I haven’t seen in years coming up to me saying “Wow! You look great!” and then the next question… “What have you been doing?” That’s why I wrote this article.

    Disclaimer

    Now, of course, as a general disclaimer, I have to say that the tips I’m sharing with you here are just from my own personal experience. I’m not a professional health expert – although over the past couple of years I’ve read dozens of books, and hundreds of articles on nutrition, exercise, and weight lifting. I’m not a doctor. You should, of course, seek your own doctor’s advice before starting any kind of a weight-loss or exercise plan. I firmly believe that with the right diet and proper exercise, almost anyone should be able to lose weight and get fit safely.

    Tip 1. It’s All About Calories

    First, the bad news. Weight gain and loss is directly tied to the amount of calories you eat versus the calories you expend through exercise. What’s a calorie?

    A calorie is a unit of heat energy. Specifically, it’s the amount of heat energy required to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. How this relates to your body is that when you eat food, the food molecules are broken down chemically and that energy is either used by your body to perform work (like building muscle, or constructing new cells) or is stored (as fat). If you take in more calories than you burn, you will start to get fat.

    Now, in the world of calories, it takes 3500 calories to equal one pound of body weight. So, if you take in an extra 3500 calories in your diet this week without exercising, congratulations… you’ve just gained one pound (probably all body fat). The good news is that you can lose one pound of fat by either removing 3500 calories from your diet, or adding 3500 calories of exercise to your weekly schedule, or a combination of the two.

    What’s 3500 calories? It’s actually not much if you’re eating the wrong kinds of food. You can consume 3500 calories in one meal if you eat two Double Whoppers (1010 calories each), a King Size order of french fries (590), a King Size onion rings (600), and a chocolate shake (440). Don’t laugh… this is what I used to eat for dinner if my family went to Burger King… or something similarly outrageous.

    So the bottom line here is that if you want to lose weight, you have to create a calorie deficit. That means you have to burn off more calories than you eat. You had to eat more calories than you burned to get fat… now you have to reduce the calories to get lean. It’s that simple. In order to know how many calories you’re taking in and burning off, you need to write them down.

    Tip 2. Eat Frequently Throughout the Day

    Think of your body as a furnace. You want your furnace to burn fuel as efficiently as possible. In order for that to happen, you need to let it burn hot and steady throughout the day.

    You need to stoke your fire often to keep it burning. Keep your metabolism running all day long by eating every 3 to 4 hours. My personal tip: I eat on hours evenly divisible by 3. That means breakfast at 9am (if I’m up that early), lunch at noon, a snack at 3pm, dinner at 6pm, a snack at 9pm, and if I’m still up another snack at midnight.

    Now, I personally work late (I usually get most of my “real work” done between the hours of 10pm and 2am) but if you need to eat at different hours, that’s fine… Just take the total number of calories you’re going to eat throughout the day and divvy them up into 3-hour intervals. Keep that fire stoked! If you can’t take a break at work to eat every 3 hours, bring a protein bar with you.

    If you skip breakfast, then you’re extremely hungry by the time lunch comes around. Skip lunch, and you’re more likely to gorge yourself at dinner. Why? Your body is saying, “Hey! I need food badly!” If you feed yourself often, throughout the day, your body doesn’t go into shock, and you won’t get those wild cravings and hunger pangs when it’s time to eat.

    Tip 3. Start a Food & Exercise Journal

    Don’t just dismiss this section. I did! The first couple of times I read about doing this in fitness and weight-loss books, I said to myself, “I don’t have the time to do this.” But you know what – it really works!

    I cannot stress how important it is to write everything down that you eat. All you need is a little notebook. Make four columns: what you ate, how much of it you ate, how many calories were in it, and what time of the day you ate it. It’s that simple. Also write down any exercise or other activities that are more strenuous than just sitting around.

    Taking the time to recognize what you’re eating is the first step to losing weight. A lot of people truly don’t realize how much crap they’re eating. When I first started doing this – and writing down everything I was eating – it really opened my eyes to the volumes of junk food I was eating before. I was a slave to cookies, chocolate, chicken wings, and pizza. When I first took the time to look up the fact that a chicken wing has 150 calories in it (yes, one wing), I was astounded. I used to eat 20 wings and 2 or 3 slices of pizza for dinner.

    Now you can get yourself one of those little calorie counter booklets from your favorite book store. Sometimes you’ll even see them in the grocery store. They’re invaluable. Once you get to know the foods you eat on a regular basis, keeping track of what you eat is really quite simple. You will gain a better appreciation for what you’re putting in your body.

    So please, please, please, take my advice and journal everything you eat. You do NOT have to do this for the rest of your life… just until you hit your goal weight. By that time, you’ll be able to keep a good mental track of what you’re eating, and you’ll be more aware of what you should eat, and how much exercise you should be getting every week.

    Also, you do not have to obsess over every little calorie! Counting your calories can be as detailed as you like. If you want to track every last celery stick, by all means do so. However, you can just round your calories off to the nearest 10, or 20. Don’t worry whether or not something contains 24 or 26 calories. In the end, it doesn’t make that much of a difference… but whether something has 100 or 200 calories does.

    The important thing… and I cannot stress this enough… is write everything down!

    Tip 4. Eat The Right Amount of Calories

    We’re not going to starve ourselves! In fact, proper weight loss is best accomplished by eating more frequently than you’re probably used to! Let me say that again: you’re going to eat more food than you are right now. You’re going to eat better food, more often, but at a lower calorie intake. If you’re like I used to be, you’re probably skipping breakfast. This means that when lunchtime comes around, you’re starving, so you probably overeat the wrong kinds of food (like pizza, wings, Chinese, etc.) for lunch – and I’ll bet it’s fast food or takeout. Then, you don’t eat anything again for six to eight hours, and pack in a monster dinner.

    Now here’s what happens: your body isn’t getting any food first thing in the morning, so your metabolism isn’t getting started. Your “calorie-burning fire” doesn’t get started in the morning, so you’re not really burning as many calories as you should be. Also, your body is saying, “uh, oh – I’m not getting any food. I better hold on to whatever body fat I can because we’re starving!” This is bad. If you don’t eat enough food, often enough, your body will basically go into starvation mode and hang on to whatever body fat it can.

    The key to unlocking your stored fat is to feed yourself enough good food so that your body doesn’t need to store any additional fat, while at the same time getting plenty of exercise and strength training to burn whatever fat you currently have and build muscle.

    There are a bunch of factors that go into calculating metabolic rates and all that jazz, but you can use this chart as a basic measurement of how many calories you should be eating as part of your weight-loss diet. Notice it’s based on your current weight and your gender. Women need fewer calories then do men. Also, if you’re a smaller person, you need less energy than a larger person. Use this chart to determine how many calories you should be eating on a daily basis.

    WOMEN

    Under 130: 1000 Calories

    130-150: 1200 Calories

    151-200: 1400 Calories

    201-250: 1600 Calories

    251-300: 1800 Calories

    301-350: 2000 Calories

    351-400: 2200 Calories

    MEN

    Under 130: 1200 Calories

    130-150: 1400 Calories

    151-200: 1600 Calories

    201-250: 1800 Calories

    251-300: 2000 Calories

    301-350: 2200 Calories

    351-400: 2400 Calories

    Now here’s something that’s vitally important… you want to make sure you get enough calories every day, otherwise your body will go into “starvation” mode. You want to make sure that you eat your meals at least four times a day to keep your metabolism running. If you don’t eat, your body will go into starvation mode. It will realize that it’s not getting enough food, and will hold on to body fat. It’s important to get enough calories spaced throughout the day to keep your fire stoked. Don’t think that by starving yourself you’re going to lose weight. It will be the wrong kind of weight. Remember, your body will eat it’s own muscle tissue first before burning fat if it doesn’t have enough protein.

    Tip 5. Send Yourself to Boot Camp

    Now, if you want to jump start your body on its way to fast weight loss, here’s what you’re going to do. Ignore the charts above, and drop yourself right down to a 1000-calorie-per-day diet immediately. In addition, make sure you get at least 15 minutes of walking (or some other easy, basic, extra exercise) in every day as well.

    You will do this for exactly two weeks… no more… no less. Then, you will go back to eating the normal amount of calories as indicated on the chart above.

    It’s not going to be easy. You won’t be able to eat any junk food for these first two weeks. You can, however, eat plenty of good foods – chicken, salads, whole grain breads, etc. It won’t be easy, but once you get through it, you’ll be able to add lots of calories back in to your diet, and feel more normal again… in fact, after eating only 1000 calories for two weeks, you’ll probably have a hard time bringing yourself back up to 2000 calories (or whatever you should be at).

    Here’s why this works: dropping your calorie intake down to 1000 calories will shock your body into new eating habits. You will cleanse your body of toxins (like those monster grease burgers you’ve been eating) and get some good, healthy food in you. You will notice weight loss after the first couple of days, but you’ll be keeping your energy up by eating good foods at regular intervals. You can stop any cravings you’re having with water, or add some extra veggies in there – you can eat just about as much green vegetables as you want.

    Tip 6. Don’t Think “Fat Free” Means “Calorie Free”

    Everywhere you look, it seems that “low fat” foods abound. While there are certain low-fat or no-fat foods that we are going to eat, you don’t want to restrict yourself to a totally no-fat diet. There are certain fats that are good fats, and other that are bad fats. We’re going to want to eat good fats because they are necessary for proper health. Bad fats, however, will make you fat.

    There are tons of fad “no-fat” diets out there that have promoted the whole “low-fat” mentality. What’s happened? People are still continuing to get fat eating “fat-free” foods. They eat fat-free cookies, fat-free chips, and fat-free dairy products, yet they keep getting fatter. Why? Many fat-free foods have nearly as many calories as their full-fat versions.

    Now, you start eating “fat free” potato chips thinking to yourself that you can splurge… hey, why not? They’re “fat free.” Well, you still load on the calories with fat-free potato chips. It’s the calories that make you fat. In fact, when food manufacturers remove fat from their products, often times they replace the fat with sugar to improve the taste. Guess what… by adding sugar, they’re bringing the calorie count almost back up to where the full-fat product was.

    We need fat. Fat forms lining of the cell membranes in almost every cell of our bodies. Your brain is composed primarily of fat. If you don’t eat enough of the right kinds of fat, your brain will not get the proper nutrition to function. Eating too little fat can also reduce your testosterone levels (equally important for women as for men).

    Tip 7. Know Your Fats

    Saturated Fats are bad for you. They are found mostly in beef, milk, cheese, deli meats, butter, and some tropical oils. Saturated fats increase your risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes, and obesity. Avoid or minimize saturated fat intake. Try to eat low-fat meats like chicken and turkey without the skin, and reduced-fat dairy products. If you’re eating red mean, get the lowest-fat, leanest meat you can.

    Trans Fats are saturated fats that are extremely bad for you. You should completely eliminate all foods with trans fats in them from your diet. These types of unnatural fats are created during food manufacturing processes such as the hydrogenation of vegetable oil. They are usually found in pastries, buns, chips, doughnuts, shortening, and other such foods. If the label says “trans fat” put that product back on the shelf. If the ingredients of any product say “partially hydrogenated” anywhere on it – put it back. One example: margarine! It’s evil. It’s loaded with trans-fatty acids. Avoid it at all costs. Also avoid vegetable shortening, commercial pasties, deep-fried food, and most prepared snacks, mixes, and convenience foods.

    Studies have shown that saturated and trans fats are actually addictive and make you want to eat more. They have also been linked to all kinds of health problems from cancer and heart disease to diabetes.

    Unsaturated Fats, on the other hand, are generally good for you. These types of fats are usually found in nuts, seeds, fish, and grains. Mono-unsaturated fats, such as the types found in olive and canola oil, will actually protect your cardiovascular system from disease. These are the types of fats we’re going to load into our diet.

    – Good fats: almonds, avocado, cashews, flax oil, olive oil, olives, peanut butter, peanuts, fresh fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna)

    – Bad fats: butter, coconut, corn oil, cream cheese, half-and-half, lard, mayonnaise, shortening, sour cream

    Keep in mind that you need fats in your diet, but even the good fats listed above have a good amount of calories in them – so take it easy! A tablespoon of olive oil, for example, as 100 calories. Almonds (which I love to snack on) have 6 calories a piece. Nuts are a great, healthy-fat snack – but just make sure to take a small handful not the whole bag!

    Tip 8. Add Omega 3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet

    Omega fats are unsaturated fats that are not only good for you, but they’re essential for your health. Your body cannot create these fats, so you must get them totally from your diet. Omega fats are helpful for many reasons, plus they are necessary for normal cell growth and development.

    First, Omega fats are an excellent appetite suppressant. Part of the reason why people binge on “fat-free” foods is because fat is what makes your stomach “feel full.” If you aren’t eating any fat in your meal, your stomach never tells your brain that you’re full. Add a little good fat to your meal, and you’ll feel full with less food.

    Eating Omega fats helps your body to unlock stored fat so that you can use it for energy. Omega fat balances your body’s ratio of insulin to glucagon. When you eat sugary foods, your body releases insulin to remove the excess sugar from your system. If you do this too often, the insulin will block the hormone glucagon – which is another hormone that functions to help your body burn fat. Too much sugar = too much insulin = not enough glucagon = little fat burning. Plus, you are at risk for diabetes. Omega fats help to balance this ratio.

    Omega fats help to boost your body’s metabolic rate. This also helps you to burn more calories. Omega fats are the building blocks of your cells. Your cell membranes consist of Omega fats. Since they cannot be created by the body, you must get them from your diet.

    A specific fat, Omega 3 Fatty Acid, is obtained from flax seeds or flax seed oil. This will be the primary fat that we’ll add to our meals. You can use it on salads and in breads, add it to soups and yogurt. Don’t cook with it, however, as the heat will change it’s chemical properties. You will also find good doses of Omega 3 in most seafood, green leavy vegetables, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel), walnuts, olive, and canola oil.

    Have fish for dinner at least twice a week – and I don’t mean your beer-battered, fried haddock that the local pub serves on Fridays. Pick a fish like salmon, tuna, or mackerel. Bake or grill them – don’t fry them. They have very high concentrations of Omega 3 fatty acids in them. Add flax oil to your salads instead of fatty dressings. Snack on walnuts or almonds instead of cookies and chocolate. You will feel full sooner, and you’ll be adding essential fatty acids to your diet to help burn calories!

    Tip 9. Get Plenty of Protein

    Proteins are the building blocks for your body. You need to eat lots of protein for your body to build, repair, and maintain your muscle and other lean tissues. If you don’t eat enough protein, your body will break down muscle tissue, which is bad, to maintain itself. As a result, your metabolism will slow, and you won’t burn body fat. Unlike fat or glucose, there’s nowhere in our bodies to store protein (aside from building muscle tissue) so you have to get a lot from your diet.

    How much protein should you eat? Most people should eat about 0.4 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Therefore, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should be eating between 80 and 160 grams of protein per day. This isn’t hard to do. Eat two eggs for breakfast, and an 8-ounce serving of chicken for dinner, and you’re at 60 grams of protein right there.

    What kinds of protein should you eat? I like fish, chicken (white meat), turkey (white meat), soy products, beans, legumes, and eggs (whites only – yokes have a lot of fat). Soy products are a great source of protein… once you get used to the taste. I have totally switched from regular milk to soy milk. It has all the calcium, much less of the saturated fat, and none of the cholesterol of normal milk (even skim milk!)

    Eat fish twice a week, chicken twice a week, turkey once a week, a vegetarian meal once a week, and then on that seventh day, go ahead and splurge with the pork or beef… just take it easy. Just make sure you choose lean sirloin cuts. Trim off any fat. Beef has a lot of saturated fat in it (it’s marbled throughout the meat so you can’t just cut it off). Beef is the worst meat for you – as compared to the other popular meats.

    – Good protein: beans (any kind), eggs (preferably whites – yolks have a lot of fat), chicken (white meat, no skin), turkey (white meat, no skin), salmon (preferably not farmed), tuna (packed in water, not oil), mahi mahi, any shellfish, any soy products.

    – Bad protein: bacon, ham, hot dogs, beef, pork, lamb, veal.

    In part 2 of this article, you’ll read about nine more tips to lose weight.

    [ad_2]

    Source by Richard Rost

    Views: 0

  • Diagnosing Fibromyalgia: Tests Your Doctor Should Run in the Course of Your Treatment

    [ad_1]

    Fibromyalgia is often missed or misdiagnosed for a number of reasons. There aren’t definitive blood tests or X-ray to diagnose Fibromyalgia and it shares symptoms with many other diseases and conditions.

    Diagnosing Fibromyalgia is a combination of taking the patient’s symptom history, a physical exam testing the Patient’s Trigger Points and exclusion.

    Today I’m going to focus on the exclusion portion of diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Sometimes people are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia because their doctor failed to run the necessary tests to uncover a different, and perhaps serious condition.

    If you feel terrible and are experiencing a variety of symptoms common to Fibromyalgia, you are going to go to your doctor.

    After taking your history, your doctor is going to want to run some tests to begin excluding diseases.

    What Diseases & Conditions Should Your Doctor Test for when Diagnosing Fibromyalgia?

    The following diseases & conditions share some of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia and they should be excluded. Sometimes doctors who aren’t as familiar with Fibromyalgia fail exclude some of these serious and life threatening diseases. You have every right as a patient to ask your doctor to test you for all of the following:

    Diabetes

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

    There isn’t currently a blood test for this condition, however they recently discovered that CFS is caused by an autoimmune virus and I suspect there will be a blood test forthcoming. Talk to your doctor about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

    Hepititis B & C

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Lyme Diseases

    Doctors often overlook Lyme Disease and do not test for it. This is an oversight on their part and you should ask to be tested.

    Lupus

    There isn’t a definitive test for Lupus however your doctor should run a ANTI NUCLEAR ANTIBODY Test. If you have high autoimmune activity in your blood (a trait of Lupus), this test will detect it.

    Multiple Sclerosis

    MS is also difficult to diagnose, however they do use MRI to test for MS. While you shouldn’t run off and get an MRI just yet, talk to your doctor about Multiple Sclerosis.

    Rhuematoid Arthritis

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Sjogrens Autoimmune Disorder

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Thyroid Disease

    Most doctors only test your thyroid with a THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE Test. However, you might have a thyroid issue even if your thyroid is functioning properly – I do! Fibromyalgia Patient’s often have thyroid issues in conjunction with Fibromyalgia so running in depth tests is a must. Ask your doctor to run the following tests:

    FREE THYROXINE LEVELS

    T3 and T4

    ANTI THRYOGLOBULIN ANTIBODY

    ANTI THRYOGLOBULIN ANTIBODY

    Other Blood Tests Your Doctor Should Run for a Fibromyalgia Diagnosis:

    CBC: Checks your Complete Blood Count. Looking for issues such as anemia and other diseases.

    COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL: Tests your kidney, liver and overall health.

    HEME PROFILE + ELECT DIFF: Checks for unusual activity in your white or red blood cells.

    FOLATE: If not included in your CBC, checks your folate levels.

    SEDIMENTATION RATE: Checks for inflammation in your body

    SERUM PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS:Tests for autoimmune diseases

    VITAMIN B12:Checks your B12 levels if not done in your CBC.

    VITAMIN D: Checks your D levels. Vitamin D is the Sunshine Vitamin. Ask your doctor to run the Vitamin D test that checks both your D3 and D2 levels. This is a hot topic because scientists are re-evaluating what they previous believes. Research is showing that while your combined D level is within normal range if your D3 and D2 levels might be individually low and this could be an issue. (My D2 is zero).

    [ad_2]

    Source by Margo Watson

    Views: 0

  • Why Choosing an Eye Doctor Is So Important

    [ad_1]

    Eye doctors are extremely valuable individuals because they can help you maintain healthy vision throughout the course of your life. Choosing the right eye doctor can mean the difference between healthy vision and poor vision. That is why choosing an optometrist is so important. Your eyes are your windows into the world. If you lose your sight for any reason, that window will be closed permanently. No one ever considers the possibility of going blind. But it often occurs due to sudden eye trauma, old age, or development of certain eye diseases. A good optometrist can help you address these problems quickly and effectively, and already having developed a history with one can be time-critical.

    For individuals who can see relatively well, the consequences of poor eye health might not cross their minds. But just because you see well today doesn’t mean that you will be able to see well tomorrow. Accidents happen all the time and we can lose vision simply as a result of the aging process. Even if you don’t wear glasses or contact lenses, you still need a good eye doctor because everyone should have their eyes checked on a regular basis, regardless of their past medical history. That is why choosing an optometrist is so important. If you or your children start experiencing eye complications or vision problems, you’ll want a reputable eye doctor to take care of them and help you.

    Choosing an optometrist is easy. You can start with the phone book and look up the names of different eye doctors in your area. Or, you can do a search on the Internet. If you have friends or family members who wear glasses, you can talk to them to find out which optometrist they see on a regular basis. If their eye doctor is accepting new patients, then you should be able to get in for an appointment easily. If you don’t have any friends or family members who wear glasses or go to an optometrist, then searching through the phone book or on the Internet is your next best option.

    The Internet can give you a list of optometrists and also show you how far they are from your location. For example, you can search for “eye doctors in Austin, TX” and a list of eye doctors who work in Austin will appear on the computer screen. Then it’s just a matter of scrolling through the names and deciding which optometrists are closest to you. Start with one eye doctor, and make a phone call to see if they have any available appointments. The best way to determine if an optometrist is right for you is to schedule an appointment and see for yourself. If you like the eye doctor during your appointment, then your work is done. But if you don’t like the optometrist (for whatever reason), then you can choose another one off from your list and schedule an appointment with him or her. Choosing an optometrist is a lot like choosing a mechanic – sometimes it takes a few bad ones before you find a good one.

    [ad_2]

    Source by Roger Ubik

    Views: 0

  • 7 Step Sales Process of High Income Auto and RV Sales Professionals

    [ad_1]

    High income car and RV salespeople follow a 7 step sales process.

    They follow the sales process on each and every contact. No exceptions.

    There is no deviation. No skipping steps. It just doesn’t happen.

    Automobile Sales an Art AND a Skill

    Rembrandt was considered one of the greatest painters in European history. Do you know who Pieter Lastman or Jacob van Swanenburgh were? Rembrandt apprenticed under each of them.

    What does that have to do with car and RV sales people? Nothing. And everything.

    Everything, that is, if you want to be a top income earner.

    To be a Rembrandt you need coaching. You need sales training. You need practice to develop your style, your talent, your selling techniques.

    The art is the finesse.

    For prospective buyers, it is bringing to reality what works for them without manipulation, without shady tactics or tricks.

    Professional selling technique is the ability to listen intently, ask relevant value adding questions, and package it all in a vehicle that meets the prospect’s needs and budget.

    7 Step Automobile and RV Sales Process – Work It!

    Walk into McDonald’s anywhere in the world and you will find the same friendly smiles, although the faces may be different. You will see a similar menu, although reading it may be difficult. You will find the same production process.

    The recipe, like a sales process, works.

    It works for McDonald’s. It works for Wendy’s. It works for Tim Hortons. It works for the Colonel along with a whole regiment of other franchises. And the 7 Step Sales Process of top automobile and RV sales income earners will work for you.

    Exceptions Yes Life Happens

    Will there be exceptions? You bet.

    Even in the most well oiled system, glitches surface from time-to-time. There is occasional franchisee – franchisor incompatibility. There are occasional let downs in traffic expectations compared to market analysis. There are occasional language challenges.

    Reality is, in all things, there will be occasional surprises.

    So what. Move on.

    Like the franchise system, the following 7 Step Automobile and RV Sales Process works.

    And, yes, there will be exceptions. There will be the cash buyer who insists on a large discount. There will be the prospect whom you just cannot settle on a vehicle. There will be… There will be… There will be…

    There will be exceptions, the occasional incompatibility for whatever reason. Move on. The sales model works consistently, with an occasional exception.

    7 Step Sales Model

    The 7 Step Sales Model of high income automobile salespeople and RV sales people is:

    1. Introduction

    2. Qualification

    3. Selection / Presentation

    4. Demonstration

    5. Negotiation

    6. Application

    7. Preparation / Delivery

    That’s it.

    To close more deals, follow these steps each and every opportunity. No exceptions.

    By the way, career automobile salespeople and RV sales professionals have an 8th step – Progression, moving the new Customer to a walking, talking referral machine.

    Wanna be car sales guys and gals just cannot seem to grasp this.

    Write me for more detail about Progression. It is where the big dollars are!

    Remember: Nothing happens until someone sells something.

    Sales Champions – People Like You – Make It Happen!

    [ad_2]

    Source by Jeffrey Doucet

    Views: 0

  • Internal Medicine: Characteristics You Want in This Type of Doctor

    [ad_1]

    Having a chronic issue that just won’t resolve itself on its own is extremely frustrating. And while you may have gone to doctor after doctor, it may be time to see someone in internal medicine.

    A physician in internal medicine has more specialized education as opposed to a general practitioner. In addition, this doctor does not focus on things like pediatrics or obstetrics. The main role of this doctor is to diagnose, treat and prevent issues associated with all areas of the adult human body. So when trying to find one to fit your needs, be sure to keep a few things in mind.

    Expertise

    The whole reason for seeing a doctor in internal medicine is to get an answer to some of your most troubling health conditions. When you’ve exhausted all other options, such as family doctors or general practitioners, an internist is the next logical step. These doctors have made careers out of solving complex medical problems in adults. So be sure to explain the issues you’re having as well as make sure your internist has all your past medical history. This way, he or she can have a leg up in trying to figure out the root of your problem. In addition, a doctor in internal medicine has gone to school for at least seven or eight years, has passed a board exam as well as focused on a particular area of study, so he or she is well prepared to handle your problem, depending on what it is. For instance, if your issue deals with the heart, then you’d want to see a cardiologist. On the other hand, if you have reproductive issues, a reproductive specialist is best.

    Good Communication

    In addition to expertise, it’s essential that you have great communication with your doctor, especially when it comes to internal medicine. That’s because this doctor has the knowledge and experience to help you figure out what’s causing your issue. Yet, you want him or her to be patient and really listen to your issues. These doctors see numerous patients each day, but that doesn’t mean you should feel rushed through your visit. So when deciding on a good internist, pay attention to how he or she talks with you as well as listens. If you feel like your doctor has not given you the time you need, then you need to keep looking, because communication is key when trying to find a doctor in internal medicine.

    Timeliness

    When you’ve been referred to an internist, this means your general practitioner hasn’t had any luck figuring out what’s causing your problem. Or if he or she knows the problem, maybe they don’t know how to treat it; yet an internist will. Unfortunately, if your internist cannot see you until two months from now, then that’s a problem. Depending on your issue, you could possibly wait, but for most people, this is not acceptable. Instead, you should keep searching until you can find a specialist that can see you in a decent amount of time. Also, whenever you do find a good doctor in internal medicine and schedule an appointment, you want him or her to honor your appointment time. If you’re always waiting over an hour to see your physician, you may need to start a search for a new doctor.

    [ad_2]

    Source by Anna Woodward

    Views: 0