Internist, researcher, noted author, and NAMA member Dr. Charles Elder has expertise in both conventional and complementary medicine. He recently spoke with Baba Lou Haber, a member of the NAMA Communications Committee, to offer insights on how NAMA members can work collaboratively with allopathic practitioners. Read their conversation below.

Baba Lou Haber: Let’s start with how you became interested in Ayurveda.

Dr. Charles Elder: My journey actually began when I was admitted to medical school right out of high school. I was accepted to Boston University’s combined BA/MD program. I was only 17 and new to Boston, having been raised in northeast Ohio. To relieve the stress of it all I started a meditation practice at the greater Boston Transcendental Meditation Center and began practicing yoga as well. So I went through medical training meditating the whole time, which shaped my thinking. For example, if there was a patient suffering from anxiety for whom we were prescribing Valium, it struck me as bizarre that we were not suggesting meditation to help him.

I did my residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, where I met my wife, Leslie, who was also a resident. She also had a meditation practice and already had some interest in Ayurveda. Together we went on a weekend meditation retreat where one of the speakers was Dr. Hari Sharma, who is an outstanding scientist. He gave a talk describing the antioxidant and antineoplastic properties of some of the traditional Ayurvedic formulas that he was studying in his lab. I found the whole thing mindboggling.

Baba Lou Haber: What a gift to have discovered Ayurveda at the beginning of your medical career! How were you able to integrate it into your practice?