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Socially, in most groups I tempered my conversations on my approach to health because those who entrusted their lives to allopathic, 'standard of care' Western doctors might not want to entertain the idea that they might have made the wrong choice or that their way wasn't the best way.

I knew at university that medicine was just not for me. I saved many lives by not being a doctor!

As I've met clinicians in my travels, time after time I've been inspired to hear why people went into medicine: to apply their way-above-average minds (and hearts) to work that's beyond most people's capacity, and perhaps save a few lives.

My parents wanted me to be a doctor. So I took up science, but then realised that my heart was not in it at all. The thought of treating ailing people was very depressing.

Without being aware, I think I was being indoctrinated into what was called Vitalism, the idea that what makes life worth living, the good life, consists of accepting challenges, solving problems, discovery, personal growth, personal change.

I treated as few patients as I could as a medical student, and I never practiced medicine.

The idea of winning a doctor's degree gradually assumed the aspect of a great moral struggle, and the moral fight possessed immense attraction for me.

I am not really sure how I got interested in medicine.

I had the privilege of practicing medicine in the early '60s, before we had any government. It worked rather well, and there was nobody on the street suffering with no medical care.