A journey that started with a bad back and the threat of a major operation is about to culminate in a study tour to a leading American medical facility for a researcher at The University of Queensland.
Research scholar Jon Wardle has received a UQ Trans-Pacific Fellowship worth almost $10,000 to meet experts in the field of complementary medicine at the University of Washington.
Mr Wardle will talk to his Seattle counterparts about the role of complementary medicine in rural general practice during a 10-week stint in the US early next year.
“It is a very exciting opportunity,” Mr Wardle said.
“The North-West Pacific region is the complementary medicine research capital of the USA. The amount I can learn there is amazing.”
Mr Wardle said he became interested in complementary medicine when he hurt his back while working as a nursing student and assistant nurse at the age of 21.
Instead of going for an operation to have a rod inserted in his back, he decided to try acupuncture and naturopathy.
“I was on pain killers and could not get out of bed some days. I was freaking out about having a rod in my back,” he said.
“I was quite young and it was a scary proposition. I went looking for other options.”
When the pain disappeared and Mr Wardle recovered using the complementary medicine therapies, he decided to become a naturopath.
Since then, he has completed a Master of Public Health at UQ and become a director of NORPHCAM, a collaborative network established to encourage international public health and health services research focusing on complementary and alternative medicine.
Mr Wardle said one in six Australian people used complementary medicine as their first option for treating illness or injuries, making it important to have plenty of research in the field.
Other fellowship recipients are Dr Simon Corrie, Dr Darby Kozak, Dr Christine Neville, Professor Peter Gray, Lahn Straney, Dr Christian Hamilton-Craig, Muharrem Akcan, Timothy Green and Bethany van Hameren.
Media: Jon Wardle (0416 216 917) or Erik de Wit (3346 7086, 0417 496 397)
