Alumni profile: Camilla Whishaw

Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy)

Graduated 2011

What have you done since graduating from SSNT?

I have been working as an Equine Naturopath, although I didn’t go straight into doing this. I have worked with horses all my life and after graduating worked on several large horse studs both in Australia and overseas. Opportunities arose at several of these locations to apply my naturopathic knowledge to treat different ailments, injuries and conditions in horses. The success of these cases led to one of the world’s largest thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operations creating a position for me as an Equine Naturopath, based in the Hunter Valley in NSW. I stayed in this position for about 18 months before taking the leap to branch out on my own this year, setting up my own business as an independent Equine Naturopath.

What inspired you to take this path?

My passion, knowledge and experience with both horses and naturopathy (as separate entities) and wanting to make a large, positive impact in the lives of a species of animal which I love and understand so well. In my view, medications are by and large over-prescribed to race and breeding horses, with little understanding of the impact on the horse’s overall health and the undesirable side effects. Many horse owners are also challenged with so called ‘untreatable’ health conditions in their horses. I am extremely fortunate to now be in a position where I not only treat existing health concerns and injuries, but in many cases, clients are seeking my services for preventative health care in horses identified as potentially having problems. Without wanting to sound corny, I feel it is my calling and duty to positively shape the equine industry, through educating horse owners and caretakers, and holistically assessing and treating my patients.

Have you faced any challenges throughout your journey and if so, what has helped you to overcome them?

There will always be sceptics and those who question alternative medicine, no matter how great the results it delivers! I don’t try to convert people or try to influence their opinions: I simply state how I’m assessing the horse; the factors contributing to the state of the horse’s health; the pathophysiology of the presenting condition(s); my therapeutic aims; and the therapeutic mode of action of the prescribed treatments. Being completely honest and transparent with your clients is also a very important factor.

I was very fortunate to have many great lecturers and naturopaths teach me at SSNT. Two key influences during my time there were Louise Zylan and Emily Bradley. The standards of research, work and knowledge these two ladies expected of their students, combined with imparting of their own incredible depth of knowledge and skills, has equipped me with the confidence and ability to strategically approach and effectively treat the cases presented to me. Furthermore, their teaching methods have helped me to confidently and effectively communicate with conventional practitioners who I work in conjunction with on many cases.

Another challenge has been the lack of scientific research conducted specifically on horses in relation to both herbs and nutraceuticals. We are incredibly fortunate in the human field to have resources to guide nutrient therapeutic dosage ranges (which often differ greatly to RDAs and RDIs)- something which is vastly lacking in the equine world. To overcome this, I am constantly keeping up with literature in equine veterinary studies; extrapolating information from journals, trials and studies, and regularly communicating with leading veterinarians both nationally and internationally. In many cases, within my own scope and following the principle of ‘first do no harm’ I’ve devised my own therapeutic dosage ranges for herbal treatments and many nutrients.

Where do you want to go with this next? What does the future hold for your work?

I definitely want to keep expanding my business on a consulting basis: I love spending my time with horses and providing solutions to optimise their health, wellbeing and performance.

I plan to run workshops and seminars in the near future, as it is important to help empower and educate larger numbers of horse owners and breeders. Similar to human naturopathy, there are so many diet and lifestyle (or in the case of horses, management) practices which can be employed on an everyday level to help promote wellbeing.

Long-term, I’d like to split my time between here and the northern hemisphere (particularly North America). The equine industry in the USA is very forward thinking, with many owners and conventional practitioners embracing alternative health concepts.

Another thing I’d like to be involved in, or potentially set up are research and field trials. This would give further credibility to the positive results being achieved in cases, with a flow-on effect of making naturopathy a very effective treatment modality for a wide range of equine health conditions.

What advice would you give to current SSNT students?

Hang in there with your studies! Looking back, for at least the first year and a half of my degree I constantly thought ‘what on earth have I got myself in for?’ To be perfectly honest, if I’d known that there was so much straight science early on in the degree I very much doubt I’d have enrolled! That being said, I can’t emphasise enough how important this is and how it comes full circle, providing the essential understanding later in your degree, and how satisfying and fun it is when you get stuck into the crux of naturopathy within the degree. That science base is incredibly important in practice too: your decisions and advice will be questioned and you need to be confident in your reasoning and understanding of why you are doing what you are doing. When dealing with medical professionals, as soon as they hear you using proper scientific and medical terminology, outlining the pathophysiology of a condition and the therapeutic actions you are targeting with your treatments, it is amazing how all resistance towards your treatment dissolves.

In practice, remember the importance of a holistic approach, which means accepting that many of your patients will use conventional medical approaches and treatments (which may not always fit in with your principles). As a practitioner, it is your responsibility to support the patient in their decisions, whilst educating them. In my practice, this means accepting that some horses will be given medications and undergo medical interventions which I don’t necessarily agree with, but at the same time, it is my responsibility to naturopathically support the horse’s health and wellbeing through this process and communicate honestly and openly with the veterinarians providing this treatment. Remember to respect other medical professionals’ opinions and treatments even if you don’t always agree with them.