Steve Odes, CCHM Grad, 2016, from Illinois, USA
I was half-way through my 32-year career, as a traditional community pharmacist, when I stumbled upon an article in a pharmacy magazine highlighting a pioneering pharmacist’s practice of prescribing homeopathic medicines for his pharmacy patients. It appeared rather odd, since I had heard the word homeopathy mentioned only once in four years of pharmacy school. It was taught that the standard “Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States” is accepted as a legal document in the pharmacy. Never another word nor description of what homeopathy could offer the many patients for whom the pharmacist would be their primary source of health information.
Over the years, as a pharmacist, I would pose the provocative question, “Have you ever considered an alternative therapy to your present drug regimen?”, never once daring to mention the word homeopathy. I rarely was rewarded with a positive response.
Homeopathic study has taught me that patients are not only unaware of alternatives for their optimum health, but also fearful of the unknown and generally unwilling to experience a new approach. These obstacles to CURE were, and still are, the Sisyphean tasks we are facing. Homeopathy has taught me to persevere, not only to inform and educate my clients, but also to withstand critiques and rejection by my more traditional allopathic colleagues.
Humility is another by-product of studying and practicing homeopathic medicine. The holistic approach to remedy selection allows for many opportunities to mis-diagnose what actually needs to be treated. While I AM OFTEN CERTAIN (and SELDOM IN DOUBT) of the remedy I have chosen, often my conclusion proves incorrect! These experiences will likely diminish over time, as humble pie has never been my favorite desert. The goal for me as a practitioner is to see what everyone else is looking at and then see that unique something, that results in prescribing the correct remedy for my client.
As my late father once told me, “If it was easy, everyone could do it”. Indeed, homeopathy is not easy, yet everyone should be open to try.
Steve Odes, DCHM
[email protected]
Mundelein, Illinois

I am passionate about natural health and I live it with my family
From Anitra A., Calgary I have been practicing Homeopathy for some time now and did not even realize it. I am a mother of three