Studying (not Traveling) is the Path to Learning and Gaining Expertise and Mastery
Textbooks and video tutorials: Inflammation Mastery, 4th Edition contains the updated version of most of the main protocols, bound together in a single volume of nearly 1200 pages. The work is also available as a two-volume set titled Textbook of Clinical Nutrition and Functional Medicine; Volume 1 contains Chapters 1-4 and Volume 2 contains Chapter 5. One can get oriented to the work by viewing the PDF excerpt, a large file of approximately 50 pages including the Table of Contents, page and photo samples, and the Index. All of the large books mentioned above provide access to video presentations and tutorials. These books are not simply compilations of information; they are organized systems of thought. Some sections of the book have been published separately, for example as clinical monographs on individual topics such as the treatment of viral infections, migraine, and fibromyalgia, as you can see here in our complete list of ICHNFM books on Amazon: http://bit.ly/AmazonICHNFM
Dr Vasquez: "Headlines and soundbites allow us to select and reinforce the ideas we want to see and hear. Articles provide information; essays provide perspectives and ideas. Textbooks can simply provide organized information, as an assemblage of articles, or --if structured-- can provide complete systems of thought, allowing not simply for the transmission of information but for the transferal of intellectual structure, an integrated system of thought."
Conferences: The most expensive and least efficient way to access new information
Summary: Most of the time and effort and money invested in traveling to a conference has nothing to do with learning; we should consider the lack of learning efficiency, or learning inefficiency, and the massive costs in transportation, plus the residual carbon footprint
Air-travel leaves a huge carbon footprint
Article: Specific Climate Impact of Passenger and Freight Transport Environ. Sci. Technol., 2010
Calculator: carbonfootprint.com/
What time-money costs are involved in "going to a conference"?
Trip planning: flight, hotel, car.
Flight costs $750, car/taxi/shuttle $100,
hotel at $150 per night for 3 nights
Travel: packing clothes/computer/toiletries (.5-1),
to airport parking (.5-1),
check-in and waiting (.5-1),
time spent passing security (.5-1),
flight, (2-4 hours),
finding/using taxi/shuttle/rental to hotel (.5-1)
Care/sitting/supervision children/pets—$200 is common; not included in tabulation
Searching for and buying food at new location: hassle, more expensive: estimated here at 1 hour per 2 days X2 (add $50 for travel/lost food)
Not included here is social time and time spent at vendor’s tables where you may/not pickup glossy catalogs (mostly never read)
Actual attendance at presentation = real value = this is the learning process and experience: how much are you paying per hour for CME—$100 per hour? Let’s assume $100 per hour for 16 hours. Of course, not all presentations are good, so some of the time is wasted.
finding/using taxi/shuttle/rental to airport (.5-1)
Return flight and security....
to airport parking (.5-1),
check-in and waiting (.5-1), security (.5-1),
flight, (2-4 hours),
UNpacking clothes/computer/toiletries (.5-1)
Conferences are good for meeting people, if that is the goal. If the goal is learning and mastering material, then books and especially video-supported books such as Inflammation Mastery or the two-volume version as Textbook of Clinical Nutrition and Functional Medicine are clearly the better use of time, energy and funds for learning.
Studying is the Path to Learning and Gaining Expertise and Mastery
VIDEO 1 hour: Introduction to the "Functional Inflammology Protocol" presented at the 2013 International Conference on Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. This foundational protocol underlies all treatments and protocols detailed in Inflammation Mastery, 4th Edition.
