Dr Lee Kayne
I was raised with homeopathy and so I was well aware of the power of homeopathy throughout my formative years.
Dr Lee Kayne
PhD, MRPharmS, FFHom
Pharmacist
How did you start your journey in medical Homeopathy?
I was raised with homeopathy and so I was well aware of the power of homeopathy throughout my formative years. By the time I chose to follow a career as a health professional, and had been working part time in a pharmacy, I had seen the benefits of homeopathy as a therapeutic modality in real life clinical situations. The important role of the pharmacist in presenting homeopathy as an option to patients and practitioners was also evident and I was lucky enough to be able to observe Dr David Reilly’s sessions at the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital which really kickstarted my desire to learn more. After qualification and a slight detour into the world of research, gaining a PhD, I joined the Faculty and progressed through the training levels.
How do you integrate Homeopathy in your professional practice?
In my pharmacy we dispense both conventional medicines and homeopathy and we often use them together in a complementary way, depending on the presenting condition and the patient’s specific needs and circumstances. I find homeopathy particularly valuable in cases where the patient has a pre-existing condition or is taking other medication that makes treatment for acute self limiting conditions difficult with conventional products. In such cases, homeopathy provides a safe and, in my experience, effective method of treatment that will not interact with other medication for conditions that are appropriate for treatment in the pharmacy.
Of course, in a busy community pharmacy, we typically have only 5 minutes with a patient and we cannot conduct a full in-depth consultation, so we have developed a number of protocols for quickly assessing symptoms and matching them to the correct homeopathic remedy, as well as a system for tracking outcomes. My father (also a homeopathic pharmacist) and I put these into the book Homeopathic Prescribing (Pharmaceutical Press 2007, 2nd ed. Saltire Books, 2017) aimed at helping other pharmacists, practitioners and knowledgeable patients quickly find the right remedy in acute cases.
