Today is the day to celebrate Earth Hour . I guess it's a "celebration" or perhaps it would be considered some form of 21st century grass roots activism. Perhaps it's symbolic of the impact of carbon emissions on our environment. 

The task? At 8:30 pm, turn off your lights for one hour. The thought? Turning off the lights shows the world that climate change is important. By symbolically reducing your carbon footprint for an hour, you are expressing your belief in the need for change - for responsible energy use and for diminishing the effects on the environment. It makes a "statement" about global warming.

In 2008, 50 million people worldwide switched off their lights. We were witness to such global landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), the Colosseum (Rome), the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square (New York) all standing in darkness.

So that's the part that makes sense to most people. But there are some that even consider it symbolic for another reason - the renunciation of industrial civilization. Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?

Well, perhaps not.

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The World Masters Athletics Championships were held the past couple of weeks in Sacramento. I headed out to sunny California to support one of the Smart Sport athletes that I coach – Canadian team member Rita Quibell. Two events – the F55 800m and 1500m - would be the culmination of a lot of hard work and training on her part.

The World Masters Athletics championships are held annually, with indoor championships alternating with outdoor championships. This event attracts the world’s best athletes age 35 years and older. Athletes compete in 5 year age groups – for example, F55 is women age 55 to 59. Age groups this year extended up to age 100! I can say without hesitation that there is something absolutely surreal and exhilarating watching a 90 year-old athlete run for his country. It speaks to the power of human will and the wonder of human physiology.

Rita and I have been working together for 3 years. It was evident from the outset that there was one primary goal: a gold medal at the World Championships in 2012. Better yet, how about doubling in the 800m and 1500m?

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There is something about this that is simply worth sharing.

It's not often that I find a passage that I share here verbatim. But every so often, something, somewhere, rings true - and I think this definitely qualifies.

Quincy Jones was the keynote speaker at SXSW in Austin this year. Although I was not in the hall to witness this live, it is most certainly something that bears repeating. At the end of his address, he shared the following words with the crowd as they stood and joined hands and repeated them together:

"On this day ...

I will mend a quarrel.

I will search out a forgotten  friend.

I will dismiss a suspicion and replace it with a trust.

I will rather say, "I'm sorry I did" than "I wish I had" ...

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In our current health care system, physicians (and now, to some degree, chiropractors) serve as the gatekeepers. They refer patients for medications, for imaging, and for the services of other health care providers. Patients then enter the system via the bottom end of the funnel. Access to care is, by and large, controlled by the gatekeeper.

But the current system is severely handicapped by this funnel. Patients are demanding access to care, access to a clinician’s skills, and access to information.

There was a time and place when this gatekeeper model made sense. A physician has training in differential diagnosis and in the prescription of medication and imaging studies. They receive fairly extensive training in these areas, thus it makes good sense for them to know when either is appropriate given the patient scenario.

We now have far more health care options available to the patient – but the same gatekeeper is still controlling all of them. A prime example is physical therapy. The funnel effect still exists for the patient.

The question then becomes quite compelling. Who knows which patients are appropriate for physical therapy – and should that decision be made by the physician, or the physical therapists themselves?

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