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Brian J. Ellinoy,
Pharm. D.
Brian’s career journey as a pharmacist has been filled with a variety
of professional experience, encompassing government service, academia
and research, community and hospital practice and most recently,
holistic private practice. Brian earned his Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He
subsequently spent a year in the United States Public Health Service,
obtaining further training as a hospital pharmacy resident at the
USPHS Hospital, Seattle, Washington, followed by four years as a
staff hospital pharmacist in the Indian Health Service in Shiprock,
New Mexico, on the Navajo Reservation.
Looking for new career challenges, Brian left government service in
the seventies and moved to the University of Vermont College of
Medicine in Burlington, Vermont. He was a research associate for
almost ten years with PROMIS Laboratory, a group involved in the
computerization of both patient medical records and the online
guidance (history, physical exam, problem, orders/progress notes) used
to generate those records. He found it quite exciting to be part of a
team that was dedicated, among other things, to replacing physician
handwriting with legible, complete orders/notes in electronic form.
Thirty years later, health care is still working on this problem.
In
the early eighties Brian returned to California to become a staff
clinical pharmacist at a hospital on the Monterey Peninsula, a
position he continues to hold today. More recently, his long-time
interest in herbs, supplements and other complementary therapies,
coupled with a growing appreciation of the need for a holistic
approach to facilitate health and healing (nurturing mind, body, and
spirit), motivated him to obtain additional training and open a
part-time private practice as a holistic pharmacist. He counsels his
clients about utilizing the inherent power of the body to heal,
provides evidenced-based information about the universe of choices
available to them to awaken this power, and strives to self-empower
them to make informed choices about their health based on their
personal preferences and life situation. His position in both health
care worlds, allopathic and complementary, provides him with unique
insights to share about health and healing.
Brian has obtained
training/experience in acupressure, aromatherapy, guided imagery (he
composes his own imagery exercises to help clients prepare for
hospitalization, surgery, chemotherapy), Healing Touch (Healing Touch
II Certification), herbs and supplements, nutrition, Neuro-Emotional
Technique (N.E.T.), homeopathy, Reiki (1st Degree
Attunement), and Total Body Modification (TBM). His current interests
include medical intuition, food as medicine, intention and healing,
accessing universal information, sound therapy, and the sacred aspects
of health and healing.
Brian facilitates a monthly group at his hospital, free to the public,
which discusses herbs, supplements, and other integrative therapies.
He frequently speaks about herbs and supplements to patients enrolled
in the hospital’s cancer wellness and cancer journey programs and has
spoken to the chronic pain support group and to the breast cancer
support group as well. He is part of a team administering Healing
Touch treatments monthly to employees and participates with nursing
colleagues in providing Healing Touch treatment to certain surgical
patients as part of a voluntary program. In the near future, Brian
also is scheduled to address surgical nurse colleagues on the
potential problems associated with patients using herbs and
supplements prior to anesthesia and surgery.
In
his private practice, Brian has made presentations on the Monterey
Peninsula to such groups as the Alliance on Aging and the Osteoporosis
Diagnostic Center Support Group. He welcomes the opportunity to share
his knowledge and experience with the public.
Brian’s office location is The
Healing Collaborative, 222 Forest Avenue, Pacific Grove, California
93950. He can be reached by confidential voicemail (831) 644-8487 or
at his E-mail address: rxbrian@yahoo.com.
Brian’s
topic at Wellness Boot Camp is herb/supplement-prescription drug
interactions, their significance and what can be done to prevent them |
