Victoria Sweet

Sweet argues "that Hildegard trained and practiced as an infirmaria, or more specifically as a pigmentarius (meaning pharmacist, spicer, or herbalist), who would have been charged with caring for the medicinal herb garden and curing the sick in the monastic infirmary.

[9] Inspired by Hildegard, Sweet began to ask herself as she was treating her patients whether anything was interfering with the viriditas or the intrinsic power to heal—to relate to healing like being a gardener who removes impediments and nourishes, in a sanctuary-like setting.

The conjunction of studying the healing philosophy of Hildegard of Bingen along with working at the old Laguna Honda Hospital helped Sweet formulate principles of what she refers to as "slow medicine".

"[11] Over a four-year period, Sweet walked the 1,200 mile (1,900 km) medieval pilgrimage-trail known as the "Way of St. James" (or in Spanish, the "Camino de Santiago"), from southern France to the north-west coast of Spain.

[12] While hiking the pilgrimage trail, Sweet experienced a sense of connectedness and fellow-feeling, based on mutual assistance and reciprocal compassion, which she then brought to her evolving practice of medicine.