Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic doctors must complete several university prerequisite courses including three years of pre-medical sciences at a University with a cumulative grade point average 3.00 on a four point scale.

We must successfully complete a 4-year-full time program in an accredited school of Naturopathic Medicine that includes more than 4,500 hours of classroom training and 1,500 hours of supervised clinical experience.

Meet the Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits as required by the provincial regulatory boards on an ongoing basis.

AREAS OF TRAINING
Naturopathic Doctors undergo training similar to medical doctors plus they include the naturopathic disciplines. The four areas of training in the four-year, full-time Naturopathic Medicine curriculum are:

Basic Sciences - Includes anatomy, physiology, histology, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology and pathology.

Clinical Disciplines – Diagnostic medicine areas of study are physical and clinical diagnosis, differential and laboratory diagnosis, radiology, naturopathic assessment and orthopedics.

Naturopathic Disciplines – Including extensive training in the following treatment modalities:

• Clinical nutrition
• Botanical medicine,
• Traditional Chinese medicine and Acupuncture,
• Homeopathic medicine,
• Hydrotherapy
• Naturopathic manipulation
• Lifestyle counseling

Clinical Experience – All students must complete 1,500 hours of clinical requirements and demonstrate proficiency in all aspects of Naturopathic Medicine prior to graduation.

THE PRINCIPLES OF NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
Primum Non Nocere (First Do No Harm) – In order to diagnose illness and restore health, a naturopathic doctor will use methods and medicinal substances that minimize the risk of harmful effects, and apply the least possible force or intervention. Furthermore, this principle includes the awareness to know if and when your condition is outside the scope of Naturopathic treatment and when to refer to another health care practitioner.

Tolle Totum (Treat the Whole Person) – All aspects of a patient’s life that are relevant to his/her health must be taken into account when attempting to achieve optimal health. When treating the whole person, a naturopathic physician may tend to any or all of the following states of well being:

• Physical (including structural damage and pathological illness)
• Mental
• Spiritual
• Social
• Genetic
• Environmental (including diet and detoxification)

Docere (Doctor as Teacher) – ND’s strive to provide patients with current and valuable information and encourage them to take on an active role in their healing process. Optimal health must be achieved through a partnership between the patient and physician, who work together to develop the most effective yet individualized treatment plan. By sharing knowledge and treatment goals with our patients, they fully understand all of their options and are empowered to develop a self-responsibility for their health.

Vis Medicatrix Naturae (The Healing Power of Nature) – Naturopathic physicians respect the body’s inherent ability to heal itself, and work in conjunction with it to remove any obstacles that would prevent a cure.

Tolle Causum (Treat the Cause) – Whenever possible, we avoid the suppression of symptoms in favor of treating the cause or “root” of the illness.

Praevenio (Prevention) – ND’s emphasize disease prevention and strive to promote health, not only within our patients, but also within the local and global community.

A thorough intake of each patient’s medical, nutritional, and lifestyle history and a review of all relevant medical tests (such as lab work and/or imaging) are done before reaching a diagnosis and treatment plan. These treatment plans may include one or many of the following modalities:

Nutrition – Diet management, specific supplementation, overall nutritional education.

Physical Medicine – Exercise, joint mobilization and/or manipulation, massage and other soft tissue therapies, Hydrotherapy.

Botanical Medicine – Western Herbal Remedies.

Traditional Chinese Medicine – Tongue and pulse diagnosis, Chinese herbs, and Acupuncture.

Counseling – Emotional and spiritual guidance, personal growth.

Homeopathy – an energetic, medicinal modality that literally means “like cures like”. Homeopathic remedies are based on substances that, in diluted form, cause symptoms similar to the disease that they aim to treat. This is an especially safe and gentle route for treatment of infants and children.

Detoxification – Diet modifications, tissue drainage, organ support, and lifestyle change.

Desensitization Therapies for allergies or sensitivities – Allergy testing, environmental and nutritional modifications.

Neural Therapy – Neural therapy is a method of diagnosing and treating illness and pain caused by disturbances of the body’s electrophysiology affecting the autonomic nervous system. Therapeutic injections help to “reset” components of the patient’s nervous system and restore health and function.

Prolotherapy – Prolotherapy is a natural technique that stimulates the body to repair painful, soft tissue injuries when the natural healing process needs a little assistance. Therapeutic injections into the affected ligaments or tendons lead to local inflammation. The localized inflammation triggers a wound-healing cascade, resulting in the deposition of new collagen and the strengthening of target tissue.

Mesotherapy – The use of therapeutic injections into mesodermal tissue to treat a variety of conditions including: musculoskeletal injuries, insomnia, and migraines. Mesotherapy is also valuable as a healthy aging agent as it is useful for fat and cellulite reduction, facial rejuvenation, treatment of hair loss, and smoking cessation.

Intravenous Therapy – This includes intravenous vitamin therapies (such as IV Vitamin C) and heavy metal chelation (pulling of heavy metals out of the tissues for excretion).