To my prospective patients,
I conducted my pre-medical studies at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, and completed my doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine at Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. This was a long-term rigorous study. It can be completed in no less than 8 years, and I devoted 10 years to my education as I added an extra year of math and physics, and an extra year of Chinese pathology and diagnosis. Accordingly, those enrolling in such programs are eligible, upon graduation, to sit for state health board licensing exams. ND’s are licensed as primary care physicians in 11 states. Colorado is not one of them. The WA state basic medical science and clinical board exams (The exams I took, and where I hold an active primary care license) involve four grueling days of testing, and licenses the person that passes these exams as a primary care family physician. This physician has prescriptive authority and the right to do outpatient minor surgery and all aspects of out patient family medicine as any primary care physician would. In these states either a person did the education or they did not. They hold a license or they do not. Creatively educated people cannot legally call themselves NDs in these states. It would be like you calling yourself an MD here, without having gone to medical school. This would not be legal. In CO (as in many states), however, NDs are not licensed, so there are many creatively educated people using the term “ND” to describe the work that they do. Some went through the vigorous and thorough naturopathic medical education and testing that I did, others did not. It is difficult for you, the consumer, to discern between the two. One effective way for you to determine whether or not they attended an accredited four-year medical program is to know which exact schools offer four year naturopathic medical programs and compare those school names to the names of the schools that NDs say they graduated from. I am certain that if differently educated “NDs” are in business that they must be doing someone some good. If you want to know where they got their ND, and if they carry a license (not all states offer licensure, so when a licensed doctor practices in an unlicensed state, they will often hold their license in another state) call their office and ask those questions out right. If they went to a four year naturopathic medical school, it will be:
National College of Naturopathic Medicine
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine
If they indicate that they went to another school, it will be an altogether different experience and is not an accredited four year naturopathic medical education. No other schools educate NDs to be primary care physicians with specialties in natural medicine.
Your initial consultation of 90 minutes will be provided for $350. Return Office Calls of 20-30 minutes will be provided for $200. If you are certain that your Return Office Call will require extensive work that will exceed the 30 minute visit, you may make arrangements ahead of time in order to respect the time of those who are scheduled after you. Extended Return Office Calls of 60 minutes will be provided for $300. Our office does not process any type of insurance, nor is the work I do intended to be processed by insurance companies for reimbursement. I accept cash, checks, Visa and Master Card. I do not carry a pager, and do not practice “acute care.” I practice as a wellness consultant, and my patients retain MDs or DOs as their primary care providers, as I do not provide primary care. (Which means, I work with people on a longer-term basis to correct the underlying cause of their disease process, and never handle any type of emergencies. I do not do pap and pelvic exams, school physicals and I do not see colds, earaches, etc., as they arise.) I see patients once per month in the beginning, in order to give fair time to the changes that they might be experiencing in accordance with the therapies that they are employing. More time may lapse in between visits, thereafter. Usually no less time lapses between visits, as I like to give ample time for change to occur, and therefore allow the patient to give me thorough feedback on what we are doing so that I can make any necessary adjustments.
I use my extensive education and training and sometimes “normal” laboratory work in order to make assessments regarding someone’s path to healing. I do not have any gimmicks for “diagnosing” that I use on every patient that walks in the door. I find that a person with strong training does not need to rely on such things, and that their primary appeal, beyond helping a “doctor” past their lack of training, is their marketing appeal. I know that there are many many gimmick-methods out there. Over the years, I have reviewed every one that I have been exposed to. To date, I am not impressed. I am certain that practitioners that use these methods still do some people some good. I do not think that they are harmful, per se, I just do not find them necessary. Some of them, additionally, are quite expensive. The most costly aspects to natural care in my practice, are the supplements that I use to affect change. Supplements are expensive, it seems, regardless of quality or potency. I take great care, and am able with my education, to discern quality and potency. I use physician-only lines of supplements that are what they say they are, and that are designed to be very potent and therefore only used by physicians and not the lay person randomly shopping at a health food store. These companies were created by doctors like me for doctors like me that “know the difference” and they cater to my particular, critical and demanding standards. Further, they often make available substance that only doctors like me know to use, and that the lay market does not know, understand and therefore demand so that they are not found in the lay market. I am able to use quality, potent materials that produce dramatic results for people working to improve their health. This is vital to the success of my patients. To the people that created these companies for doctors like me, I am very grateful. I have never engaged in the use or sale of multi-level marketed supplements and I have no future plans for doing so. If your interest lies within that arena, I am not the doctor for you.
Naturopathic physicians are trained to do primary care, and in areas that include: physical medicine, counseling, and nutrition. We use physiotherapy, osseous manipulation, psychological counseling techniques, dietary changes, vitamins, minerals, herbs, glandulars and homeopathy. Not all NDs employ all of these modalities. I practice as a wellness consultant and not as a primary care provider. I use vitamins, minerals, herbs, glandulars, homeopathy, natural hormones and dietary recommendations in order to facilitate health changes. I do not provide psychological counseling, physiotherapy or osseous manipulation care in my practice.
The
American Association of Naturopathic Physicians has membership requirements
that include a four-year accredited naturopathic education. Any doctor
on their list will meet this minimum standard. Any “other-educated
doctor” would not qualify for membership. I am a member of the American
Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Their website is: http://www.naturopathic.org
I hope this brings clarity to any education, training and practice style
questions that you may have.
I wish you clarity in your decision making process, regarding the use of natural medicine and your wellness.
Yours in health,
