What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Sometimes naturopathic doctors (ND) can become caught up in their own little worlds and forget that the majority of the public is unaware of a NDs scope of practice. That is, the public has no idea what the heck NDs do and/or how NDs can be helpful to them.
In the most basic sense, naturopathic medicine is:
A system of primary health care that employs a blend of modern scientific and medical knowledge with traditional and natural forms of medicine to create individualized treatment plans.
This blend of new and old (or traditional, as NDs like to say) is used to stimulate the power of the body’s own healing mechanisms and processes, all the while looking to treat the underlying cause of a disease. That is because symptoms of disease are a sign of dysfunction within the body, and it is that dysfunction that is actually the issue in the disease process; even though the symptoms are the distressing, in-your-face aspect of a dysfunction. The idea in naturopathic medicine is to correct the dysfunction in order to mitigate the symptoms. This is in contrast to some medical practitioners that merely mask symptoms, which is like applying a Band-Aid to a cut without supporting the tissue healing of the cut (over simplified, but a good analogy).
Is a Naturopathic Physician qualified to be a family doctor?
Short answer – you bet!
Long answer is that a ND is has minimum eight years of post-secondary education under their belts. Four of those years were spent at a university obtaining a Bachelors Degree and the latter four years were spent at an accredited Naturopathic College. Naturopathic medicine is a regulated health care profession with protected titles like ‘Naturopathic Doctor’ and ‘Naturopathic Physician’. Naturopathic students are trained in conventional medical diagnosis and treatment (often by MDs) – that means NDs are able to order a vast array of labs in BC, are able to perform check-ups (e.g., female pelvic exams including PAP tests and prostate exams for males), and are able to write prescriptions for different (but limited) classes of pharmaceuticals. NDs are trained to recognize the limitations of the medicine and when to refer to a MD or the ER. It is important to emphasize that NDs are taught to be in the know as far as conventional standards of practice. Essentially NDs will diagnose using western medical standards, but are able to treat using traditional or conventional modalities to treat.
What modalities can an ND use to treat patients?
Most commonly, in conventional medicine, pharmaceuticals are used to treat patients. A naturopath, however, is able to treat many common conditions with the use of other therapies including:
Clinical Nutrition
Botanical Medicine
Hydrotherapy
Homeopathy
Naturopathic Manipulation
Traditional Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture
Physical Medicine
Naturopathic treatments are most commonly chosen based on each individual patients presentation.
Today, more people than ever are seeking and benefiting from seeing a ND. Currently there are nearly 2,500 practicing NDs in Canada and they are quickly becoming a viable option for Canada’s health care concerns.
Here at Oak Integrative, we take an integrated approach to health and well-being, by working collaboratively with our practitioners to support you in the many areas of healthcare. With three Naturopathic Doctors, an Acupuncturist and Doctor of Chinese Medicine, a Chiropractor, Registered Massage Therapists, and a Registered Clinical Counsellor, we can create a tailored health plan suited to your needs. Click here to book in with our team!
Ready to jump-start your health journey? Give us a call at (604) 227-9990 and our front desk staff would be happy to help get you started on your wellness goals.
Oak Integrative is conveniently located near Lougheed Mall and services patients throughout the Lower Mainland, including the surrounding communities of Coquitlam, Burnaby, New Westminster, and Port Moody.
