Natural Medicine is the Best Medicine...

Who am I? I’m a 4th year Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) student at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. Bastyr University is one of 7 accredited naturopathic medical colleges in the United States and Canada (check out the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges, www.aanmc.org). At the time of this posting, naturopathic physicians are licensed in 17 states and territories in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

To quickly summarize, naturopathic medicine is evidence-based medicine founded on philosophical principles that emphasize treating the whole person, finding the root cause of disease, and focusing on prevention. Naturopathic physicians are trained in four-year medical schools and learn the same system of diagnosis as allopathic physicians, but choose to treat their patients with a variety of therapies, including botanical medicine, vitamin/mineral supplementation, hydrotherapy, counseling, dietary recommendations, and physical manipulation.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss the role of naturopathic medicine in our current healthcare system. I truly believe that naturopathic physicians are the best primary care providers in the United States. Future posts in this blog will address the role of naturopathic medicine in prevention of many chronic diseases that causes significant morbidity and mortality in this country. I also aim to discuss the cost-benefit ratio of naturopathic care versus the current medical model, as well as issues of access to primary care providers. I also hope to further discuss naturopathic philosophy and the utilization of our naturopathic principles.

You, the reader, are encouraged to use this blog as a discussion board. Any questions that are thoughtfully and respectfully asked will be answered and posted for others to see. What I won’t allow is any naturopathic bashing, or for that matter, any disrespectful comments about my naturopathic OR allopathic (conventional medical) colleagues. Any such comments will be promptly removed.

Let’s start the conversation!