What is Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic medicine encompasses the art, science, and soul of medicine. It integrates the wisdom of traditional medicine and current scientific knowledge to create a natural approach to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness and disease.

The main focus in Naturopathic Medicine is to help a patient to a state of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Symptoms are your body’s natural attempt to balance and defend itself. Each symptom impacts other parts of your life, and it is important to see each symptom as a part of a larger pattern. Symptoms are your body’s warning signal, a “cry for help”, that there is an imbalance within your body, and that it needs help getting back on balance. Naturopathic medicine addresses the imbalances, corrects them from the root, and makes the necessary changes to improve health. Naturopathic therapies support and stimulate your body’s ability to heal itself and to restore balance within your body. Suppressing symptoms hampers your body’s ability to heal itself. 

Naturopathic medicine promotes self-care and lifestyle changes. It is about feeling better and continuing to feel better. It is about caring for you. A Naturopathic Doctor will help you to understand your body and why symptoms occur. Education is focused on how to prevent an illness from recurring, empowering you to take charge of your health. Each treatment plan is individualized for you… where you are at in your healing journey, taking into account your mind/body/spirit.

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.

- Thomas A. Edison

Education

Naturopathic Doctors have 3-4 years of pre-med training at an accredited university. This is followed by a 4-year, 5000 hour, full-time intensive program at an accredited Naturopathic Medical College. The program involves training in the biomedical sciences, diagnostic skills, naturopathic principles and therapies, and extensive supervised clinical experience. Students graduate with the title N.D. ~ Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine.

Following their 4 years, Naturopathic students must pass rigorous, 3-day long written board exams (North American Standardized Licensing Exams), as well as provincially regulated oral & written exams. This allows them to be registered to practice Naturopathic Medicine in Ontario. Naturopathic Doctors are licensed through the Board of Directors of Drugless Therapies – Naturopathy.

Principles of Naturopathic Medicine

1. primum non nocere - First, do no harm
   
   
2. vis medicatrix naturae - To co-operate with the healing power of nature. The practice of naturopathic medicine recognizes a self-healing process that is inherent in every individual. Naturopathic doctors work to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery to stimulate this natural self-healing ability.
   
   
3. tolle causam - To address and treat the underlying causes of disease. In addition to alleviating acute and chronic symptoms, Naturopathic Doctors seek to identify and remove underlying causes of disease. This helps to move the body toward maintaining an optimal state of health.
   
   
4. docere - Doctor as teacher – the role of an Naturopathic Doctor is to teach patients how to better care for their health. Naturopathic Doctors work with their patients by sharing knowledge and information to create a successful treatment plan. Patients are encouraged to take responsibility for their own health.
   
   
5. tolle totum - To heal the whole person (Body, Mind, Spirit) through individualized treatment. Naturopathic Doctors understand that physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, genetic, environmental, and social factors contribute to the health of each individual.
   
   
6. preventare – Naturopathic Doctors teach the principles of healthy living and preventative medicine. They emphasize prevention of disease by assessing risk factors, heredity, and susceptibility to disease in each patient.
   

The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well.

- Hippocrates