naturopath

Reasons for choosing to be a NATUROPATH | No. 1

Becoming a naturopath (or technically a licensed naturopathic doctor, aka naturopathic physician) is not an easy path to take. It’s long (4 years after a 4-year undergraduate degree), it’s expensive (similar cost to medical school without the recognition of the financial institutions therefore funding is difficult to secure), and depending on your community, may not be supported by your family or peers (“you’re becoming a what?”).

When I first graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2010, it was still very “fringe” to be naturopath. Most people had NO idea what that meant. At parties I cringed when people asked me what I did, because undoubtably it would require me to explain (and often defend) my profession and beliefs. There was definitely a lag between the investment of time, money, tears and cortisol that I poured into my education, and the respect and fiscal sustainability of my career path. 

But things have definitely changed. Now when parents of my children’s friends ask me what I do, I am still bracing for the judgement and the awkwardness, but what comes is happy surprise! “Oh! How lovely!”, and then you see this train of thought bubbling up behind their eyes as that health question they’ve been wondering about surfaces, and they debate whether it’s appropriate to launch right into a public exploration of their child’s, or their mother’s, or their own medical conundrum. And you know what?! I think it IS totally appropriate! I love talking about my job now. Of course I make it clear that I’m not actually giving any medical advice because I don’t know their case, haven’t seen their labs, etc, but I love giving context. I love teaching people about how their body works and why it sounds like perhaps something is out of balance. I LOVE seeing those confused creases beside their eyes transform into the punctuated raised eyebrows of understanding, “Oh! That makes so much sense!”

I’m not a genius by any means. The clarity I help provide does not require high level interpretation of math or physics. But I do know anatomy. And I do know physiology. And I can interpret lab tests to know what is optimal, what needs work, and what is a problem.

But most importantly I am curious, and I do believe that the body is intelligent and has evolved to be perfectly engineered to be healthy and balanced (when given the right inputs). So I search and I dig until we find the root cause of what is going on. There definitely is an answer to a person’s health concerns, and it very likely comes down to one of two things. The root cause completely exists. The question is whether or not we have the tools and the scientific know how to dig it up.

I see myself more like a personal health researcher. I know the language. I understand all of those things that are said in a medical appointment, and I also have the luxury of time in an appointment with my patients. I can listen. Like to the whole story, not just 1 concern at a time. And this is what makes all the difference. Humans are complicated. We need to read to story from front to back before we can really see the big picture.

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