Published November 1, 2003 in the North Island Weekender
This past summer an enterprising engineering student from Port McNeill took me out for breakfast to discuss Naturopathic Medicine as a career choice. I was particularly keen to talk to him as he recently graduated from North Island Secondary School in Port McNeill as had I back in 1975.
He asked amongst other things: “What does the training
involve? Where would you recommend that I study? How to get your license and
keep it? What are the down sides of being a Naturopathic Doctor? What are the
benefits of being an ND?”
The training of ND’s is typically a 8-9 year process, very much like conventional MD’s. We are required to complete 4 years of a pre-med program and then complete a four year full time medical program including the basic medical sciences: anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. Where our education differs dramatically from MD’s is in the education of nutrition, homeopathy, botanical medicine and other specialties such as Chinese medicine and acupuncture which they don’t receive. At the end of the four years, exams are completed to graduate and to practice in the state or province of choice, national licensing exams are also written. Once the ND has a license they must complete 20 hours of continuing education per year to maintain their license in the province of B.C. The ND is therefore a doctor skilled in diagnosing and treating all health conditions and a specialist in natural therapeutics.
The choice of naturopathic medical school is based on its level of accreditation, convenience of location, tuition, and its individual strengths. There are two schools in Canada: one accredited school in Toronto, the Canadian School of Naturopathic Medicine and one applying for accreditation in Vancouver www.binm.org
The difficult aspects of being an ND is the lack of acceptance by the
politicians, teaching the Canadian public the value of their health and
attaching a dollar figure to that, lack of acceptance by extended insurance
companies, limited funding for national media coverage due to our small
numbers, and the general lack of knowledge of the scope of practice of a
naturopathic doctor.
Regularly I see established patients who still don’t fully realize that I treat bladder infections, whooping cough, bronchitis, sinusitis or any other acute condition. These folks come into the office taking antibiotics, seeking help in other areas of their health, not the acute condition. This is invariably when I teach them about alternative treatments in the event of another occurrence with the basic premise that if the cause is treated then that is the true practice of naturopathic medicine.
For example Megan, age 16, recently came in with laryngitis and she wanted a quick fix as she was heading off on a soccer tournament. She was initially resistant to the idea of getting an injection however agreed to an intra-muscular injection to assist her body to fight off the virus. She was better within 24 hours and then one week later she wanted a booster just to make sure! By seeing the ND immediately acute infections that can often drag on for days or weeks can be cut very short using natural therapeutics that are not available in the health stores. These include specialized herbal compounds, homeopathic remedies and injections that have often been used very successfully by the N.D. for many years in his or her practice.
Naturopathic physicians educate the public in their own area of practice using published articles, advertising, lectures and in some cases websites. This does not compare to the coverage that conventional medicine gets on the radio and TV media. The research that crosses the desk of the ND is very different from the research that crosses the MD’s desk thus the confusion on the part of the patient. It is the ongoing effort of the ND to educate his or her patients so every time you see your ND they will have new information to share with you pertaining to your health. In the last year I have attended several excellent lectures including one on the herbal approaches to infertility, nutritional approaches to hypertension, heart disease, and vascular dementia, and most recently studying the effective management of diabetes Type I and II.
Applying these new medical skills gained on a ongoing basis and fostering
patience and self-responsibility for optimal health management, are the keys
for success in patient outcome. Sure the advice from a health store lay person
clerk is free however keep in mind that the longer you wait to effectively
tackle a chronic or acute health challenge the harder it is to restore health.
You will require one month for every year that you are unwell.
The biggest benefit of being an ND is getting the results that we do and happy patients because of it. In many cases lives are changed. The terrible case of eczema in a toddler, if treated effectively, can avert the development of asthma and other allergies as well as the years of anxiety treating those conditions.
Learn to value your health and start a health budget. When
you become sick there is nothing more important or valuable than your health.
Having said all this to my student friend he was still very keen and was going to look into both Canadian schools. I encourage students to consider a career in naturopathic medicine to add to the strength of the 1000 voices we now have in Canada.
Dr.
Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently
practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com