Many of you are familiar with complementary and alternative medicine. In 1997, it was estimated that consumers spent over 27 billion dollars on complementary and alternative medicine. Many of you are also familiar with Naturopathic Medicine and Naturopathic Doctors (NDs). For those of you who are not, I encourage you to read my blog What the Health is a Naturopath. However, what many of you may not realize is that Naturopathic Doctors are not licensed in all states. Thousands of "professionals" have taken advantage of this huge demand and lack of regulation by calling themselves Naturopaths even though they have not received the necessary training. They are "UN-Ds" not NDs. They are not doctors. This misrepresentation is not only unfortunate, it is deceptive, dangerous, and in some cases illegal.
Currently, Naturopathic Doctors are licensed in 15 states (see below) as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. In order to receive a license to practice medicine, these states require that Naturopathic Doctors graduate from a four year, accredited naturopathic medical school, pass extensive post doctoral board examinations, and complete state mandated continuing education requirements annually. When selecting a Naturopathic Doctor, it is essential that he/she meets the above criteria.
There are Naturopathic Doctors in each and every state. In unlicensed states, many of these doctors practice in integrative medicine clinics under the direction of conventional medical doctors. The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) is a national organization whose members must meet the above listed criteria. Although not all licensed naturopathic doctors are members, this is a good place to start when looking for a new doctor. On the AANP website, click on the "Find a Doctor" tab, type in your zip code, and a list of local doctors will be presented.
If your state currently does not license Naturopathic Doctors, contact your local legislators. Let them know you believe licensure is necessary to ensure the safety of the public and to provide you with the freedom and confidence to choose a Naturopathic Doctor as your primary care provider.
States with licensing laws for Naturopathic Doctors:
Alaska
Arizona
California
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Idaho
Kansas
Maine
Minnesota*
Montana
New Hampshire
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Washington
United States Territories: Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
*Effective July 2, 2009.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
What the Health is a Naturopath?
Finally...A blog designed with the health of the patient as a priority.
My name is Dr. John Nowicki, and I am a Naturopathic Doctor. For those of you who do not know what that is, let me explain...
In Washington State (where my practice is located), I am a Primary Care Provider. I am licensed to do the most of the things that a conventional Medical Doctor specializing in Family Medicine can do. I perform general physical exams (sports physicals, well adult/well child exams), condition specific treatments, conventional laboratory tests, referrals, imaging, etc. My office visits include detailed history taking, physical exam, and laboratory testing as needed. There are several differences, but three that I will mention here.
1) I look to treat the cause, not just the symptoms of disease. Let's take headaches for example. My goal is to figure out where the headaches are coming from rather than just saying take ibuprofen or acetominophen or magnesium. These may relieve the pain, and I am not opposed to symptom relief. If ibuprofen helps get rid of the headache, great! However, these treatments do not correct the ultimate problem; they just relieve the symptoms. My goal is to figure out where the headaches are coming from and then to treat that cause. If we can figure out the cause of the headaches, the symptom relieving medicines are no longer necessary, and the headaches are gone. This applies to all symptoms, headaches, fatigue, digestive complaints, etc. The goal is always to determine the cause.
2) The treatment options I use include diet and lifestyle changes, natural medicines (like vitamins, minerals, and botanical medicines), and pharmaceutical medications when needed, not always in that order. It depends on the presentation of the patient. If someone comes in with a bacterial infection, I would prescribe antibiotics rather than just telling the individual to cut out milk from their diet. Antibiotics would be the appropriate treatment in that case. But in the majority of chronic conditions, the protocol is diet and lifestyle changes, followed by natural medicines, and then pharmaceutical prescriptions if required.
3) I spend more time with my patients. Most first office visits are between 60 and 90 minutes and are primarily focused on information gathering. In order to determine the cause, I need to get to know my patients and that requires more time.
I view my relationship with patients as a team, where the patient is the "captain" of the team. I will provide my opinion, talk about treatment options, pros and cons/risks and benefits of those options, and together come up with a treatment plan that works to accomplish your goals. I expect open communcation between me and my patients. If there is something I feel strongly about, I will always let you know. But I expect the same in return. My goal is to help you achieve your goals, and we need to be on the same page to do so. I do not want to give my patients 20 things to do and then have them leave saying, " I am not going to do this." That would be a waste of your time and a waste of my time. I do not think my role is to be a dictator...It is not my job to tell you what to do or not to do. I look at my role as an educator...to provide options, talk about pros and cons, risks and benefits of treatment, and then together determine the path we are to travel down. I will guide and direct my patients along that path, reevaluating as necessary, ultimately achieving the goals you desire.
I look forward to sharing more information with you as we venture down the path towards health.
You can read more about our clinic here: http://www.issaquahnaturalmedicine.com/
and more about Naturopathic Medicine here: http://www.naturopathic.org/ and here: http://www.wanp.org/
My name is Dr. John Nowicki, and I am a Naturopathic Doctor. For those of you who do not know what that is, let me explain...
In Washington State (where my practice is located), I am a Primary Care Provider. I am licensed to do the most of the things that a conventional Medical Doctor specializing in Family Medicine can do. I perform general physical exams (sports physicals, well adult/well child exams), condition specific treatments, conventional laboratory tests, referrals, imaging, etc. My office visits include detailed history taking, physical exam, and laboratory testing as needed. There are several differences, but three that I will mention here.
1) I look to treat the cause, not just the symptoms of disease. Let's take headaches for example. My goal is to figure out where the headaches are coming from rather than just saying take ibuprofen or acetominophen or magnesium. These may relieve the pain, and I am not opposed to symptom relief. If ibuprofen helps get rid of the headache, great! However, these treatments do not correct the ultimate problem; they just relieve the symptoms. My goal is to figure out where the headaches are coming from and then to treat that cause. If we can figure out the cause of the headaches, the symptom relieving medicines are no longer necessary, and the headaches are gone. This applies to all symptoms, headaches, fatigue, digestive complaints, etc. The goal is always to determine the cause.
2) The treatment options I use include diet and lifestyle changes, natural medicines (like vitamins, minerals, and botanical medicines), and pharmaceutical medications when needed, not always in that order. It depends on the presentation of the patient. If someone comes in with a bacterial infection, I would prescribe antibiotics rather than just telling the individual to cut out milk from their diet. Antibiotics would be the appropriate treatment in that case. But in the majority of chronic conditions, the protocol is diet and lifestyle changes, followed by natural medicines, and then pharmaceutical prescriptions if required.
3) I spend more time with my patients. Most first office visits are between 60 and 90 minutes and are primarily focused on information gathering. In order to determine the cause, I need to get to know my patients and that requires more time.
I view my relationship with patients as a team, where the patient is the "captain" of the team. I will provide my opinion, talk about treatment options, pros and cons/risks and benefits of those options, and together come up with a treatment plan that works to accomplish your goals. I expect open communcation between me and my patients. If there is something I feel strongly about, I will always let you know. But I expect the same in return. My goal is to help you achieve your goals, and we need to be on the same page to do so. I do not want to give my patients 20 things to do and then have them leave saying, " I am not going to do this." That would be a waste of your time and a waste of my time. I do not think my role is to be a dictator...It is not my job to tell you what to do or not to do. I look at my role as an educator...to provide options, talk about pros and cons, risks and benefits of treatment, and then together determine the path we are to travel down. I will guide and direct my patients along that path, reevaluating as necessary, ultimately achieving the goals you desire.
I look forward to sharing more information with you as we venture down the path towards health.
You can read more about our clinic here: http://www.issaquahnaturalmedicine.com/
and more about Naturopathic Medicine here: http://www.naturopathic.org/ and here: http://www.wanp.org/
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