Being a doctor wasn’t what I wanted to be when I grew up. Truth is, I didn’t have any idea as far as a specific career, but I did have an idea of where I wanted to do it…outdoors. The outdoors led me to four of my jobs: tomato research, farming, composting and trucking tomatoes. But tomatoes didn’t hold enough interest for a lifetime, and by the time I graduated with a degree in agriculture, I was hopelessly infatuated with natural medicine.
For many budding naturopaths, nature and the outdoors is the foundation for their life’s calling. Plants hold secret botanical knowledge, and as they unassumingly grow by the side of a road or hiking trail. They offer up their gift of healing for the taking to any passersby. Dandelions refuse to submit to chemicals and weeding, insisting on providing a natural diuretic that does not deplete potassium like many blood pressure medications do. ‘Old man’s beard’ moss hangs lightly on forest trees offering an easy to harvest natural antibiotic powerful enough to treat a Strep throat infection. Organic plants available to us for food contain the minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients in their seeds, leaves, roots and sprouts to provide the human body with every element needed to function properly.
Homeopathy supplies yet another connection to the earth and it’s bounty with remedies hailing from the depths of the ocean such as Sepia made from squid ink, to the mountain tops for Thuja, to the air for more rarer remedies such as Falcon and Helium. As energy flows between the wind and waves, energetic patterns become condensed in creatures and elements and clarified through homeopathic dilutions of these substances to affect the energy flow within each one of us.
Naturopathy also offers a place in the 21st century to be both rebellious and successful in a down to earth hippy sort of way. We offer patients an alternative to big bad pharma and corporate chemical monocropping with a return to traditional diets, healthier lifestyles, natural childbirth and herbal medicine. This mix of anti-establishment ideals, love of nature, and a desire to make the world a better place is the perfect breeding ground for the type of community you find at a naturopathic school.
Once I made my decision to be a doctor, I knew I wanted to attend NCNM (the National College of Natural Medicine, now known as NUMN-the National University of Natural Medicine). NCNM is the oldest of 4 naturopathic schools in the U.S. It was close enough to the bay area of California that I could drive home for Christmas. Seattle (home to Bastyr) was too cold, and Arizona (home to SCNM) too hot. NCNM it was, and this is where I would meet many interesting and intelligent people: people with long skirts and a baby on their back, people with tattoos and that grunge Portland look, conservative looking people (who would have gone to western medical schools had it not been for an illness related epiphany), musicians, people with biochemistry degrees, people with degrees in literature, but most of all people with a smile willing to offer a hug any day, anytime. Some students had family who supported them, some were returning to college as a second career and others had parents who still did not quite understand what they were actually doing at “that natural school in Portland”.
After loading all the possessions of me and my five year old daughter into a moving van with my car on a trailer in back we headed up to Oregon where I knew absolutely no one. Never before had I felt such a strong sense that whether we lived or died depended completely upon me. We slept in the back of the car at a campground halfway between Cupertino and Portland and the next day made it to our new apartment. A work study job was waiting for me at the college, but I still had to figure out daycare and kindergarten. Luckily elementary school started earlier in September than medical school so by the time it came for introduction week at NCNM, my daughter was safely seated in a classroom with a great teacher.
During this introduction week I got a sense of the hope, fervent belief, and friendliness of the student population. I knew I was not alone. We were also introduced to professors who combined these traits with skill in the art of natural medicine. Some of them brought instruments to class and sang us songs to inspire and instruct, weaving melodies with lyrics about herbal vitalism and diseases (such as the classic “Talkin’ bout Degeneration” by Dr. SSL). It was fun, the coursework a little intimidating, and we were on our way.
The coursework. Many people ask me what type of coursework naturopathic medical school entails. Is it like regular medical school or is it all meditation and yoga? The answer lies somewhere in between. Although a pre-med degree is not a requirement to enter naturopathic school, one does have to have a Bachelor’s degree and certain prerequisites—organic chemistry and physics, for instance.
The first two years of school had its weight measured in the sciences: microbiology, histology, immunology, pathology, anatomy, physiology, medical biochemistry, orthopedics, and dead lab (corpse dissection). These line up with courses taught in “regular” medical schools. However in naturopathic school they were coupled with classes such as palpation lab, physical exam, spinal manipulations, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, naturopathic philosophy and massage. We quickly put the basic sciences into practice. Third and fourth year coursework—pharmacology, gynecology, neurology, gastroenterology, minor surgery, first aid, cardiology, urology, oncology, dermatology, EENT, pediatrics and geriatrics—were accompanied by alternatives such as botanical medicine, homeopathy, environmental medicine and natural childbirth. Instead of the typical two weeks of nutrition taught at western medical schools, students in naturopathic school get four quarters of nutrition studies (more than a year).
Elective courses are then added to the mix and might include herbal field experience, herbal medicine production, orthobionomy, bowen technique or applied kinesiology. In addition to all of this, students perform several rotations in the school clinics seeing real patients under the supervision of naturopathic doctors. Students must also complete 240 hours shadowing physicians outside of school. Crazy as it may seem, many students also opt to gain additional certificates while in school for specialties such as midwifery or homeopathy or they choose to double major in Chinese medicine.
The stress of medical school with its full load of lectures, lab classes, studying and trying to fit in part time jobs and family took its toll on student togetherness. People who planned on having babies during medical school didn’t and people who swore off babies during school had them accidentally anyway. Some got married and some got divorced. Housemates and study partners changed throughout the years. People naturally rallied together based on religion, being vegan or meat eating, evening and weekend entertainment choices (legal and non), presence or absence of little ones, and sexual/gender identity.
More and more towards the end of our Portland academia groups formed based on a particular focus such as applied kinesiology or research. Some people extended their stay at school an additional year or two and others were happy to get out of there as soon as they could.
Most of us made it to graduation. For me it signaled not just the completion of a goal but the start of what I had feared and ignored for the five years I was in medical school—starting a business. No longer would I have the security of a day, week and semester planned out for me. No longer would I have student loans coming into my bank account at regular intervals. In fact, money would be going out at regular intervals to the student loan institutions and I would have to figure out a way to get the money in before it went out.
Luckily, I was married by that time. I put full time work on hold, allowing me to spend time with my toddler (yes, I was one of the people who accidentally reproduced during medical school). I started searching for an existing naturopathic office to join so I could work part time. Joining a practice meant I wouldn’t have to start from the scratch.
At first I took a part time job at a wellness center. It was reception and billing work. They already had a naturopathic doctor in the office but the chiropractor told me they had considered getting another naturopath. For the time being, I figured working the front and back office would give me experience in the other ins and outs of running an alternative medical office. After a year of this I was itching to start my practice.
I had been trail running with a naturopathic doctor whom I had shadowed during my time as a student. We talked about me renting a room from her and we just needed to work out the details. I wanted to pay reduced rent or percentage of income as rent at first as I had no existing clientele and therefore no guarantee of pay. She wanted to reduce her hours and take vacations, and therefore was willing to pass some patients off to me. We wrote up a contract and I began my career as a naturopathic physician.
