An Integrative Approach to Primary Health Care
Naturopathic Physicians are trained as primary care doctors - meaning, as ND’s (Naturopathic Doctors) we are trained to treat and diagnose with equivalent educational and medical training as that of a conventional/allopathic MD. We are trained to perform diagnostic evaluation such as blood, urine, saliva or diagnostic imaging tests in order to obtain an appropriate prognosis and accurate diagnosis for our patients. The primary difference between an ND and an MD is in our belief system and approach to health and illness. For instance, as ND’s we focus on the “whole person”, addressing mind, body and spirit. Our goal is to identify and treat the root cause of illness (not just treat the symptoms) and also to offer a preventative approach to health care. ND’s at our clinic offer a treatment approach that is individualized for our patients - taking into consideration diet, lifestyle, mental-emotional stressors and any other factor that may be contributing to your current state of health. MD’s use a “disease model” of health care which involves emergency care and symptomatic treatment and intervention with drug therapy, surgery or more invasive means of treatment. As an integrative clinic, we believe there is a time and a place for both naturopathic and allopathic medicine and we work with your team of health care providers (GP’s, specialists, dentists, psychologists and others) whenever necessary in order to provide you with the best overall health care possible.
If you are taking prescription medications, be sure to inform your Naturopathic Physician as to the exact medication and dosage. Naturopathic Physicians are trained to work with prescription medications that you may be required to take and can ensure that there will be no interaction with any of the treatments provided. In the Spring 2009, Naturopathic Physicians in BC were awarded prescriptive rights for drug therapies, thereby broadening our scope as primary care doctors.
Although drug therapy is not generally our first line of treatment, we understand that short or long-term drug therapy may be necessary when treating certain conditions. Regardless of the circumstance, our ND’s provide you will the best possible options for optimizing your health. Having prescriptive rights will allow us to prescribe pharmacological medications in emergency situations and will allow us to change dosage and/or gradually ween our patients off medication (when appropriate and necessary) while simultaneously intervening with a more natural approach to health and well-being.
As Naturopathic Physicians, our first line of treatment involves the use of evidence-based natural and non-invasive therapies (such as acupuncture, nutritional and vitamin-mineral supplementation, botanical therapy, homeopathy, etc.) designed to work with the body’s own healing abilities. At Port Moody Naturopathic Health & Wellness, we believe medicine in its true form should utilize an integrative approach to treat health care on many levels by offering lifestyle and nutritional counselling, along with natural, drug-free remedies to treat the root cause and the whole person - not just the disease or illness. In most cases, by using this approach of integrative medicine, our patients do not have any long-term dependency on a drug for maintaining their health. By resolving the root of the problem, as opposed to sole symptomatic treatment, we can restore the body’s innate ability to heal itself on all levels - physcially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually - thereby optimizing your health to its greatest potential!
We are proud to lead the way in comprehensive integrative medicine and we invite you to experience the future of integrative health care at our clinic.