Gearing Up for the 3rd Annual Naturopathic Medicine Week

By Emily Cleveland-Job, ND

On September 10^th, 2013 the U.S. Senate passed a resolution designating the second week in October as Naturopathic Medicine Week. This resolution recognizes the value of naturopathic medicine in providing safe, effective, and affordable health care while also encouraging Americans to learn more about the naturopathic profession and its role in preventing and treating chronic diseases.  This year, Naturopathic Medicine Week takes place October 5^th through the 11^th.  Here at Knox Wellness, we are going to be celebrating!  Please stay tuned for upcoming events and offers for Naturopathic Medicine Week!

Our country has a shortage of primary care physicians.  Our country also has a shortage of primary care physicians who truly help people heal and improve their health.  I feel the public needs to demand more of their health care system and the providers who work within it.  This is a huge subject and gets very complicated when you start addressing how insurance companies and now our government, play a role in how our doctors can treat us and how much time they have to do it in!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with what a naturopathic doctor (ND) is, Naturopathic Medicine Week is for you!  Naturopathic physicians attend four-year, in-residence (not online), full-time post-graduate naturopathic medical schools.  These schools are recognized by the Federal Department of Education.  Currently, North America has seven naturopathic medical schools.  Please click on this link to read more about these schools and the education they provide:  https://aanmc.org/

For more information about the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, visit: http://www.naturopathic.org .

Naturopathic physicians are trained in taking a full medical history, performing physical examines, ordering and interpreting labs and diagnostic imaging to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.  NDs are also trained in the use of pharmaceuticals, botanical (herbal) medicines, minor surgery, intravenous therapies, clinical nutrition, and physical medicine all with the aim of stimulating the body’s innate ability to heal itself when given the right materials.  NDs look at the whole patient, understanding that the entire person must be considered to properly address the cause of their ailments.

Currently, 17 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands license naturopathic doctors to practice naturopathic medicine.  I will point out that our dear state of Tennessee is not among these 17 states!  We are working toward Tennessee recognizing and licensing NDs.  Please visit: http://www.tnnda.org for more information!

Knox Wellness offers naturopathic approaches in the setting of an integrative health clinic.  We are headed up by Dr. Christopher Siano, an Osteopathic Physician.  We have a physician assistant, Hannah Holcomb, PA-C.  I am the naturopathic doctor on staff.  We all approach our patients with a unique set of tools and utilize all of our skills to develop a thorough and artful treatment plan.  I say “artful” because it truly is an art to practice individualized health care.  10 patients with the same diagnosis will likely walk out the door with vastly different treatment plans because the cause of their particular illness is different than the next person.  This is one of the reasons why conventional care fails many people…the treatment is basically the same for everyone.

Naturopathic Medicine Week celebrates the profession and aims to educate people on a very important option for their health care!

Please join us in spreading the word on Naturopathic Medicine Week and please join us for our upcoming events!