I'm Less Than 1-Year From Graduating Naturopathic Medical School

By the time I graduate in April 2026, it will have been a 6.5 year journey that I never conceived my life would have taken.

I began this journey of Naturopathic Medical School officially in September 2019 unsure if I could keep up with the rigors of this training but knowing in my heart that pursuing the path of becoming a Naturopathic Physician was what I had always envisioned for myself even though I didn't know it prior to 2014.

Even as a child I was obsessed with science. My favorite TV show as a kid was Bill Nye The Science Guy. I loved that show so much that my friends early in life prior to my transition called me "Stevie I The Science Guy". I often took that as a badge of honor at the time.

Growing-up, I heard stories of my dad's childhood and him going to work with his father who was an Orthopedic Surgeon in the 50s and 60s before he passed of colon cancer. As a kid, there was always something that fascinated me about that my grandfather.

Even though he was a Surgeon, there was something that struck accord with me knowing that he would go visit and care for his patients in their home before or after surgeries were performed on them.

He practiced a kind of medicine that is rarely practiced today, a very personalized and community centered medicine where Doctor's would indeed visit patients in their home.

For better or worse, depending upon your perspective, our medicine of the 21st century is often done in sterile environments devoid of any comfort or human connection between patient and Physician. My grandfather was perhaps the last generation of Physicians to still be offering such direct and personalized care.

Sadly, he passed when my dad was a young teenager due to his cancer diagnosis so I never got to meet him; but the imagery of him that I grew-up with and how he practiced medicine undoubtedly influenced my pursuit of Naturopathic Medicine.

In fact, I still have my grandfathers leather briefcase that he used to carry patient records in at the time which is inscribed in gold lettering with his initials J.G.I.

Even though I had no desire to become a Surgeon like my grandfather, him providing direct patient-centered care to patients in their home always stayed with me.

It wasn't until the Summer of 2014 that I discovered that the field of Naturopathic Medicine even existed. It was in that moment that I knew this would be something that I had to pursue.

Compared to the dominant medical system, Naturopathic Medicine is a very small profession with only a couple thousand Naturopathic Physicians (ND or NMD) throughout North America.

Naturopathic medicine is deeply patient-centered, holistic, and seeks to optimize determinants of health that influence well-being throughout the lifespan.

Beyond Traditional and Indigenous Medicine paradigms such as Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and others, Naturopathic Physicians are some of the last Doctors within the 21st century to practice medicine in a similar way to my grandfather.

This medicine focuses on spending time with patients, deeply listening to them, counseling them, and helping guide them along the journey of transforming their health.

We offer a lot of what the existing insurance-based model of medicine does not; even though I think many Physicians whether MD or DO would rather practice in a patient-centered way.

Other than the personalized care model that Naturopathic Medicine prioritizes, we offer a medicine that combines the best of both the biomedical sciences and natural medicine.

Without getting too philosophical, we start with a paradigm that prioritizes teaching patients how to establish the conditions for health which in turn reinvigorates their vitality on all levels, physically, energetically, mentally, and perhaps even spiritually.

Often people think we're just replacing pharmaceutical drugs with natural substances and whereas there may be some-level of truth to that depending upon one's medical condition(s), the reality is far more complex than this. I'll discuss this further in an upcoming article about Functional Medicine. One of the major points I'll discuss there is this...

Human health is not directly created through pharmaceutical drugs or supplements.

Read that again.

This said, I am fully open to the judicious use of supplements or pharmaceutical drugs when clinically indicated. Perhaps a better way of expressing the italicized statement above would be, "Human health can be supported by pharmaceutical drugs or supplements."

Indeed, these treatments are often supportive and in many cases they do help sustain life itself in conditions where people would not remain alive otherwise. This said, there is more to human health than swallowing a pill whether drug or supplement.

In large part, our health and well-being is determined by the everyday choices that we make in our own lives; some may be more conscious than others and some we may not have direct control over like genetic disorders at birth, like the air we breathe in our community, or like the environment in which we live in.

I want to be clear, I am not stating this to be ableist. I live with a chronic autoimmune condition myself. However, from the perspective of my soon-to-be Physician brain, I do recognize that the human body requires certain conditions to be as healthy as possible; this goes for all of us. Health can be optimized even for those with chronic health conditions or disabilities; though re-building health in this population may look different from those that do not struggle with any medical diagnoses. This is where the personalized care piece fits into Naturopathic Medicine, helping client's implement lifestyle and behavioral changes that are practical, accessible, and sustainable for them as an individual.

Creating health is influenced by many factors (determinants) including:

• Sleeping habits
• Nutritional habits
• Our mental health
• Hydration
• The air we breathe
• Restorative habits including rest and rejuvenation
• The structural integrity of our physical body
• Maintaining flexibility and mobility throughout the lifespan
• The amount of physical activity/exercise we engage in
• Our exposure to natural lighting
• Time spent in Nature
• Whether we have loving and nourishing relationships
• Spiritual beliefs and practices
• Exposure to toxins
• Genetic make-up
• Microbiome
• Financial status
• Prior medical history

This is a short yet comprehensive list of many of the variables that can directly impact human health and flourishing; there are many others, too.

These are many of the areas that Naturopathic Physicians help patients prioritize and optimize given that many of these determinants are far off balance in our modern over-stimulated world.

Yes, pharmaceuticals and supplements can be important but they're not the whole picture; this territory is where Naturopathic Physicians happen to be experts, in the realm of health creation.

What excites me most about being a Future Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine is having the opportunity to radically empower and transform people's lives all through helping them adopt health promoting behaviors that are in alignment with the universal laws and rhythms of Nature.

Yes, that may sound like some hippy-dippy-crunchy aspiration but once humans start realizing that not only are we a part of Nature itself but that we are Nature, this separation from Nature can begin shifting. Human beings are no less a part of these natural laws than all of the animals, trees, and critters that fill this planet and perhaps even this galaxy. When I think about it from this perspective, I recognize that...

Nature is the true Physician; I'm simply the guide.

For those interested in starting on this journey, I am currently providing Holistic Health & Wellness Coaching as a start to building my future medical practice prior to graduation in April 2026. Of course I am unable to make pharmaceutical recommendations at this time; however, there are many other areas of health that we can work to optimize together that do not necessitate prescriptions. If this resonates with you, please schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn more about how I can help guide you along your journey of creating optimal health.