This week we are celebrating #naturalmedicineweek
This photo was taken at our graduation back in 2013- I’m posting this because I’m also celebrating my 7th birthday in business this year.
I don’t like to post anything negative however I’ve been quite frustrated hearing horrible things being said about Naturopaths and our industry from other health professionals to my clients in recent weeks.
So today I thought I would share a little about the background of my journey as a Naturopath student and just how much was involved to achieve my qualification.
It took me 6 years to finish my degree because it was hard, I graduated from high school as a fresh faced enthusiastic teenager excited to dive deep into my studies in tertiary education. I was very wrong to assume uni would be easier than year 12 TEE…very wrong!
Some of the subjects we had to complete were;
- Human biology
- Chemistry
- Food as Medicine
- Communication and counselling
- Herbal preparation
- Nutrition 1, 2, 3 & 4
- Foundations of massage
- Biochemistry
- Herbal medicine 1, 2, 3 & 4
- Human Disease processes 1,2,3 & 4
- Community Education and Public Health
- Dietary planning
- Advanced Herbal medicine
- Western Diagnostic techniques
- Nutritional Biochemistry
- Critical Research Skills
- Naturopathic Clinical Skills 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
- Pharmacology
- Integrated Pharmacology
- Advanced Nutrition Food Therapy
(just to name a few of the subjects)
To qualify as a Naturopath you have to complete a Bachelor of Health Science degree which is a minimum of 4 years full time study. As I said earlier it took me 6 because it was extremely challenging, especially the chemistry and biochemistry units.
We need to be across all human disease processes, pharmacology and the interactions natural medicine may have with prescribed drugs.
I remember clearly my Western Diagnostics mentioning how impressed he was with the level of quality we were studying which was more in-depth than some of the subjects he was teaching to the med students at UWA.
He thought we were going to be a bunch of hippies and was very impressed to see how much scientific evidence supported every single thing in our degree.
I fondly remember learning how to rip research papers to shreds and making sure every single thing we discussed or reported on was backed by significant evidence.
We treat a client as the individual, on a holistic level.
We look at their health through a multi-focal approach.
Every cell, every organ and every system in the body communicates together, we are one body.
Things are not separate
Your gut is related to your mental health, your immune system is related to your gut, Stress affects every single cell in your body.
To try and separate your body systems does not make sense, it’s impossible.
In my opinion, the more health professionals in your wellness treatment plan, the better! Each health professional should respect each other and support the individual for taking such a proactive approach to their own health.
The client is our number one priority, to support, encourage and empower along their health journey.
When a client returns to me with feedback saying they have received rude and negative comments to make them feel stupid for seeking advice with a Naturopath because we are “unsafe” and “unqualified” it really gets to me.
So I wanted to share this with you because we are in fact qualified with all treatments we endorse backed by evidence, Nothing I prescribe in clinic isn’t supported by evidence.
As your Naturopath, I listen really well. I want to help you feel better and I’ll work with you for as long as it’s required to get you results.
I think sometimes I get more excited than you when you come back sharing your improvements.
The human body is an amazing and complex organism and you are an individual. So your treatment should be individual too!
