Interview with Jason Porter NMD

DrPorterJason Porter NMD is my guest today. He practices at East Valley Naturopathic Doctors.

Margaret: Dr. Porter, what caused you to choose to become an NMD rather than an MD or DO?

Dr. Porter: I chose to become a NMD because I knew from prior experience how effective lifestyle changes could be on any health condition. It seemed to me that most doctors were ignoring the simple things and were more ready to prescribe a medication than a lifestyle recommendation. I wanted people to be healthier and better off long term from what information I gave them. I felt alternative medicine would do that that better.

Margaret: What is the Difference between an NMD and an ND?

Dr. Porter: There is technically no difference between NMD and ND. In some states a licensed Naturopathic Physician may call himself a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD). There are states where licensing for ND is not available and certain groups who are not trained in a four year accredited program will call themselves ND’s.

Margaret: There are family doctors or Primary Care Physicians and numerous specialties in traditional medicine, What are the specialties in Naturopathy?

Dr. Porter: Naturopathic Medical Schools train doctors as Primary Care Physicians. The increasing rate of information, knowledge and complexity of disease can inhibit Naturopathic Doctors from staying current on every disease and optimal treatments. Many doctors do specialize in certain areas to the benefit of their patients. The are no specific designations so doctors are able to choose any variety of specialties in Naturopathic medicine they would like to treat.

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Interview with Andrea Orlowski, NMD

Dr. OrlowskiToday my guest is naturopathic doctor Andrea Orlowski NMD. Dr. Orlowski received her doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1997. She continued her education to receive a master’s degree in Traditional Chinese medicine.

Margaret: Thank you for visiting with me today. I am interested in why you chose to become an NMD rather than any other kind of physician?

Dr. Orlowski: I’ve always been interested in healing. However I did not perceive Conventional medicine as often truly healing patients. My observations of conventional medicine are that it doesn’t always address the deeper causes of an illness. Many of the medications and treatments just alleviate symptoms and some cause further heath problems. In Conventional Medicine there is a lot of influence from pharmaceutical companies and an overall capitalistic philosophy where much of it revolves around the profit margin rather than focusing on the true needs of the patient.

The philosophy of Naturopathic Medicine is as follows:

1.) First do no harm, never give the patient something that will ultimately make them worse.
2.) Work with the healing power of nature. This means utilizing plants, foods and natural medicines provided to us by the earth in their whole, balanced form and also recognizing our bodies natural tendency to return to homeostasis, or perfect health as long as the blocks to healing our removed.
3.) Treat the whole person, we are not a bunch of unrelated parts, but one organism and all aspects of health must be addressed physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
4.) Prevention is the highest form of cure. It is better to recognize that the path we are on is taking us to a place of illness and change it than to wait until we are sick and try to fix it.
5.) Doctor as teacher. We teach people how to live healthy and self correct.
6.) Find the cause of the illness. Do not just treat the symptoms. For example giving iron to an anemic person will bring their iron level up, but it is better to understand why it was low in the first place. Was there a digestive problem that interfered with absorption? Was there blood loss? Why? Treat these issues and you can permanently solve the problem.

The philosophy of Naturopathic Medicine reflects my own philosophy of healing which is why I choose to become a Naturopath.

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