Issue 6, June 2006

Editor's Note – Naturopathic doctors choose integrated careers >>

Meet more of North America's top NDs >>

Blending Chiropractic and Naturopathic Care
Betty Jo Radelet, ND, DC
Bring Nature Cures to Psychiatry
Jeffrey Sager, ND, LCMHC

Your Questions Answered – Locate an ND near me? >>

Editor’s Note – Naturopathic doctors choose integrated careers

It’s true that naturopathic doctors (NDs) increasingly choose to practice in an integrated clinic setting. (In fact, 50 percent of new NDs spend their first year of practice working in some type of multi-disciplinary clinic.) However many NDs are taking it to the next level, integrating two or more healing professions into one career, bringing to their practice the benefit of dual degrees, and dual perspectives on health. For some already working health care practitioners, earning a second degree in naturopathic medicine makes a great complement to an MD or DC, for example, allowing them to offer services that give them a specialized, competitive edge.

Oftentimes this integration begins with a practicing health care practitioner who feels compelled to expand or add a new dimension to their current practice, and they discover the naturopathic profession. (Like many of you nurses, doctors, chiropractors and acupuncturists who’ve written me to inquire about earning a second degree.)

In this issue we profile two NDs who have done just that, and very successfully. Read Meet more of North America’s top NDs below.

On a separate note, did any of you happen to catch Encarta’s “Career Training” article featuring naturopathic medicine last month? The author noted, “Insurance companies, hospitals, and elite schools such as Harvard are also taking notice of the complementary medicine trend. Many insurance companies now cover at least one type of CAM health care.”

The article goes on to explore the ND profession and education. Read more excerpts from Encarta’s Career Training article >>

I hope this issue helps you to realize the vast possibilities and opportunities that an ND degree can bring you, whether you’re just starting to consider a healing profession or are already immersed in one.

To your health and your future,
Coquina Deger
Managing Editor, AANMC

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Meet more of North America's top NDs

Meet two outstanding NDs who have built their own successful practices on a strongly integrated approach to healing and wellness. Already educated as a chiropractor and a mental health counselor, each chose to return to school to study naturopathic medicine. After earning their ND degrees, each went on to develop successful, integrated practices, becoming forerunners in blending naturopathic medicine with an established medical field.

Take a closer look into their practices and their innovative career paths …

Blending Chiropractic and Naturopathic Care
Betty Jo Radelet, DC, ND
Betty Jo Radelet proudly bears the title of the oldest practicing naturopathic physician in Oregon. At 85, she’s a semi-retired chiropractor and naturopathic physician, integrating the two into a successful practice and a rewarding career. Her patients have come to accept – and even to expect – the blend of treatments she offers them.

Dr. Radelet is not only unusual in the blending of these two fields, but she also broke ground by becoming the first naturopathic doctor in the rural southwest Washington town of Washougal, as a widowed mother of seven in the early 70s. Learn more about her bold and innovative career path.
Read the interview >>
Bringing Nature Cures to Psychiatry
Jeffrey Sager, ND, LCMHC
Fortunately for his patients, Dr. Jeffrey Sager began his professional career as a mental health counselor. In a twist of fate, his own personal health journey led him to another career: naturopathic medicine. He later developed the country’s first program to integrate traditional community mental health and naturopathic medicine, also the first to grant medical privileges in the inpatient psychiatric unit to an ND.

Find out how Dr. Sager’s cutting-edge work is bridging these two fields and creating powerful results.
Read the interview >>

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Your Questions Answered

Today's question:
Can you help me find an ND near me?

Q: Would you be able to assist me in locating a naturopathic doctor in the Rhode Island or Massachusetts area? My sister has had fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue for eight years now and needs to get on her feet. I hope to hear from you soon.

A: The absolute best place to find a qualified naturopathic doctor in North America is through the profession’s national associations. These associations maintain active and current databases of practicing naturopathic doctors (NDs), searchable by name and location. Most of our AANMC member schools also post their own alumni directories on their Web sites.

For links to these directories, view Your Questions Answered column >>

And please, keep sending me your questions!
E-mail Coquina Deger at editor@aanmc.org.

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Naturopathic doctors choose integrated careers

Alumni Spotlights:

I think they [the two fields] go arm in arm and one just augments the other. I've not really had much trouble combining the two, either from my perspective or my patients' perspectives.”

–Betty Jo Radelet, ND, DO

The more integration there is, the more work there will be. If we [NDs] can get more positions in hospitals or as part of multi-disciplinary practices, there will be more opportunities. We can broaden and enhance all kinds of other disciplines -- if the doctors are open.”

–Jeffrey Sager, ND, LCMHC

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