Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are family practice-oriented primary health care doctors. Naturopathic training consists of a four-year, graduate level, accredited naturopathic medical school program.

The four existing naturopathic colleges in the US are accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education, a specialized accreditor recognized by the US Department of Education. Those schools are located in Portland, OR, Kenmore, WA, Scottsdale, AZ, and Bridgeport, CT.

The first two years of schooling are comparable to those of conventional medical doctors (MD).

During the first year, the majority of classes focus on the basic sciences including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, cellular biology and histology, and cadaver dissection.

After this introductory year, students continue with anatomy and physiology, but add more clinical sciences such as microbiology, pathology, laboratory diagnosis, and clinical/physical diagnosis which instructs on the diagnostic criteria for the most common conditions. During this sophomore year, the naturopathic medical students also get their first direct experience with patients by delivering hydrotherapy treatments in the school clinic.

The additional two to four years consist of specialized academic courses focusing on the systems of the body: cardiology, eyes, ears, nose and throat (EENT), gynecology, gastroenterology, urology, neurology, pediatrics, geriatrics and oncology.

In addition, students can take courses in naturopathic therapeutics like clinical nutrition and botanicals, biotherapeutic drainage, lifestyle counseling, homeopathy, body work, hydrotherapy, and light therapy. In the clinic, they move through structured instruction on management of typical clinical cases by seeing individual patients under the close supervision of licensed naturopathic physicians and medical doctors.

After graduation, NDs must pass national board examination to become licensed and must complete required yearly continuing education (CE) to maintain that designation.

This annual learning must include 10 hours of pharmacology CE, 2 hours of ethics CE, and another 38 hours of general continuing education on any topic pertaining to the clinical practice of naturopathic medicine.

For a detailed naturopathic course listing go to the National College of Naturopathic Medicine Academics Page and click on View Program Layouts. For the continuing education requirements and standards, go to the Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine and click on Continuing Education.

Naturopathy stands distinct from conventional medicine in the philosophy upon which it is based. Most of today’s modern pharmaceuticals are designed to control symptoms: blood pressure medication for hypertension, statins for high cholesterol.

These medications are valuable, can save lives, and serve a very important purpose in today’s health care arena. However, they stop short of providing true health because ultimately they do not address the underlying problem.

While the blood pressure may be controlled with medication the cause of the high blood pressure has not been addressed. When symptoms are covered up with medication the disease still exists and, over time, this will cause other symptoms in other areas of the body to develop. Symptoms are the body’s warning sign that something is not right.

If you treat the symptom and not the cause you’re ignoring your body’s call for help. If you stop the drug and your symptom returns you have not addressed the cause.

The purpose of naturopathic medicine is to take your health further than symptom management.

However, we understand that symptoms are often uncomfortable and sometimes even life threatening and we will palliate symptoms in order to ensure that our patients are safe and comfortable on their journey to greater health.

Our practitioners may use any of the following modalities to treat any number of health complaints: clinical nutrition, botanicals, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, body work, light therapy, and lifestyle counseling.

To learn more about what you can expect from your naturopathic visit, click here.

Because naturopathic medicine focuses on restoring balance in the body and allowing it to heal itself, individual practitioners may use a variety of therapies to achieve this goal. Many different strategies can be effective in supporting the body’s natural checks and balances.

Therefore, the differences between an appointment with one naturopath and the next can be striking. Often, besides matching the individual naturopath with the patient for best results, it is also important to match the right therapy with each patient to ensure the optimum physical response.

Here, we list the treatments most commonly applied by Dr. Krisko.

Lifestyle counseling

An essential aspect of any health routine, your lifestyle should be customized to your individual needs. Dr. Krisko will take your goals, unique habits, and temperament into consideration in order to craft a specific daily routine that will help your body function optimally.

Hydrotherapy

When applied appropriately, water has several amazing properties to move fluid, reduce inflammation, increase internal body temperatures and promote healing. Using these special qualities of water topically, hydrotherapy treatments offer a non-invasive approach to improving your health naturally.

Clinical nutrition & botanicals

Sometimes the body needs some direct support. Nutritional supplements and
botanical medicines allow Dr. Krisko to strategically bolster your body’s path in healing itself.

Biotherapeutic drainage

Part homeopathy, part botanical medicine, part Chinese medical philosophy, biotherapeutic drainage makes the best use of the body’s ability to heal itself. These remedies, made in Belgium, focus on correcting regulatory imbalances, optimizing elimination of toxins and improving metabolic function of every cell.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy differs from botanical medicine in the method of preparation and the approach of application. By using a special technique derived in the late 1700s and early 1800s, homeopathic remedies are potentized (strengthened), then physicians prescribe these medicines based on the “Law of Similars”.

Light therapy

Red and blue LED and infrared lights have been shown to increase cellular metabolism by 150% and improve circulation, which means faster cellular repair and healthier tissues. These three wavelengths have proven clinically effective in treating a broad range of health concerns from acne to chemotherapy side effects. Light pads are applied to the skin at therapeutic frequencies to boost your body’s recovery and healing processes, and treatments are often paired with acupuncture to enhance treatment benefits.