You graduated from college with a degree in communication studies. How did you come to be a naturopathic practitioner?

I wanted to be a doctor when I was in second grade because I wanted to help people, but in high school I realized there was no way I was going to do medicine because chemistry turned me off. I initially went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. on a math scholarship, but ended up transferring to communication studies. Although I had an interest in theatre, I was too chicken to do drama. David Schwimmer from “Friends” was in my class, actually.

After graduation, I came back to Minnesota, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was scheduled to go to China to teach English, but then Tiananmen Square happened and my program was put on hold there, so instead I was sent to Japan. Within two months of ending the program, I was hired by a Japanese company to come back to Chicago, after which I was supposed to go to Singapore after putting in my time in Chicago. However, after six months in Chicago, I knew that career path wasn’t for me.

In Japan I noticed my digestive system had turned around and felt much better, yet upon returning to the U.S., it felt worse again. I started taking supplements and reading books on nutrition. I was now working part time at a B. Dalton’s bookstore, and picked up a book titled, “Peterson’s Guide to Medical Programs.” There were two pages in the entire book on naturopathy, but I flipped to them and thought, “What?! What is this?”, and soon met with a naturopath in Minnesota. After two days with him, I knew that was what I wanted to do.
I began by doing pre-med at a community college at night in Chicago, and finished in one and a half years. Then I applied to school in Portland. After graduating, I started practicing in the Twin Cities at the healing center in Maplewood that was the original Woodwinds. I also worked part-time at a marketing company. Next, I left for two years to go to Grand Forks, ND and ran a clinic there.

What influenced your interest in naturopathic medicine? Was it any person in particular?

Joe Pizzorno, who is a naturopath; the book I mentioned, “Peterson’s Guide to Medical Program”; and also Sidney Baker, who is a MD. I read his books and met him as well; he really worked to change the paradigm in functional medicine. Mostly though, I knew the minute I read the pages in the book that was what I was going to do.

In your opinion, how does naturopathic medicine complement the other types of care Northwestern provides (chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture)?

It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. If you spend some time and let a person really talk to you, they will put all those pieces on the table. When I see people I’m usually doctor number eight, they’ve seen general practitioners, specialists, etc. I usually try to understand the underlying causes of the symptoms, which may be diet, digestive, and so on. My piece is to really look at their lifestyle.
I also think it’s important for everyone to work together. I had a general practitioner friend in college who said, “You do something I don’t do, and I do something you don’t do.” It seems simple, but I really took that to heart. It still has to be the patient that puts it all together, but at my office, I have this community of people I really trust and we can refer our patients to the expert who can help address their particular issue.

Why is personalized health care so important? How does it benefit the patient-doctor relationship?

We can’t treat everybody alike, that takes eight minutes. It’s about meeting people where they’re at, recognizing stress, poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle. People may have the same symptoms or complaints, but it’s not good enough for me to write a generic plan, they need to each be treated differently according to their personality and needs. Patients are usually somewhat invested. Some have a preconceived notion of what I do, some have no idea. I get pretty good compliance, and I can provide the tools but they have to actually follow through.

Your biography states that you are a passionate proponent of integrated health care. What does integrated health care mean, and how does it differ from traditional health care? Why is the integration of health care so important?

Integration to me is about having a good communication network and that’s not easy in a busy office. It’s that relationship between practitioners that’s important. We have to ignore the ego and truly do what’s best for the patients.