Naturopaths: General Practitioners Who Treat the Whole Person

The old saying “jack of all trades, master of none” rings hollow when applied to the family doctor.  During these days of increasing specialization, the “general practitioner” seems to be a dying breed. A recent New York Times article laments the fast disappearing breed known as family doctors, pointing out that with increased specialization comes increased opportunity for financial success.  Gone are the days when a person would stick with one doctor from crib to rocking chair.  And this is truly unfortunate.  Family practitioners, which all board-certified naturopaths are trained as, provide a unique, humane, and very effective healing influence.  By understanding and treating a wide variety of ailments, as well as viewing the body more as a whole rather than as separate parts, general practitioners often catch things that specialists, trained in a very narrow range of illnesses, may miss.  Specialists are certainly valued for their expertise and are an important part of medicine at large, however, it seems in these days of hyper-specialization, the roots of the family doctor are being forgotten.  But thankfully, naturopathic doctors are well-trained as general practitioners and take special interest in treating the whole person.  Our goal is to not only focus on symptoms and treat their underlying cause(s) with the most effective and gentle means possible, but to always be sure to understand the bigger picture. 

Dr. Shana McQueen