August/September 2013 - Inspired Woman Magazine

family practice, meaning we see allages from newborn to elderly. Wesee any type of ailment due to thevery nature of our practice,” she says.“There are always fundamental issuesto address with every concern.”However, the practice of naturopathicmedicine isn’t met withoutsome skepticism, notes Johnson.“I was a skeptic, too, until I startedto understand how the body worksthrough biochemistry and physiology.”The study of naturopathic medicineis a four-year post-graduate program.The first two years of training arevery similar to conventional medicaltraining, with the completion of basicscience boards after the first two yearsof study. “The next two years are verydifferent from conventional medicineas our focus turns to nutrition,counseling, homeopathy, physicalmedicine and herbs,” says Johnson.“We are trained to be primary carephysicians so we do have training inpharmacology and physical exams,but our treatment focus is muchdifferent.”After completing the final two yearsof schooling, the naturopathic medicalstudents then take another set ofboards. Naturopathic doctors weregranted licensure in North Dakotathrough a law passed by the legislaturetwo years ago, and Johnson notes,those in the field will be pursuing additionallegislation to ask for their scopeof practice to be expanded to includeall the treatments they were trained toperform. “Clients come in with theirlist of complaints and we take all complaintsto be clues or red flags for somegreater upset in the person’s physiology,”she says. “A lot of the time,causes are things that can’t be seenor they require specialized testing todiscover.”“Your body is intelligent, it does notcause you discomfort unless somethingis wrong,” says adds. “It is my jobto pay close attention to the clues surroundingany complaint and get to thebottom of why it was caused in the firstplace.”Dakota Natural Health Center, adivision of Dakota Pharmacy, offers avariety of services ranging from diabeteseducation, Reiki, and Healing Touchto ear candling, foot baths and biofeedback.In addition, the facility offersvarious screenings including bloodpressure, blood sugar, body composition,cholesterol, and osteoporosis heeltesting as well as injection services forflu shots, hormone shots, vaccines andvitamin shots. The facility also includesRummel Chiropractic, Dakota PainManagement and DermaCare.For additional information call 701-258-9418 or visit www.dakotarx.com.Kylie Blanchard is a localwriter.AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013 ■ INSPIRED WOMAN 21