The First Visit

During your first visit, your naturopathic physician will take an extensive history of your medical health including nutrition, lifestyle, and current vitamin, supplement and medication use. This is an opportunity for us to get to know you from a holistic perspective so that we can appropriately recommend the right treatment for you as an individual. 

We will also conduct a full physical examination on your first visit. Medical records may be requested from your other health care providers and laboratory tests or other diagnostic procedures may be ordered, as pertinent to your health condition. Depending on your specific concerns, recommendations for treatment may be made on your first visit.

Your first visit is scheduled for 60 minutes.

Follow-up Visit

Follow-up visits vary depending on your specific condition and health concerns. Your naturopathic physician will take a thorough history of your current concerns, follow-up on any past concerns and treatment, do a physical examination and provide treatment as appropriate. Treatment is tailored to each individual patient.  

Routine follow-up visits are scheduled for 30-60 minutes dependent on specific concerns.      

Naturopathic Therapies

Naturopathic physicians are trained in a variety of therapies. Your specific treatment plan will be individually tailored to you, taking into account all aspects of your current health.

This may include advice and recommendations in any of the following areas:

• Nutrition/Diet
• Lifestyle
• Counseling
• Vitamin/Mineral Supplementation
• Homeopathy
• Botanical Medicine
• Physical Medicine
• Pharmaceutical Medicine
• In-office Minor Surgery
• Referral to a Specialist

Naturopathic physicians are guided by a common philosophy based on the principles of naturopathic medicine. We listen to and spend time with our patients in order to gain an understanding of how your symptoms are affecting you – physically, mentally and emotionally. From this comprehensive picture, we are better able to understand and address the root cause of your health concerns.

Naturopathic physicians are trained in conventional methods of diagnosis and treatment as well as clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, counseling and physical medicine. With this vast diversity of training, we can choose an appropriate treatment for you as an individual patient based on your specific concerns.

Coursework

The naturopathic medical curriculum is completed over four to five years. The first two years are focused on the basic sciences including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology and physical & laboratory diagnosis. The basic science coursework is very similar to the first two years of an allopathic (MD) medical school. The last two years are focused on the clinical sciences, both in coursework and in clinical experience. In addition to training in the basic and clinical sciences of medicine, naturopathic students learn about naturopathic philosophy and the naturopathic modalities of clinical nutrition, homeopathy, botanical medicine, counseling, physical medicine and minor surgery.

Clinical Experience  

Clinical experience in naturopathic medicine is completed during the last two years of naturopathic medical school, through student interning and preceptorships. Students gain hands-on clinical experience at both the naturopathic college teaching clinic as well as at external clinics, working under the supervision of many different health care providers. In total, naturopathic students complete a minimum of 1100 hours during their clinical education.

In addition to standard naturopathic clinical training, both Dr. Roberts and Dr. Robens have over 2000 hours of extensive pregnancy and newborn clinical experience. This clinical experience have prepared our doctors with significant emergency medical training due to complications that sometimes arise during pregnancy and birth.

Licensure

To become licensed as a naturopathic physician (ND) in the State of Washington, the applicant must graduate from a four-year graduate program at an accredited college of naturopathic medicine and successfully pass the state examining boards (NPLEX). The state examining boards include tests in the basic sciences, diagnostic sciences and clinical sciences.