At a time when modern medicine is suffering from an epidemic of technological over-load, over-specialization and over-use of drug therapy, NDs are being increasingly called upon to provide natural health care.

A Naturopathic Doctor has completed a postgraduate medical education specializing in primary care natural medicine. Naturopathic Doctors are distinct from acupuncturists, chiropractors, osteopaths, and medical doctors. They are uniquely trained to provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to assist your body’s innate healing processes. In addition to providing recommendations on lifestyle, diet, and exercise, NDs may use a variety of natural therapeutics including clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine & acupuncture, hydrotherapy, therapeutic manipulation, and counseling.

The goal of the Naturopathic Doctor is to eliminate the obstacles to healing and to provide the tools for patients to take responsibility for their health. To achieve this goal, the ND strives to understand you, the patient, by taking a comprehensive health history, thoroughly researching any physical, mental, emotional or spiritual factors that may be preventing you from achieving optimum health. In addition, the information from a physical exam and laboratory tests assist in making an assessment and diagnosis. This patient-centred approach results in the creation of a comprehensive and individualized treatment plan that is custom-tailored to your unique health condition. This approach offers patients the opportunity to learn about and incorporate healthy lifestyles and thereby maintain resiliency and wellness for life. Naturopathic doctors cooperate with all other branches within the medical field, referring patients to other practitioners for diagnosis or treatment when appropriate.

Both conventional Medical Doctors (MDs) and Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) provide primary health care and both are similarly trained as doctors. The main differences between naturopathic and conventional medicine are the philosophical approach and the therapies used. Naturopathic doctors treat patients as individuals by addressing the physical, environmental, lifestyle, attitudinal, and emotional aspects of health. This allows Naturopathic Doctors to find and treat the root cause of the disease using natural, non-invasive therapies and therefore restoring health for the long term. Conventional allopathic doctors generally address and treat the symptoms of disease and use pharmaceutical therapies or surgery.

• Patients that are looking for disease prevention and health promotion strategies.
• Patients that have symptoms that they have been unable to address on their own or with the help of other medical practitioners.
• Patients that have been diagnosed with an illness, whether it is serious or chronic, and are looking for alternative treatments.
• Patients that are looking to combine conventional and naturopathic treatments in order to minimize the side effects of drugs, surgery, chemotherapy or other conventional treatments.

Everyone! Naturopathic Medicine is effective and safe for virtually all illnesses and disease states and is used in the treatment of acute and chronic conditions as well as for preventative wellness. This is because Naturopathic Medicine works with each person’s own unique ability for healing; it focuses on the belief that within each person resides the inherent knowledge of how to live balanced and be well. It is the Naturopathic Doctor’s goal to strengthen that inherent healing power, enabling the body itself to bring about true healing.

After completing a minimum of 3 years of premedical studies at a university, a licensed naturopathic doctor (ND) attends a four-year graduate level medical school and is educated in all the same biomedical and clinical sciences as an MD. The first two years of education include over 4200 hours of study focusing on anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, biochemistry, immunology and other basic medical sciences, as well as an in-depth study of naturopathic philosophy, the healing response and the mind-body connection. In the last two years of their medical training, NDs study the major organ systems, physical and clinical diagnosis, differential diagnosis, minor surgery and diagnostic imaging as well as the 6 major naturopathic disciplines including Traditional Chinese Medicine, lifestyle counseling, clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, hydrotherapy and other physical therapeutic modalities. Two years and 1500 hours of supervised outpatient clinical training prepare the ND to provide safe and effective true healthcare.

Upon graduation from an accredited naturopathic medical school, NDs sit for the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examination (NPLEX) as well as the Provincial Board examinations. These are standardized examinations that determine professional competency. After passing these rigorous five-day exams, NDs qualify for provincial licensure. Finally, continuing medical education credits are a requirement to maintain licensure for naturopathic physicians

At The Lakeside Clinic the first visit with Dr. Yarish is 1 to 1.5 hours and consists of a thorough health and medical history, physical screening exam and laboratory assessment. He discusses your general health concerns and goes through each body system to screen for past and present imbalances with the aim of addressing all the contributing factors to health. In this visit he determines if there is a need for further diagnostic or assessment procedures including any lab work. We ask you to bring any previous lab or diagnostic results from the past year. To assist in making an accurate diagnosis of your concern(s), Dr. Yarish may choose from an array of laboratory tests, ranging from conventional blood and urine tests, to more progressive, functionally-oriented tests. Dr. Yarish discusses your goals, options for treatments, and decides with you what the focus of treatment will be.

Second Visit: 30 minutes to 1 hour
This visit is usually 1 to 2 weeks after the first visit and includes any additional physical examinations required and a review of lab or diagnostic testing. In this visit we also discuss progress from the initial visit, and any questions or concerns that may come up. We usually begin implementing a more detailed treatment plan in this visit.

Follow up visits: 1/2 hour or 1 hour
The frequency and duration of follow up visits varies according to your specific treatment plan. Half hour follow ups are mainly to monitor progress, add or modify treatment plans or simple acupuncture treatments. Patients may choose to follow up once a month or every few months once they are feeling stable, healthy and happy. We recommend patients follow up at least once a year to maintain optimum health

In Ontario, naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, registered massage therapy, colon hydrotherapy and reiki services are not covered by OHIP. However, with the growing demand for these services insurance companies, through extended health riders, are reimbursing patients for visits to these health care professionals. Whether or not your insurance company will cover any or all of your visit largely depends on the type of coverage you have. Contact your insurance company to find out what your policy covers. The Lakeside Clinic is happy to offer direct billing with the following insurance companies:

• Great West Life
• Sunlife Financial
• Manulife Financial
• Desjardins Insurance
• Cowan Insurance Group
• Express Scripts
• Chamber of Commerce
• Industrial Alliance
• Johnson
• Johnston Group
• Maximum Benefit

There are certain drug-nutrient and drug-herbal interactions that need to be taken into consideration when devising an individual treatment plan. Certain herbs and nutrients can have adverse effects when combined with prescription drugs. Dr. Yarish is aware of the interactions and will avoid all possible combinations. However, it is essential that you provide your doctor with a list of all current medications as well as any allergies.