Frequently Asked Questions

In order to become a licensed naturopathic physician, one must complete undergraduate premedical course work and then attend a four year accredited naturopathic medical school. Following graduation, there is a three day long series of national accreditation exams that must be passed before a candidate is eligible for license, to practice naturopathic medicine. The successful completion of these exams enables the naturopathic physician to practice primary care medicine in accordance with the licensure laws of their particular state. In order to be fully licensed in a particular state a candidate must sit for, and pass, additional state exams. To maintain a license, continuing education courses must be completed every year.

Yes. In the states that license and regulate naturopaths, we are primary care physicians. Categorically, this is the same designation of licensure as an M.D. However, there is a difference in our scope of practice. An M.D. has what is referred to as an unrestricted license whereas, naturopathic physicians have restricted licenses. What we can do, how we can do it, and what we can prescribe varies widely from state to state. Oregon has one of the widest scopes of practice for Naturopathic Physicians, and upholds the highest academic standard for it’s licensed physicians.

Yes. There are many natural, homeopathic and botanical medicines that can effectively treat acute disorders (colds, flu, ear aches) while avoiding the use of antibiotics and steroids. There are patients who come to the clinic who are generally healthy and only want treatment of an acute problem. We are happy to help them. However, the occurrence of even an acute infection may be a signal of lowered resistance or increased susceptibility to infection. We feel the best way to correct chronic conditions is to feed and strengthen the body as a whole (now often referred to as “working the terrain”) thereby allowing the restoration of proper functioning to each individual.

Yes, we treat children of all ages for a variety of chronic or acute conditions. However, our physicians are not pediatricians, so we do recommend that your child have a primary pediatrician in addition to working with one of our doctors.

Yes. There are a number of doctors ( MD, DC, L.Ac.) that we both refer people to and get referrals from.

Many insurance companies have policies that provide coverage for naturopathic physicians. We generally recommend that you contact your agent to ask specifically about your policy’s coverage since policies within a company may vary.

As a courtesy, we do bill for some insurance companies. Please contact your insurance company to find out if the doctor you would like to see here is in network or out of network for you. Some of our doctors do not accept insurance and require full payment on the day of service.

Unfortunately, Medicare does not recognize naturopathic physicians. Therefore, we do not take Medicare at this time. 

Yes, if arranged ahead of time you may ask that a payment plan be put in place. We will take monthly payments to assist you in paying for standard office visits. Many of our specialty services and our medicinary items must be paid for at the time of service.

The clinic is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. We are closed for lunch from 12:30 until 2:00. A message machine is always on when we are closed or away from our desk. Office visits are by appointment only.

Yes, we maintain a medicinary for our patients. We mostly stock and dispense products that are specially compounded (unavailable in health food stores) or medicines that are available by prescription only. Some of our items may be purchased by non-patients, while others require the care of our physicians.

Usually we can schedule an appointment within two days, depending on the doctor you wish to see. New patient appointments typically take 1.5-2 hours, and may take longer to book. Frequently, for emergencies we can get people in on the same day. For urgent tick bite appointments we will schedule same day when arranged during business hours.

Because so many people are new to naturopathic medicine we offer a free 15 minute consult so that you can meet the doctor, get some general information and decide if you want to work with us. During these free consultations no treatment or diagnosis will be given. These visits are intended as introductory to the clinic only.

Yes. We take Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.