What to Expect on Your First Visit with a Naturopathic Doctor

Congratulations, you’ve decided to take the first big step towards holistic healing!

Once you’ve made the decision to work with a naturopathic and functional medicine doctor at EmpowerMed Clinic, it’s time to prepare for your first visit. Visiting a naturopathic doctor is a new experience for many, and there are some key differences to be aware of that differentiate our clinic from a conventional medicine clinic.

Amount of Time Spent

On average, you can expect to spend about 15-30 minutes with a conventional or insurance-based doctor on your first visit. At EmpowerMed in San Diego, your first visit will last 60 minutes. Spending this amount of time with your doctor is unusual in the modern medical model, but we strongly feel that this is the amount of time necessary to begin developing a strong relationship with our patients. Roughly 30 minutes of that time will be dedicated to diving deep into the concerns that brought you into the office, followed by a brief review of your family and medical history, and then a physical exam.

Root Cause - Based Approach

In naturopathic and functional medicine, we believe that the source of your health concerns can be traced back. We call this concept “finding the root cause”. Determining the root cause can be a tricky process and requires some digging. This is why taking a thorough personal and family medical history is so critical at EmpowerMed. Through our intake we are able to assess what familial, genetic, hormonal, inflammatory, toxic, environmental or mental/emotional patterns may be at play. These events will be considered in the context of your current diagnoses, symptoms and concerns. Your doctor will use this information to create a health timeline of events. By creating a timeline, we are able to see more clearly where health triggers arose in the past, and these triggers to a clearer indication of potential root causes.

Attention to Detail

When a thorough history isn’t enough to make a complete diagnosis, you doctor will likely recommend additional testing to ensure the correct diagnosis and treatment plan. Bloodwork, saliva, urine and stool are all commonly tested to create a complete picture of the factors affecting your health. These details regarding your hormones, nutrients, neurotransmitters, and gut function are all important pieces of a holistic picture.

Action Plan

Once we have a holistic picture of your personal, family and environmental history and have completed testing to fill in any gaps, it’s time to create your individualized action plan. At EmpowerMed, we believe that action plans should be clear, concise and efficacious. That’s why each plan is presented in a chart divided up into several categories: maintenance and therapeutic treatments. Your maintenance plan will likely consist of recommendations including nutrition, lifestyle, and nutraceutical supplementation to maintain your overall health and longevity. We typically do not make any changes to the maintenance plan aside from every 6 to 12 months. Your therapeutic plans will be much more specific. Therapeutic plans are typically based off of lab testing, and in the therapeutic plan we have a very clear goal. Each therapeutic plan is designed to treat one thing with specific supplements, medications or diet for a specific amount of time. If multiple therapeutic plans are recommended, your doctor will generally phase these plans in and out so as not to overwhelm you. Your individual action plan will be a living document that your doctor may update as the months progress.

Next Steps

If you are ready to get to the root cause of your health concerns, reach out to the EmpowerMed team of naturopathic doctors today for a complimentary 15 minute consultation. We take a collaborative approach to natural medicine, partnering with patients to help them achieve their unique health and wellness goals.

Contact us today at 760-456-7501 or use our booking link to schedule. We offer a complimentary 15 minute consultation for every new patient.

EmpowerMed Clinic is located just off the I-15 and Carroll Canyon within the Fitness Quest 10 Wellness Center of Scripps Ranch, San Diego County, CA. We serve the communities of North County San Diego, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch, Mira Mesa, Ramona, Scripps Ranch, Santee, and more.

Written by Dr. Carleigh Golightly