Hi. Thank you for looking at my website. I'd like to introduce myself. I am Dr. Wayne Steinke B.Sc., N.D. and I am one of the longest practicing naturopathic doctors in the Edmonton area. I established my clinic, Select Health Centre in 1996. I appreciate you taking the time to look at my website, so thank you in advance. Unlike M.D.'s, Naturopathic Doctors tend to have more individualized treatments and practice habits. So while their education is standardized much like a medical doctors, a naturopathic doctors practice may reflect much of their clinical and life experience. I truly do prefer an individualized health based approach to each persons integral whole (physiological, structural, psychological, social, spiritual, environmental and lifestyle) which helps to determine a direction in which an individual may find a higher degree of health. I tend to practice in a holistic manner most of the time tend to explore mental and emotional links to health or the lack there of.
Naturopathy has a long tradition in Alberta and has evolved with science and technology, just as your medical doctor and government paid health care system have evolved. Common questions by the public at large often include asking what the difference is between a naturopathic doctor and a medical doctor? Naturopathic doctors on average have 8 years of post secondary education, including an undergraduate degree from a "regular" mainstream university. Naturopathic doctors still learn all of the traditional medical sciences that a medical doctor trains in, such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, lab diagnosis, differential diagnosis, pathology, and radiology. However, naturopathic medicine also includes training in alternative medicine and complimentary medicine, with subjects such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, nutrition, hyrodotherapy, naturopathic bodywork, nutritional IV therapies, injection therapies, and the use of ozone and hydrogen peroxide. Where medical doctors focus on making a diagnosis and then follow a pre-approved scedule of therapeutic agents, naturopathic doctors tend to work toward a diagnosis, but also look functionally at the context in which the person in front of them are presenting.