Background and Training (and a little gratuitous commentary)

By Casey Adams

I received my bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL.. Prior to WIU, I attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA for three years with pre-med and chemistry majors. My Ph.D. is in Natural Health Sciences from the University of Natural Medicine, Sante Fe, NM (a non-traditional, institution licensed by the New Mexico Higher Education Department as a Private Postsecondary Institution of Higher Learning, accredited by the American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board, the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and affiliated with several international agencies.) This non-traditional area of study (natural and alternative health) has not been offered at typical state universities, and regional accreditation among natural health institutions is still in its infancy. Although natural health therapies have been passed down from one generation to another through mentorship and direct clinical training for thousands of years, natural health education was forced to the periphery of western institutions due to the control exerted by a single medical association supported by the pharmaceutical industry that rose to power during the 1930s. This lead to the discrediting of natural and holistic medicine over the next half-century. Natural health institutions began to re-emerge to maintain the legacy of natural medicine in the 1980s. One might compare the journey of natural and alternative health eduction to the difficult struggle that osteopathic schools and chiropractic schools undertook in the 1950s and 1960s to gain their legitimacy within the educational system.

The credibility of natural health has continued its slow rise, as medical research increasingly illustrates that the very techniques used by discredited natural physicians like Harvey Kellogg and Jethro Kloss (such as high fiber, plant-based diets, hydrotherapy and other natural techniques) are actually extremely effective therapies for a wide-variety of human ailments. Other natural approaches (such as the application of herbology, acupuncture, nutrition and others) are also increasingly being proven as efficacious in modern clinical research.. It is for these reasons that an increasing number of M.D.s have decided to integrate their practices with these traditional natural health/alternative therapies -- even if they received little or no instructional coursework or supervision/mentorship in the application of natural therapies.

My Ph.D. and post-graduate training required five years of post-graduate coursework; clinical externship with individual practitioners and physicians; and an extensive, defended thesis. My dissertation, “The Healing Power of Nature’s Elements,” (email me to request a copy) was 280 pages long (12 point type times roman, 1.5 line spaced) and 152,220 words, excluding the front and back matter, with over 750 scientific references. In all, I completed over 4100 credit hours of post-graduate coursework and 2500 hours of clinical externship under licensed physicians and certified health professionals. My post-grad coursework included 152 course units with 35 units in practical application (see below for course listing) plus 70 more units of clinical externship. My coursework was taught by over a dozen professors who were either N.D.s, M.D.s, Ph.D.s, nutritionists, R.N.s, and/or certified homeopaths. Most courses also required practical application, research, and all required extensive supervised exams. My 18-month clinical externship included training under 19 practicing and licensed professionals, including 2 N.D.s, 5 M.D.s, 1 D.O., 4 L.Ac.s, an R.N., a CPT, a CMT, an herbalist, a nutritionist, a certified darkfield blood analyst and a certified biofeedback technician within their clinical practices, which included observation and/or participation in over 400 patient visits. My dissertation defense involved a thesis committee composed of two Ph.D.s and one M.D., and an N.D. chairman. The three committee members each grilled and questioned me in detail on the assumptions and accuracy of my thesis for about 10 hours combined over the course of two weeks, following the submission of my thesis, resulting in the award of my Ph.D. Previous to my PhD dissertation, and after nearly four years of significant coursework and practical/clinical training, I received a Doctorate of Sciences in Integrative Health Sciences and Traditional Naturopathy (after an extensive clinical dissertation), and diplomas in Aromatherapy, Bach Flower Remedies, Blood Chemistry, Clinical Nutritional Counseling, Colon Hydrotherapy, and Pain Management. I was board certified as an Alternative Medical Practitioner by the American Alternative Medical Association, and have been a member of the American Naturopathic Medical Association, the American Association of Nutritional Consultants and the American Herbalists Guild.

POST-GRADUATE COURSE WORK COMPLETED
(following the completion of undergraduate-level sciences, math and biology courses). Note that not all, but many of the below courses are not offered at traditional universities or medical schools.
·    Anatomy and Physiology
·    Biochemistry
·    Pathology
·    Physical Examination and Diagnosis
·    Natural Childbirth and Obstetrics
·    Digestive Health
·    Nutrition
·    Practitioner Licensing
·    Homeopathy
·    Naturopathic Therapeutics: Application and Treatments
·    Etiology and Pathology
·    Therapeutic Nutrition
·    Applied Nutrition
·    Nutritional Herbology
·    Acupressure and Kinesiology
·    Medical Massage
·    Manual Lymph Drainage: Application and Treatments
·    Natural Emergency Medical Care
·    Nutritional Counseling and Hair Mineral Analysis
·    Applied Naturopathic Blood Chemistry and Urine Analysis
·    Reams Urine and Saliva Analysis
·    Advanced Therapeutic Body Balancing
·    Aromatherapy
·    The Health Practice and Legal Responsibilities
·    Fasting and Detoxification
·    Colon Hygiene
·    Science and the Art of Herbology
·    Bach Flower Remedies
·    Practical Approaches to Common Mental Disorders
·    The Psychology of Healing
·    Business Development/Administration
·    The Challenges of Long-Term Illness
·    Business Practices and Office Management
·    Practical Field Observation and Research I (Included clinical nutrition and optometry clinical)
·    Practical Field Observation and Research II (Included Ayurvedic mentoring and clinical application)
·    Practical Field Observation and Research III (included additional field herbology course work)
·    Practical Field Observation and Research IV (Included mushroom research and probiotic research)
·    Clinical Externship I (Included 9 health practitioners: D.O., N.D., P.T., C.M.T., R.N., M.D., M.D. M.D., L.Ac.) - exceeded the minimum of 1050 clinical hours
·    Clinical Externship II (Included 11 health practitioners: DDS., M.D., M.D., L.Ac., N.D., M.D., N.D., L.Ac., M.S./Biofeedback, herbalist, C.Blood Anal, and “rounds” at Watsonville Community Hospital) - exceeded the minimum of 1050 clinical hours
·    Naturopathy and D.Sc. Clinical Thesis (260 pages documenting over 400 patient visits)
·    Ph.D. Dissertation (280 pages, 152,220 words, 750+ references)
·    Dissertation Defense: Committee Chair: N.D., Ph.D., Committee composed of one Ph.D., one H.M.D., Ph.D., and one M.D.
 
Licensing
It should be emphasized that I hold no license to practice medicine, or to treat or diagnose illness. I do not participate in the naming of diseases, nor the prescriptive treatment for such named diseases. My focus has been and will be to educate people on the science of being healthy and preventing illness. I therefore practice as a Naturopath in the State of California, as defined in the California BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE SECTIONS 3610-3685 (“The Naturopathic Doctors Act” of 2005). As stated in Article 3513(e): “Naturopathy means a noninvasive system of health practice that employs natural health modalities, substances, and education to promote health.”

My decision to undertake an alternative health education took place well after I set a course for medical school. In my third year of college (after completing my pre-med courses of course) I became disenchanted with the conventional and pharmaceutical approach to health (no disrespect to those who chose that path). At the end of the day, I believe that alternative health and preventive health education offer critical strategies to accomplish the Hippocratic oath, including the all-important tenet of “do no harm.”