UPFRONT | Spotlight Spotlight on our contributors You read their content, now get to know them a little better… DR. WHITNEY BAXTER, ND feel so much better.” Or, “I’m starting to love my body and really listen to it.” People just kind of start to tune in. And they’re doing all the hard work. I’m just listening to them and help-ing guide them to feeling their best. British Columbia. I am a professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Boucher campus. I’m also a PhD student. (Catch her next article in the March-April edition!) Who are you? Dr. Whitney Baxter, naturo-pathic doctor, practising in Victoria, B.C., but I see people all over British Columbia. What sets you apart in your profession? I used to be an exercise therapist in cardiac rehab. I noticed that people really need to be heard when it comes to their health. And I wanted to provide more of a platform for people to share their stories so I could look into their whole health history and help their life-style instead of just the exer-cise piece. Where do you see the pro-fession in 10 years? I would love it for it to be more inte-grated – it’s getting there for sure. But I would love to work with more MDs, just to have more of a referral base. We can help each other out in so many ways. We’re already getting there: Chiro-practors, counsellors, mas-sage therapists, acupunctur-ists...are all working together really well. We’re starting to see more medical doctors join those integrative clinics. When do you feel the most accomplished in your pro-fession? When people come back to me and say, “For the first time in a long time, I www.Cndoctor.ca How do you engage with your patients? I love to laugh. I like to get to know people and who they are as a human. I think a lot of naturopathic doctors are like that because we have so much more time with our patients. I’m pretty goofy so that side comes out, but I’m also a really curious person. I like to figure out what’s going on with my patients so we can find the root cause and just start to work from that space, we can find sus-tainable healing. Why contribute to Chiro-practic + Naturopathic Doc-tor? It’s a lot of our profes-sions coming together and learning from each other. And I think that is just the best. And I love writing. I love sharing what I know and I love reading what oth-er people are learning. What sets you apart in your profession? My clinical in-terest is in dementia, and specifically Alzheimer’s dis-ease, or Alzheimer’s demen-tia. Not many of us have this kind of focus. And I’m very intrigued by how the brain works with the body – how they connect. Where do you see the pro-fession in 10 years? I see the profession growing and flourishing. As naturopathic physicians, we have this unique position to be work-ing with patients in their health. One of our naturo-pathic principles is preven-tion. I see that more of us are going to start getting recog-nized for our effort – about really wanting to find ways to build health rather than treat disease. When do you feel most ac-complished? When a patient comes in and says that what-ever we’re doing has changed their life. I recently received an email from a patient I treated in 2018/2019. Even though we helped her with her digestive issues over two years ago, she still felt the need to update me, saying I wasn’t just a physician to her, but one that saved her life. It pleases me to know that I’m making a difference. Why contribute to Chiroprac-tic + Naturopathic Doctor? There is seemingly a gap in what I understand what chi-ropractic is, and what chiro-practors understand what naturopathy is. While I con-tinue to learn more about chiropractic through my practice, I continue to learn more through the magazine. Writing is an amazing oppor-tunity to share knowledge and collaborative opportunities. I love to share, I love to teach, and I love to be the storyteller. How do you engage with your patients? I believe the under-lying factor that brings about the most success is to be able to teach my patients what’s going on. I’m not here just to tell the patient what to do. Of course, they’re here for my guidance. But I feel that pa-tients walk out my doors un-derstanding more about themselves rather than being more confused and having more questions regarding their condition. I can sit with confidence, knowing that there will be no question un-answered. DR. ANTHONY J. LOMBARDI, DC DR. ROMI FUNG, ND (Check out the March-April edition for Dr. Fung’s next article on pain) Who are you? Dr. Romi Fung. I’m a practicing naturopathic physician in Richmond, (Turn to page 10 to read Dr. Lombardi’s column. He’s written for the magazine for over a decade!) Who are you? Dr. Anthony Lom-bardi, a chiro-practor and acu-puncturist in Hamilton, Ontario. January/February 2022 Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor 5
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