The Day As a Naturopathic Doctor

 From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed, everyone starts and ends his or her days differently. Many people that are not in the real world, may assume that people that have careers have similar ways of starting and ending their days. For me, I would fall into that category because I thought all people who had similar career paths would all have the same daily routines.  When I interviewed a naturopathic doctor, it opened up my eyes to how every person starts and ends his or her day differently.

            Since I plan to become a naturopathic doctor, I thought it would be a good idea to initiate on establishing myself to a naturopathic clinic near my house. For my interviewee, I interviewed Dr. Autumn Drouin who is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and a Holistic Veterinarian. She was originally from Canada where she obtained her degrees in veterinary medicine and naturopathic medicine. She moved to Lafayette because of her four children, whom she is very close to and talk to on a daily basis. As a doctor, I would assume that a ND would not have time to themselves to do certain activities. Dr. Drouin changed my perspective on how NDs start their days.

            Dr. Drouin starts her day by waking up early in the morning and meditates for 15 minutes or longer. After her meditation, she writes in her journal. In her journal, she writes about what is on her mind that is either personal or things that apply to work. She then eats fresh fruit for breakfast and at the same time prepares her lunch and sometimes dinner for the day. When Dr. Drouin is done with eating her breakfast, she said she likes to go on long walks everyday and goes to Tai Chi or dance classes 2-3 times a week. As I was hearing her explain the start of her day, it made me realize that she actually has a lot of time to herself, which surprised me because as a doctor, when do you ever have time to yourself? Dr. Drouin then tells me about the start of her work day, which is around 12:00pm-1:00pm. She initially goes into work about half an hour to an hour early to review the patients she is seeing that day. Dr. Drouin has a pretty nice schedule because she did mention that she takes naps when she is at work. Depending on when she arrives to the office, her work days end at about 6pm-7:00pm. Because Dr. Drouin has been in the industry for so long, she works at the clinic 3 days a week and switches with being at the veterinary clinic.

            Originally, Dr. Drouin started Veterinary studies in 1973 obtaining her pre-vet credits. Her thesis was to apply acupuncture treatments to animals. At that time, that method of alternative medicine was not well-known, so she decided to study naturopathic medicine. I asked Dr. Drouin why she preferred being a ND instead of a MD, and she said “The reason why that I decided to become a licensed ND instead of a MD is because I had an interest of curing people through the power of nature. I feel that the MD only finds ways of manipulating biochemistry.” She also mentioned that when she was growing up, her mother would use household items to help her neighbors feel better. With the reasons why I want to pursue naturopathic medicine as a career is based on the same reasons why Dr. Drouin became a ND. I believe that most of the answers to curing one self is infront of our faces. I want to also help people overcome the challenges of what is wrong with them. 

            Just like all careers in the medical field, there are always successes and challenges that doctors have to face. For Dr. Drouin, she considered challenges as a positive impact to her job, which I would have never thought about it in that way. She believes that the challenges she faces makes her a better ND since it makes her think of each problem as a global thing, meaning there is more than just one answer to everything. Thinking in these perspectives give her patients different options to curing them as a healthy individual.

            Talking to Dr. Drouin has helped me open my eyes to how doctors do not all have the same daily routines. Depending on what field of medicine you study, they are have different ways of starting and ending their days. I always would have thought that all doctors were stressed out and never had time to themselves. Dr. Drouin has proved to me that in order to live the life that you want to live, you have to make time for yourself and you have to be passionate for the career you choose. 

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Autumn Drouin or just learn about naturopathic medicine, you can click on the link below: 

http://taranaturalmedicine.com/