Fifth Annual Naturopathic Gathering: Bringing wisdom and knowledge to younger generations

Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine hosted the fifth annual Naturopathic Gathering over the weekend of November 14 – 16. This year’s theme was How to Incorporate More Nature Cure into Practice. A dedicated group of SCNM students worked diligently over the past six months to organize the event and their efforts paid off beyond their wildest dreams.

The Gathering is a coming together with the elders of the Naturopathic profession to impart their wisdom, spirit and heart to the younger generations of students and doctors. The Gathering began as the dream of an SCNM student, Randy Spicer. The dream became reality when another SCNM student, Joe Holcomb, became involved and helped plan the first Gathering which was held at SCNM in 2004. Since then, the Naturopathic Gathering has become an annual event; a forum where students and doctors can come together as a community to explore the heart of Naturopathic medicine and learn from the elders in the profession. Since its inception, the Gathering has been hosted by National College of Naturopathic Medicine and Bastyr University.

The 2008 Gathering set a record with over 240 attendees and a credible lineup of speakers including: Dr. Christine Girard, Dr. Leticia Watrous, Dr. Andre Saine, Dr. Alan Goldhamer, Dr. Jared Zeff, Dr. Steven Bailey, Dr. Ralph Weiss, Dr. Charlie Cropley, and Dr. Deborah Frances. The Gathering began with opening statements by Dr. Christine Girard, SCNM Executive Vice-President of Academic and Clinical Affairs, and proceeded with students and doctors gathering in the back of SCNM to be cleaned by sage smudging and the warm tones of a Tibetan singing bowl. Each attendee then offered up a single word of intention for the weekend, “Love. Hope. Inspiration,” amongst others.
The weekend flowed with each speaker giving his/her own personal thought on what Nature Cure means to them and how to apply it in practice. In some of the more intimate moments of the weekend, speakers recanted their own personal journey of how they came to become Naturopathic physicians. Dr. Leticia Watrous gave the audience a unique view into what it was like growing up as the daughter of the famous Harold Dick, who was once driven into hiding from the police for his successes in treating patients with hydrotherapy. On a more humorous note, the audience was treated to an anecdotal story by Dr. Andre Saine about fear in which he was feverishly running from a ferocious ‘bear’ in the woods, only to realize later that it was actually a porcupine.

Dr. Jim Sensenig was the Master of Ceremonies throughout the Gathering and amused the audience with little vignettes and jokes between speakers.

An essential aspect of the Gathering ceremony is the presentation of the Beacon Award. The Beacon Award is an honor bestowed upon one doctor each year recognized for his or her contribution in helping shepherd the profession through the dark days of Naturopathic medicine. Past Beacon Award recipients include Dr. Robert Broadwell and Dr. Betty Radelet, the first female Naturopathic physician.

The 2008 Beacon Award was presented to Dr. Ralph Weiss who, now in his 90’s, has a keen intellect and continues to see patients. He was a student of Benedict Lust, the “Father of Naturopathy”, and went on to earn many advanced degrees. He has the prestigious legacy of being the developer of the now ubiquitous HbA1C test, a lab test that measures the number of glucose molecules attached to hemoglobin.
The final speaker was Dr. Deborah Frances who drew together the heart and power of Naturopathic medicine through her colorful clinical stories filled with nature spirits and cowboys.

As the Gathering wound to a close, the students and speakers gathered in a circle holding candles and the elders of the group lit the others’ candles in a symbol of passing the passion and spirit of the medicine on to the younger generations. The weekend ended with a bang as attendees blew their candles out and proceeded in a wonderfully bombastic drumming ceremony. After the dust settled there could be no mistaking the glow in everyone’s eyes from the inspiration of the speakers, the camaraderie, and the energy of the 2008 Naturopathic Gathering.