All-natural healing

>> Bureaucratic hurdles make life difficult
for Quebec’s naturopathic doctors

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Paola De Cicco, BSC, ND.

Age: 30

Occupation: Naturopathic doctor

Bio: This dignified and committed Plateau babe first realized she “had an affinity” for doctorin’ as a child, volunteering her time at hospitals and geriatric homes from the age of 11 while at the same time taking over the role of “primary care provider” for her live-in grandmother. “I always knew medicine was something that was going to happen. I was just drawn to it.” Armed with a degree in anatomy and biology from McGill, Paola was preparing to go to med school when she fell ill herself, quickly coming to realize “that the conventional medical system didn’t work for me. I needed to develop a different understanding of disease.” Which she most certainly did, packing up to Toronto to study naturopathic medicine at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine for four years, eventually returning here to open the Paciência Holistic Centre (paciencia.ca, (514) 783-1387) in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, where today she treats everything from Crohn’s to colitis to gonorrhea through a combination of nutritional counseling, botanical/plant medicine, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, reiki and 10 zillion other alternative therapies. She drives a 2007 Honda Fit.

The number of years she spent studying to become a naturopathic doctor: Eight.

The number of years of studying it takes to become a conventional M.D.: Eight.

Do people ever ask her, with all those years of university, why she didn’t choose to become a “real” doctor? “Oh my God, yeah, especially here in Quebec where naturopathic medicine still isn’t regulated, which is a real problem.”

One place where it is regulated: Ontario. “So if I drive 45 minutes from my clinic, I have a full scope of rights. You know, you come out of school with the capacity to be a primary care physician with minor prescription rights, but you can’t do that here. And I think it’s because the College of Physicians and Surgeons has a really strong hold in Quebec in particular. But it’s ridiculous, especially when the health system is so atrocious. I have patients who can’t find someone to give them a PAP test, and they’re sitting in my office. I have the skills to do it, but I’m not allowed, so I have to send them away. And this fantastic system of medicine also complements conventional medicine, you know. It’s certainly not a one-or-the-other thing.”

The approximate number of naturopathic doctors practising in Ontario: 850.

And in Quebec? 12.

How hard it is to call yourself a naturopath in Quebec: Not hard at all. “And that’s the problem. You have hundreds of naturopaths here, but again, only 12 naturopathic doctors, and most people don’t understand the difference. Here you can take a weekend course and get a licence number to call yourself a naturopath and issue insurance receipts.”

Do most patients only come see her after they’ve tried everything but still can’t shake the “you’re gonna be a corpse in six months” prognosis? No. “I see everything from dying leukemia patients to pregnant mothers looking for vaccine education and what to do for a healthy childbirth. I’ll see diseases like cancer, as well as the two-year-old with chronic ear infections.”

Last book read: Three Cups of Tea, by Craig Mortenson.

Musical preferences: Federico Aubele, the Gladiators, White Stripes.

Words of wisdom: “Only when the pain of change is less than the. pain of staying the same do we actually choose to change.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net