FAQ

What is a naturopathic doctor?

A Naturopathic Doctor (N.D.) is someone who believes that the body has an innate ability to heal itself. We are trained as primary care physicians with an emphasis on preventative medicine and actually restoring peoples health, not just covering up symptoms. Our role is to support the bodies inner wisdom using safe, gentle, and effective methods such as nutrition, homeopathy, herbal medicine, counseling, and hydrotherapy. What distinguishes N.D.’s from other ‘alternatives’ is using the above methods according to the following principles:

• First do no harm
• The healing power of nature
• Identify and treat the cause
• Treat the whole person
• Doctor as teacher
• Prevention is the best cure

What is your training?

N.D.s attends a four or five year graduate level naturopathic medical program and are educated in the same basic sciences as in a conventional medical school with an emphasis on preventative medicine and restoring health. Naturopathic students also learn physical and clinical diagnosis, physical exams, venipuncture, minor surgery, acupuncture, nutrition, homeopathy, herbal medicine, mind-body counseling, physical medicine and obstetrics. After passing 2 sets of national board exams, N.D.s are able to be licensed. In licensed states, N.D.s are primary care physicians that are trained to diagnose disease utilizing patient history, physical exam and lab diagnosis.

What can I expect during our first visit?

You can expect to be listened to and respected. You will be treated as an individual person, not by your disease. While we will spend time talking about your current complaints in detail, we will also spend time talking about you as a whole: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. In Naturopathic Medicine, the person with the disease—not the disease itself—is the focus of the treatment.

Your initial visit will last approximately 2.5 hours because of the detailed information that we collect. Naturopaths recognize that physical, mental and emotional symptoms are an expression of the body's protective mechanism. N.D.s use that information to make the treatment tailored to you.

Do you accept insurance?

Maryland does not currently license Naturopathic Doctors as primary care physicians, so insurance coverage is unavailable in most cases. Dr. Golshani is licensed in the state of Vermont as a primary care physician. Ask Dr. Golshani how you can help the licensure effort of N.D.s in Maryland.