VERNON – Paradigm Naturopathic Medicine and Yoga Studio is sitting on the cutting edge of modern integrative health care.
Now in their fourth year, Paradigm is at the forefront of scientific healthcare innovation, collaborating with research organizations from around the world.
In addition to their emphasis on personalized medicine, Paradigm is heavily involved in clinical trials and testing. They recently created a clinical trial centre where they exchange scientific data with researchers from all over the world.
“We’re doing a lot of work with Crohn’s disease and medical cannabis research right now,” says Owner/Operator Dr. Chris Spooner. “We’re collaborating with several research groups including groups affiliated with UBC, the University of Lethbridge, and Universidad CES in Colombia. We are have just submitted for ethic approval for a Crohn’s disease trial with Qu Biologics and will be recruiting patients until august. Future trials will involve work with researchers at the University of Lethbridge focussed on personalized medicine and medical cannabis utilizing cutting edge DNA and metabolic testing and artificial intelligence and deep machine learning algorithms”
Spooner completed his B.Sc. in Biology at the University of Victoria and Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto.
He then moved to Phoenix, AZ to complete his post-doctorate in Environmental medicine.
Dr. Spooner and his wife, Melissa, moved back to Canada in 2006 to work in their respective disciplines.
“Melissa and I are Canadian, and were born and bred on the coast,” says Spooner. “We have family history in Vernon and Armstrong, which is why we decided to move back here.”
After working for several years in various clinics, the Spooners launched Paradigm in 2014.
“The practice is oriented around integrative health care with a multi-disciplinary approach,” says Spooner. “We wanted to build a strong team that is focussed on patient centred care. This underlies everything that we do.”
The team at Paradigm includes two naturopathic physicians (Dr. Spooner and Dr. Kristen Read), two registered massage therapists (Kelsey Switzer and Richard Hoglund), a physiotherapist (Brittany Erdman), a nutritionist (Melissa Spooner), in IV nurse (Evelyn Vehlow), a clinical trial co-ordinator (Cathy Bilton) and four yoga instructors (Melissa Spooner, Matt McDowell, Kate Tooke and Jessica Dean) and patient care co-ordinators Sherry Klem, Cindy Elliott and Rhonda Giesbrecht.
“Right now, the health care system is under extreme pressure. Access to a health professional is difficult, and there’s not a lot of time to explore different options or get a complete picture of what’s involved,” says Spooner. “We sit down with our patients and have a conversation, helping them to understand the broad range of therapies and to be more proactive with medical interventions.”
Paradigm Naturopathic is dedicated to both a personalized approach to medicine and rigorous scientific innovation.
“Naturopathic medicine isn’t what most people think it is,” says Spooner. “What we’re trying to do involves integrating complementary and traditional medicine and and proactive health care with the advanced aspects of western medicine.
“We have an evidence-informed approach, and we want to be leaders in demonstrating the scientific merit of these methods.”
www.paradigmnaturopathic.com