Why Naturopathy?
Tineke Malus, N.D.
I grew up with a sick parent. My mother had a variety of health problems and her doctors treated her by prescribing a wide variety of drugs. No one listened to our questions or concerns, no one investigated why she was having the problems to begin with. I started asking questions that her doctors could not answer. The search for the answers led me to study biology, physiology and the health care system in general. I became convinced that the naturopathic and osteopathic philosophy of medicine was far superior to the allopathic, drug-pushing system that perpetually kept my mother and others like her in a victimized role.
My work in health care began right after high school when I realized that medicine was more than just a job for me — it was a passion and a calling. I began working in the hospital system and taking my undergraduate pre-medical courses. I was on a temporary assignment to the mother-baby unit of the hospital when I met a nurse who was just finishing naturopathic school. She introduced me to an N.D. who soon became the midwife for the birth of my son. Through the process of my son’s birth, my beliefs about medicine transformed even more radically and I began to see the beauty of a holistic system of medicine.
Through my spiritual practices, and my social, political and environmental activism, naturopathic medicine has become a joyful unifying force for my beliefs about healing. The focus of my work is to empower people to heal and bring balance into their own lives
The goals of my medical practice are to:
- Practice medicine in a way that empowers my community.
- Be committed to teaching people simple and sustainable skills to maintain their own best health.
- Approach my patients with knowledge and compassion and teach by example.
- Fastidiously analyze my own practices to perfect my art and present evidence-based clinical care to my patients.
- Seek to teach the public through speaking about scientific findings in lay language that will be useful for people.
