This year, we proudly honor the incredible legacy and profound contributions of Dr. Steve Sandberg-Lewis as our Living Legend. Dr. Sandberg-Lewis is being recognized for his extraordinary impact on the profession—as a physician, professor, clinical supervisor, international lecturer, and author. He is also a founding board member of the Gastroenterology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (GastroANP). His depth of knowledge and unwavering commitment to training the next generation of NDs in naturopathic gastroenterology are truly unmatched.

Joining him in the spotlight are two exceptional doctors shaping the future of our field: our Rising Stars, Dr. Meaghan Culver-Cook and Dr. Rebecca Principe. Dr. Culver-Cook is helping to move the profession forward through her generous volunteer service and leadership, all while managing multiple interns and hosting preceptors. Dr. Principe has shown tireless dedication in advancing our legislative goals, playing a key role in working toward achieving pay parity for NDs in Oregon. We are deeply inspired by her passion for advocacy and volunteerism.

We are offering two organizations the exclusive opportunity to be at the center of it all as the presenting sponsors.

A Sponsorship That Aligns Your Brand with Excellence

This is more than a sponsorship; it is a powerful statement of your organization's commitment to the values of leadership and innovation. For an investment of $5,000, the Living Legend & Rising Star Reception Sponsors will receive a package designed for maximum impact and visibility:

• Command the Spotlight: Take the stage for an exclusive 15-minute presentation to share your message with a captive audience of naturopathic leaders.
• Direct Brand Engagement: Place your promotional materials directly on event tables, ensuring your brand is in the hands of every distinguished guest.
• Conference-Wide Recognition: Receive prominent acknowledgment as a premier sponsor throughout the annual conference, maximizing your visibility far beyond the reception itself.
• Host Your VIPs: Receive an exclusive invitation to bring up to 10 guests, providing the perfect opportunity to host key clients and partners at this prestigious event.
• Build Lasting Connections: Gain exclusive access to the complete contact list of all reception participants, empowering you to foster meaningful relationships long after the celebration concludes.

To secure this highly visible sponsorship, please visit the 2025 Annual Conference - Exhibitor Registration  or contact Membership and Development Coordinator, Jennifer Horton, at development@oanp.org.

This year, Dr. Satya Ambrose will be moderating and delivering the opening live session on "Approaches to Therapeutic Order." Dr. Ambrose's wisdom and leadership in the field are sure to provide valuable insights that will deepen your understanding and enhance your practice. There will be three live presentations on Saturday and the remaining CE hours will be distributed via email as on-demand lectures within a week after the live portion. Check out the full speaker lineup and view LIVE schedule to learn more.

Register today and join us for this exciting opportunity to connect with fellow practitioners, share experiences, and elevate your practice. Remember, becoming a member instantly saves you over $100 on your Spring Seminar ticket! Plus, you can enjoy additional savings on OANP CE throughout the year.

Already registered? Event details will be emailed very soon! 

Whether you’re a member or not, everyone has access to OANP’s Video Library. Here, you can select from a list of on-demand presentations with content focused on business management and professional development. The most recent addition to our catalog comes from MSTL’s Credentialing Manager, Julia Puckett: Medical Provider Credentialing Seminar for Naturopathic Doctors and Acupuncturists. Gain a step-by-step understanding of the credentialing process and how engaging in this practice boosts reimbursement rates, expands patient access, ensures compliance, and strengthens financial stability so you can grow your practice and serve more patients. Free for members and $20 for non members.

And finally, every reader will find the Oregon Physician Resources available to them in our Practice Management hub. Discover a compilation of external organizations that provide additional tools to support your Oregon practice.

Whether you're planning the professional steps you’ll take after graduating, a veteran ND looking to rebrand, or wanting to update your knowledge on effective and efficient naturopathic business management strategies, OANP has curated a collection of resources and content to support you and your practice.

Your Membership and Professional Development Committee works to provide the resources you request in the annual survey. If there is a resource you know of and would like to share with the naturopathic community, please submit your suggestion. Keep coming back to the Practice Management Resource for new material and potential CE.

Drs. Mitchell and Lori Stargrove have been members with OANP for nearly twenty years, and in that time, we have seen them bring other NDs into the fold, guide, educate, and support the natural healing community, and celebrate the triumphs of those contributing to the foundation and legitimacy of naturopathic medicines and care. 

Dr. Mitch, as he’s better known, is a student of medical history and anthropology, group process, systems biology, self-organizing systems, archetypal psychology, mythology, alchemy, shamanism, comparative religion, history of medicine, European folk medicine traditions, cultural history, evolution of consciousness, qigong, yoga, music and antiquarian books. A fantastic resource showcasing his amalgamation of independent study can be found at “Nature’s Medicine Through Time ”. He is also currently teaching Philosophy and History at the University of Western States.

Dr. Lori Stargrove approaches her work as a mother, wife, teacher, and a student of life. She  heartily believes that it “takes a village [to raise a child]”. In our village, she is a community advocate, a medical practitioner, and a fierce networker. As a licensed physician, Dr. Lori believes her role is to facilitate the healing that can come from within, by way of self-discovery and healthy choices. “I facilitate people in growth, life, and health by employing in my practice: pattern recognition, homeopathy, botanical medicine, food therapies, and council.” ~ Dr. Lori Stargrove.

The Stargroves raised their family in this collaborative healing community and as they have proudly and humbly introduced us to their third generation of Stargroves, so too have they launched their curated selection of health-promoting offerings, known as VitalGoods.

“They’re an amazing family. The clinic feels like family. They have a continual patient base and are well-respected in the community. It’s been an amazing experience to be with them.”  ~ Marilyn, Patient and Insurance Billing Manager ( who has worn many other hats in her 30 years working with the Stargroves ). 

Photo Credit:  Vital Goods’ website

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0517/4820/8837/files/M_L.jpg?v=1714593135

Please contact Audra Bates, membership@oanp.org to get your discounted membership started!

Check out our member benefits! https://www.oanp.org/page/PublicBenefitsInfo                      

The 8th Annual Naturopathic Medicine Week in the U.S. is October 4-10, 2020! Naturopathic physicians across America will be providing information to their patients and the community about the value of naturopathic medicine, healthy lifestyle choices, and disease prevention. If you don’t have anything planned, this week is a great opportunity to promote and showcase what you do!

In past years the naturopathic community has organized events that include health fairs, open houses, wine tastings, and fun runs. However, in a time of social distancing due to COVID-19, this year’s activities have turned to virtual platforms and social media outreach. 

Do you need ideas for what you can do for Naturopathic Medicine Week this year? Check out our list below! Don’t forget to get creative and put your own spin on these ideas. Whatever you do, you'll be helping to inform and expand your patient base, increase visibility, and, ultimately, improve education about the value of naturopathic medicine in our health care system!

Naturopathic Medicine Week Ideas
• Write a blog post about naturopathic medicine
• Write a newspaper or magazine article about naturopathic medicine
• Promote naturopathic medicine on social media
• Interview a prominent physician or seek out an interview yourself
• Give a virtual informative talk or lecture
• Host a virtual open house or health fair
• Hold a contest or raffle online
• Host a virtual cocktail/mocktail party
• Give out t-shirts or promotional items

NUNM has been awarded $350,000 in Scholars for a Health Oregon -- Naturopathic Physician Opportunities (SHONPO) funds for the 2020-2022 biennium. These funds will be used to cover up to $35,000 in tuition for required ND courses for selected students who plan to practice in Oregon's medically underserved areas.

If students have additional questions after reviewing the website, please contact Tafflyn Williams-Thomas at twilliamsthomas@nunm.edu. Applications are due June 19, 2020.

I am proud to share that your OANP team continues to work daily for you during this time. Our staff communicates frequently from their home offices, and our executive director, Beth Martin, will continue to send updates to our members. 

Changeable as it may be, we feel excited and prepared for the rest of 2020! Our annual conference will be held virtually November 7-8th to make sure our members have access to their CE credits. The topic this year dives into naturopathic perspectives on infectious disease and immunology. Meanwhile, the association will continue to host MedTalk continuing education webinars with up-to-date, relevant topics. 

The Mentorship Program we launched earlier this year is going strong thanks to the dedication of our mentors and the excitement of mentees. As this program matures, there will be room for more new graduates and mentors to join in upcoming years. We will update members on the 2021 program later this year.

Even though we are not in session, your legislative committee has been busy! The OANP is actively involved in advocating for fair reimbursement by insurance companies for telemedicine visits. We are working for you to make sure they follow state requirements and contacting these insurers directly. If you have any questions or information regarding insurance or state requirements, please email beth@oanp.org.

It is an honor to represent you during this crisis and beyond, and know that I am here for each and every one of you. I am grateful for this community and for the support and love that you are showing each other.

With gratitude,

Dr. Kaley Bourgeois | OANP President

 
Creation of Legislative Key Contacts Task Force

As part of our legislative strategic plan, we have created a group of NDs that are representing in all 90 legislative districts. This group of people have agreed to meet with their legislators a few times a year to help educate them on naturopathic medicine and our legislative issues, as well as helping during the legislative sessions. Our goal is to continue to engage, and build relationships to help our legislative efforts now and in the future. If you are interested in getting involved, please email beth@oanp.org.

New Partnerships

The OANP has worked with Professional Formulas to help create the upcoming Mentorship Program. They are supporting our community by assisting with the creation and implementation of the program. We are also working hard to create better relationships with all of the healthcare associations in the state so that we can better support each other’s efforts. We will go into more detail on this in a few minutes.

Medicare 

We also have some good news when it comes to Medicare. Medicare/Regence Advantage Plans and United Health will now be covering Oregon NDs as supplemental providers!

Membership Numbers

We’ve worked hard on increasing our numbers as part of our overall strategic plan, and I’m please to say that we have 398 members, up from 366 in 2017. We also have 142 student members, up from 124 in 2017, for a grand total of 531 active OANP members! We also added a new membership type, to make sure that we were supporting NDs that are in residency programs, and those that qualify receive a discounted membership dues amount of only $50 for the duration of their residency!

Legislative Progress

In 2019, OANP's legislative goal was to have health insurance pay parity mandated for NDs. We had a good head of steam in the 2019 session, passing unanimously from the senate healthcare committee, but unfortunately we were stymied by the bigger legislative issues happening concurrently, and 2 republican walkouts. Nonetheless, we made good progress, and will be starting from an advanced position when we take the issue up again in 2021.

While insurance pay parity will remain our number 1 legislative priority until it is accomplished, there are other legislation related topics we have also been working on with less fanfare.

1. ND ability to clear student athletes to return to play after a concussion. 

• Law was passed in a previous session and has been waiting on a training program from OHSU to be rolled out for implementation.
• We are expecting that training program to be available for NDs by the new year.

2.  Working on buprenorphine issue around ND prescribing. Buprenorphine is an opioid class drug those of us with DEA licenses are allowed to prescribe for every reason except in treating opioid addiction. While our hang-up is at the federal level, we have been working through the governor's opioid task force and state legislators to have NDs included to support state policy.

For the 30 day long, 2020 short session we will not be pursuing any specific legislative initiatives.  We will be watching for anything we need to defend against.

Thank you! To everyone who joined or renewed their membership with the association, and who donated throughout the year, we appreciate each and every one of you! Your support and engagement is what keeps us moving forward as a profession, and we cannot thank you enough!

National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) President David J. Schleich, PhD, has announced his plans to retire July 1, 2019. During his tenure, NUNM has undergone a period of growth and transformational change, becoming one of the nation’s foremost leaders in integrative natural medicine education, clinical care and research.

The NUNM Board of Directors announced that a search is underway for his successor. It is anticipated that Schleich will assist the new president through the transition.

Appointed president of the institution in April 2007, Schleich took the helm of what was then National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM), a medical school that offered two accredited postgraduate degrees—its flagship programs of naturopathic and classical Chinese medicine. Since then, he has presided over the roll-out of nine more degree programs—including three new undergraduate offerings that have created increased enrollment, while the school has achieved a worldwide reputation for excellence in natural medicine education and research. During Schleich’s tenure, NUNM’s Helfgott Research Institute has received more than $3.35 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health.

It was also under Schleich’s watch that the institution launched a campus master plan, built the school’s first on-campus health clinic, and opened a number of health clinics throughout the Portland metro area. Schleich also helped usher in NUNM’s first major donations for capital campaigns and other campus improvements, including those from locally known philanthropists Bob and Charlee Moore of Bob’s Red Mill, the Zidell family, and philanthropic foundations such as the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust and Meyer Memorial Trust.

In 2016, Schleich supervised the institution’s rebranding as National University of Natural Medicine to reflect its university status.

“David has been instrumental in guiding NUNM to prominence,” said NUNM Board of Directors Chair Willow Moore, DC, ND. “He was the perfect leader to propel our institution forward. He has a unique combination of skills and a deep breadth of knowledge that one can only hope to find in its academic leader—he is both an innovator and a scholar. But above all, David is a visionary. And he has been unrelenting in bringing his vision of a world-class university to fruition during his tenure. We will remain forever grateful for his unflagging dedication to NUNM, to the integration of the profession of natural medicine into the broader context of health care, and especially to the continuing success of our students and graduates.”

Moore noted that Schleich stepped into his role as president at a particularly tenuous time in the school’s history. “The legacy David will leave behind is particularly impressive when we remember that the school had just recently emerged from an extended period of difficulty prior to his appointment as president,” she said. The history of NUNM dates back to its founding in 1956 as National College of Naturopathic Medicine—a time when allopathic medicine assumed a primary role in the lives of Americans, supported by the increasing development of pharmaceutical medicine and innovations in healthcare technology. The decline of the naturopathic medicine profession had brought it teetering on the brink of extinction as naturopathic medical schools closed their doors throughout the country. NCNM was the sole hold-out. From its beginning, NCNM had a dedicated cadre of administrators and faculty who were gifted physicians, clinicians and teachers, but inexperienced as college administrators. NCNM had a tumultuous history marked by monetary mismanagement and hardship until the early 2000s when a seasoned college administrator, President Emeritus William J. Keppler, PhD, stabilized NCNM financially and began to turn the tide of fortune in NCNM’s favor. The small, private school was still largely unknown. When Keppler retired as NCNM president, he tapped the Canadian-born and bred Schleich as his successor.

A nationally recognized expert in the professional formation of natural medicine, Schleich joined the school after a distinguished career in higher education. Prior to joining NUNM, Schleich was president of Truestar Health in Toronto. Before that, he served as president and CEO of Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) in Toronto. Prior to CCNM, he held a series of increasingly significant academic positions: academic vice president of Niagra College (Ontario); administrative and faculty positions at St. Lawrence College (Ontario), Swinburne University (Melbourne, Australia), and the University of Alberta (Canada). His academic career spans more than 40 years in elementary, secondary, college and university settings.

Schleich earned his PhD from the University of Toronto and a master’s from the University of Alberta. His doctoral studies focused on higher education, with a special interest in the regulatory and public policy frameworks that affect medical education.

Accomplishments
· Rebranded National College of Natural Medicine to National University of Natural Medicine
· Increased program offerings from two post-graduate degrees to a total of 11, including three undergraduate degrees
· Increased revenues from $14,900,877 in 2008 to $22,440,853 in 2017
· Increased enrollment by 23%, from 507 in 2007 to 623 in 2017
· Helfgott Research Institute has received a total of $3,092,898 in National Institutes of Health grants for evidence-based research in natural medicine since 2015, a record amount among natural medicine universities and colleges
· NUNM has two state-credentialed Tier 4 Patient-Centered Primary Care Home clinics (Lair Hill Health Center and Beaverton Health Center) and eight community clinics; supervising physicians and their students provide care for roughly 30,0000 patient visits per year
· In 2011, the City of Portland approved NUNM’s 2012-2022 Master Plan, a five-acre campus with five facilities and other properties
· Purchased the institution’s administrative office building
· Built the school’s first on-campus natural medicine teaching clinic, the Lair Hill Health Center
· Opened the school’s second natural medicine clinic, the Beaverton Health Center
· Secured funding to create a dedicated lab and office space for Helfgott Research Institute, along with a teaching kitchen for nutrition students
· Purchased an on-campus facility, Spaulding House, to house the university’s institutes for community-based education
· Purchased Radelet Hall, a large lecture facility, on the northern-most edge of the campus
· Created two teaching gardens on campus: Min Zidell Healing Garden and Min Chau Garden with donations from Portland’s Zidell family and Michael and Simone Chilton
· Created NUNM Press in 2013 to publish literature dedicated to natural medicine and sustainability; the Press currently has 16 titles
· Increased the school’s student endowment from $354,343 to $1,338,653
· Increased the amount and number of student scholarships from $23,000 in 2010 to $315,500 in 2018.
· A tireless advocate of licensure efforts throughout the United States, Schleich has appeared often before legislative bodies to give testimony in support of naturopathic education. Today, 20 states and three districts and U.S. territories have approved licensure for naturopathic physicians.

For information about the presidential search, please visit: https://nunm.edu/president.