My journey in Naturopathic medicine began here in the desert Southwest. My grandmothers treated their families with simple herbal remedies. In 1990 I enrolled in a course offered by Tieraona Lowdog on Basic Herbal Therapeutics. She went on to earn a medical degree and is a nationally respected advocate for integrative medicine. I enthusiastically began to practice herbal medicine on my family and friends. One day, a dear friend asked me to help her grandmother who had a liver tumor. It was at that moment that I realized in order to prescribe powerful herbal therapies, I needed a clear understanding of medical diagnosis. I set out to find a profession that included scientific diagnostic tools and the softer therapies of nutrition and herbalism. I discovered Naturopathic medicine.

I left the sunny Southwest in 1994 to attend a four-year Naturopathic Medical School in rainy Portland, Oregon. In 2000, I graduated from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, now known as the National University of Natural Medicine. After passing my national board exams and being licensed by the state of Oregon, I began my practice.  I was hired by Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center in Hillsboro, Oregon, where I was the sole ND among MD's, PA's and NP's.  It was a wonderfully collaborative clinic and we all learned from one another. My skills as a physician both natural and allopathic were well honed. I offered natural medicine to all of my patients. I soon learned that some people are more accustomed to prescription medications. Now, I offer both. I gained expertise in the many modalities in which I was trained: diet and lifestyle counseling, herbal and homeopathic medicines, clinical and physical diagnosis, as well as acute and chronic disease management through prescription medications. The part of being a doctor that I continue to love the most is the doctor-patient relationship. I am honored to be the person in whom people confide, and I take that privilege seriously.