Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
A new doctor in town is spreading the word that there are more health-care alternatives available than the traditional ones we all grew up with.
Dr. Sarah Vosburgh is a Naturopathic Doctor practicing in Cobourg, who says the awareness of naturopathic medicine in Northumberland is growing rapidly as more people are looking for options to improve their physical and mental health.
“We live in a wellness town,” Vosburgh said.
“This is a very active community that cares about their health.”
As a Naturopathic Doctor, Vosburgh relies primarily on treatments that utilize diet and clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, acupuncture and lifestyle management.
Many people are not familiar with the rigorous training required to become a Naturopathic Doctor. In Ontario, this includes a minimum of seven years of post-secondary education (including an undergraduate degree and successful completion of the four-year Doctor of Naturopathy degree). Graduates must then pass several licensing and board exams and meet continuing-education requirements.
Vosburgh grew up in Cobourg, attending local schools before going on to complete undergraduate work at Queen’s University in kinesiology and earn her doctorate at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.
Vosburgh conducts her practice at the Spring Street Wellness Centre in Cobourg, where she began seeing patients in October.
“We can really treat any health condition, so we can work alongside conventional medical treatments or just on our own,” she said.
“We can diagnose health conditions and treat them (or make referrals) but not using pharmaceuticals and surgery – though we also do consider all those options when they are necessary and work alongside those treatments to reduce side effects.”
A growing number of Northumberland County residents are taking on a more active role in their own health care, and she strives to provide research-based care for her patients.
Like many doctors, she is also working to educate them to look beyond what’s on the internet. It can be a great resource, Vosburgh allowed, “but it can also be a place of information overload where it becomes challenging for people to navigate what is truly effective.
“I spend a lot of time reviewing research articles to find the most effective treatments for things like digestive health, pain management, women’s health, sleep and anxiety,” she said.
Ensuring people are aware of the naturopathic option is important to Vosburgh, and she pursues this aim through community partnerships, such as her recent appearance at CCI where she led a seminar as part of the school’s recent girls’ empowerment conference.
She also works closely with community groups like YMCA Northumberland. Over the past year, she has collaborated with that agency to provide wellness workshops for the community on topics like nutrition for weight loss and sleep. The response has been phenomenal, she said.
“Our community is really engaged and wants to know how to sort through what is just another health fad and what is backed by evidence when it comes to natural health.”
Her feedback often involves questions on nutrition and other wellness concerns – which are exactly the conditions she treats in her work.
“There are so many people who are so interested in what we do but just don’t know what a naturopathic doctor is.
“It’s really exciting to live and work in a community that is so health-focused,” she stated.
No referrals are necessary to arrange an appointment at the Spring Street centre. Services provided are on a fee-for-service basis, and are often covered to some extent by private insurance companies (including those providing work-related health benefits).
Author: Pete Fisher
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