Dr. Daniel Yee
Naturopathic Doctor
Like many healthcare practitioners and healers, I have been through my own various health problems. It was integrative medicine that gave me the health answers I had been looking for. I grew up in a tumultuous household, where stress and poor nutrition were a major factor in my health.
I grew up with many digestive issues – which I learned later on in life were a result of food sensitivities and stress (stress has a major role in our digestive health!).
This didn’t really hit home for my until I started training martial arts in my early 20s – I was a patient of an integrative physician and learned how much what I put in my body affects my health. I was also introduced to dietary supplementation and how taking some simple supplements could change my
performance and how I felt.
It wasn’t until I attended Naturopathic Medical school that I really learned about the impact of stress. For some insight about the time demands of ND medical school – we take 8 classes a semester (8 full credit hour equivalents of university classes), with 3 semesters a year. That is approximately equivalent
to 2 full years of university classes compressed into 1 year (24 class credits – usually students take 5-6 classes a semester, 2 full semesters). Classes included biomedical classes that were modeled after UBC medical school (physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, biochemsitry, physical exam, etc), as well as studying Chinese Medicine, Herbal medicine, physical medicine,
homeopathy and nutrition.
Needless to say school was very demanding and I not only learned how to manage that amount of demand and stress with myself, but also how to treat stressed students in the student clinic as an intern and resident.
The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.
Thomas Edison
During my time training martial arts I sustained a shoulder injury that ultimately ended my fighting days. I struggled with this injury for 7-8 years. During this time I tried nearly everything – acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, diet supplementation, physical therapy and others. My shoulder was nearly always sore, and if I overused it or slept on it I would be in pain for days to weeks after. This injury prevented me from doing sustained exercise, and a round of golf was agony without pain killers. I was looking down a road of surgery and physiotherapy, because I didn’t find anything that would keep the pain away and return my shoulder to proper function. I decided to try prolotherapy on my shoulder about 2 years ago. During this time I have had 5 treatments of prolotherapy and my shoulder is now consistently 70-80% better than when I started. I still have some soreness occasionally, but nothing compared to how it used to be. In the spring of 2015 I attended a comprehensive prolotherapy course and am very pleased and excited to offer this therapy to my
patients. If you want to know more about prolotherapy, click on the link in the title of this section or click here.
By using naturopathic medicine to treat myself and others, I have come to realize that people need more than 10 minutes and 1 question with their primary care physician. Illness can be a complex issue with many factors. This is why I do what I do – I believe that people deserve individualized medicine that treats you as a person – because that is what worked for me.