O U R P R O V I D E R
Dr. Lauren Ward-Selinger
Lauren Ward–Selinger is a Naturopathic Physician in Bend, Oregon, certified by the Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine. She has a well balanced approach to wellness, utilizing both naturopathic and conventional tools to find a healthy approach for treatment. It is her goal to have you feeling and looking your best, while preventing future health issues. She believes in a team approach and enjoys collaborating with the rest of your healthcare team to reach your wellness goals. Dr. Ward-Selinger loves to treat minor skin issues with either her cryotherapy pen or in office surgical removal. This is great for skin tags, warts, moles and other lesions that may bother you.
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Dr. Ward-Selinger attended the National University of Natural Medicine, the oldest and most prestigious Naturopathic medical school in the United States. She completed a residency in general medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine, providing her the opportunity to learn first-hand from the experts in the field. Her focus is integrative medicine, and she is also fluent in Spanish. She has completed additional training in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement and is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner. She is also a Certified Evexipel Provider, offering premium hormone pellet insertion. She also completed her training with Tami Kent, MsPT for Holistic Pelvic Care©, a revolutionary treatment for chronic pelvic pain and a myriad of other issues. She is also trained in FemCap fitting, which is a successful and easy to use non-hormonal contraception. As a medical intern, she completed a six month rotation in cardiology and pulmonology, extended training in minor surgery, and an 18 month rotation in community health, working with an underserved community. She also participated in a volunteer brigade to Nicaragua, which improved her medical Spanish and opened her eyes to international health. She was a formative member of the ECO Project (Ending Childhood Obesity) for two years, assisting with a hands-on cooking and nutrition course. Throughout her years at NUNM, she also worked part time at OHSU with a pediatric hematologist/oncologist, leading the Oregon Cord Blood Donation Program.
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Dr. Ward–Selinger is originally from the Chicago area, and earned her Baccalaureate in Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Biology, Pre–Medicine and Spanish. After relocating to the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Ward–Selinger found and became enamored with Naturopathic Medicine. The emphasis of preventive medicine, whole body health and the multitude of treatment modalities are what she thinks is unique to this education. Outside of her profession, Dr. Ward–Selinger likes to spend time with her family, hiking and camping, commuting by bicycle, cooking healthy seasonal meals, reading and traveling.
About Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic medicine is a balance of age-old natural therapies and conventional medicine, and is the original Functional Medicine model. Naturopathic physicians are trained in the same basic sciences as conventional physicians, but have additional focus on preventive medicine and finding the root cause of health problems. Naturopathic physicians receive extensive training in botanical medicine, pharmacology, nutrition, physical medicine, psychology and laboratory evaluation. In Oregon, Naturopathic physicians are licensed as full-scope primary care physicians and are an excellent choice for care of your entire family.
A treatment plan given by a Naturopathic physician may include pharmaceutical medications, botanical products, nutritional guidance, lifestyle changes, exercise recommendations, homeopathy, physical medicine or hydrotherapy. It is common practice to refer to specialists and other practitioners when appropriate.
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Naturopathic medicine recognizes an inherent self-healing process in the human body that is ordered and intelligent. Naturopathic physicians act to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery, and to facilitate and augment this inherent self-healing process.
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The naturopathic physician seeks to identify and remove the underlying causes of illness rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms. These symptoms are the body’s way of communicating a problem.
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Naturopathic physicians follow three guidelines to avoid harming the patient: Utilize methods and medicinal substances which minimize the risk of harmful side effects, using the least force necessary to diagnose and treat; Avoid when possible the harmful suppression of symptoms; and Acknowledge, respect, and work with individuals’ self-healing process.
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Naturopathic physicians educate their patients and encourage self-responsibility for health. They also recognize and employ the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship.
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Naturopathic physicians treat each patient by taking into account individual physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, and other factors. Since total health also includes spiritual health, naturopathic physicians encourage individuals to pursue their personal spiritual development.
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Naturopathic physicians emphasize the prevention of disease by assessing risk factors, heredity and susceptibility to disease, and by making appropriate interventions in partnership with their patients to prevent illness. Reference: American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP)