DR. NICK BABOULAS ND
THE ORIGIN STORY!!!
WHO IS DR. NICK nd!!!
Personal Journey To NATuropathic Medicine!
The Greek Man, myth, legend?!
WHO I AM!
Hi, I’m Dr. Nick Baboulas ND - that’s what most patients call me!
YES! I get the ‘Dr. Nick joke’ from the Simpsons (classic cartoon) character often enough that you might even hear me say, “Hi everybody!!!” --- then might hear others say, “Hi Dr. Nick!” – then laughing or chuckles in the background. For some reason people are overly amused by the Dr. Nick name if true Simpsons fans, but in the end, if I can make a patient laugh, I’M IN!
Now to the more important stuff so you don’t think I am actually like ‘Dr. Nick’ from the Simpsons, but instead when you hear the name ‘Dr. Nick ND’ in the future you associate it only with the positive things of ME!!! ---what are they??? KEEP READING and hopefully you will find out soon enough!
I am just a Greek kid from Toronto, born to immigrant parents that wanted a better life for their children! I learned the value of hard work from a young age, as my parents had multiple jobs but one of them was their own custodian/janitorial business, cleaning buildings/offices at night. So of course I was part of the cleaning crew from a young age (maybe from around 7 years old), going to work at nights when able because it was supposedly FUN from my parents perspective!
We were always family focused and would be around family whenever able and that included the often occurring family gatherings (think ‘my big fat greek wedding movie – we had lots of family members and lots of reasons to celebrate!). My parents were big on family, and I am the same way today because of that. At the same time, I loved playing soccer growing up and played lots of other sports as well, as I was always active in some way.
I always wanted to help people, that is what I knew from a very young age, I just did not know exactly in what capacity at that point or even later on in my life until it just naturally happened (KEEP READING below to see how that happened!!!)
WHAT DO I DO?
I do my best to create the ability for patients to reach their optimal state of health by breaking down barriers / limitations and surrounding them with different therapies / tools / treatments to help them succeed. I do this as a continuously curious / creative Integrative Biological Medicine focused Naturopathic Doctor. Or simply I’m the kind of Naturopathic Doctor that knows there is ALWAYS a way and we will exhaust all pathways in order to find it. As a one size fits all model doesn’t work for me! In the end, I’m pretty persistent and have a never give up attitude – WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!
OFFICIAL CREDENTIALS:
To give you a little background on my professional self, I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemistry, specializing in Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry. Before entering into a life of Naturopathic Medicine, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, for a contract research company, doing drug discovery, as a Medicinal Chemist. It was a really fun job and truly enjoyed my work at that time, as it was challenging, involved patience, problem solving, group/independent work, and the fun part was that I had to be very creative in order to be successful. After my tenure as a Medicinal Chemist, I went on to complete my Naturopathic Medical training at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), passed my Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examinations (NPLEX) which are professional licensing exams administered by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE). I am a fully qualified, board certified, licensed Naturopathic Doctor practicing in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. I hold extra certifications in order to prescribe special medicines and perform Injection / Intravenous Therapies.
Lastly, I am a member of the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OAND), the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND), as well as other International organizations / associations / groups.
WHY I DO WHAT I DO!
FAMILY – it’s what drove me to being able to live my passion on a daily basis and I am very blessed and lucky for that reason!
The main influence for changing my career path in a single moment and never regretting or looking back at the decision, is simply put, my AMAZING SISTER, KATERINA. She had struggled with a complex chronic illness for a little over a decade, where it slowly took her life away and made her bedridden within a few months of its onset. It has been a painful, complex, and educational journey that she has gone through up to this moment, where she has been through the medical system in Canada without positive results; went to specialists across North America, done many different treatments, talked to world renown Doctors in their respective fields, but all fell short in aiding her to wellness individually. My work and life experience have lead me to where I am today and I know that through my sister’s illness, I have learned and continue to learn so much more about health and true healing that cannot be learned in a classroom. My sister’s journey to regaining her optimal health has enlightened me about different tools/therapies/modalities that you do not learn in school. I am so blessed to have my sister as I know this was a divine plan and journey, where through her suffering allowed her true passion to blossom (and she and her journey have and continue to support so many suffering with complex chronic illness!) and gave me the ability to understand my patients from an even more personal level in terms of their health challenges, as I have been through a lot with my sister!
That is why I have a drive for finding ways to support my patients with any health concern they might have (from acute pain to complex chronic conditions) in order to reach their optimal health. This has made me travel across North America and Europe to seek out continuing education courses/workshops/seminars/internships from Medical/Naturopathic Doctors in their respective fields in order to learn and better myself as a Naturopathic Doctor!
TRAINING / WORKSHOPS / INTERNSHIPS:
For me training is not a choir or a requirement I have to fulfill every few years in order to keep my license in good standing, but instead, it is an opportunity to expand my skillset and find new ways to help my patients. Truthfully, it’s FUN for me and every opportunity I have to train in order to continue to sharpen or expand my skills, I take. I’ve been known to run off to training opportunities in a moments notice / last minute, because I do not want to loss the opportunity! Every time I’ve done that, I am more than thankful I did, not only did I probably learn something amazing from a interesting Medical/Naturopathic Doctor; more importantly, the people/colleagues I meet through these experiences are priceless. This is where I will usually find like-minded people where I can discuss ideas and learn from them as well. It’s all about sharing ideas and triggering new ways to support patients.
I travel wherever I need to in order to learn and expand my tool kit, that’s why I’ve travelled around North America and Europe. There is a lot more I need to learn and do, so I can assure you there are a lot more places around the world I have to visit in order to do that!
I never want to limit myself (I learned this from my sister!), so in order to expand my knowledge in many disciplines of Naturopathic Medicine including IBNM, I went to the source, EUROPE! I had been studying this system for a while before doing this, as once I started to learn more about it, I knew this was my approach to follow! I started going to any lectures/workshops I could find in North America, online, read textbooks/articles, and met with other Medical / Naturopathic Doctors to learn from.
An opportunity came to go learn in Switzerland at the time when the Paracelsus Clinic was one of the most famous Clinic’s in Biological Medicine, and be taught from the well known Biological Medicine Specialist, Dr. Thomas Rau MD, so I did it! This was an amazing experience with like minded Doctors from around the world (literally every continent!) flocking to expand their knowledge and share ideas! Too much to say about this experience but it's where I also met one of my mentors, Dr. Ralf Oettmeier MD.
I continued to learn more over the years at different workshops, this time more directly from my mentor in this field, Dr. Ralf Oettmeier MD with his Integrative Biological Medicine Approach. Then another opportunity came about when Dr. Ralf had opened an International Integrative Biological Medicine Clinic in Gais, Switzerland called Alpstein Clinic (https://www.alpstein-clinic.ch/en/). I was allowed to come and Intern at the Clinic in Switzerland (the first official trainee!), so of course I did, as I wanted to learn hands on their process and how they support their patients to reach their optimal health from complex chronic illnesses (Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc) to Cancer. Again, an amazing experience and learned so much from hands on clinical training seeing real patients daily and their outcomes! Even got to take part in the Biological Dentistry branch of the clinic and even sit in on a dental surgery – amazing learning experience!
I have done and been to many different courses/workshops/conferences where I got a chance to learn from many physicians/doctors/practitioners from around the world in their respective fields, where I am lucky to call some my mentors! I have had a chance to learn hands on therapies/techniques to different energetic therapeutic modalities.
So you can see, I’M ALL IN, when it comes to bettering myself! I don’t have all the answers and that’s why I need to continue to search for them as I come up against new obstacles that my patients face; it is a never-ending journey of learning!
GOAL AS A Naturopathic DOCTOR:
I feel my style of Naturopathic Medicine is very eclectic as I focus or use the Philosophical Principles / Approach of Integrative European Biological Naturopathic Medicine (see section on “Integrative Biological Naturopathic Medicine”). But of course I have a unique twist on it from my personal continuous learning in it and other fields of Naturopathic Medicine, meaning I do my best to mesh all that I have learned into a practical clinical approach in order to get results for my patients.
Always adding new ideas to the foundational principles of my Integrative Biological Naturopathic Medicine approach in order to expand my capabilities and to take it to the next level. It is all about growing my tool kit for better patient outcomes.
I feel we have to always evolve when practicing Naturopathic Medicine, as innovation is what will help the ever evolving and more complex patients in today’s day and age!
NO LIMITATIONS– goal is to find a way to untangle the complexity of the patient's state in order to create the environment for optimal health outcomes!
I truly respect the title of Naturopathic Doctor and the trust patient’s put in my ability to support them on their healing journeys, especially when they are in this vulnerable state with their health struggles. That is why I do my best to hold the highest standard in terms of the quality of care I provide for my patients.
In Service and Health,
Dr. Nick Baboulas ND
