Frequently Asked Questions
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We have a 48 hour cancellation/rescheduling policy.
We ask that you provide 48 hours notice if you need to change or cancel your appointment. This allows the clinic a better opportunity to offer your appointment to another patient. Failure to do so will result in being charged 50% of the scheduled appointment fee.Cancellations within 24 hours are subject to being charged the full appointment fee.
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Your initial naturopathic appointment is booked for a full hour in order to give you time to share your story and your complete health history. We review any lab work that you already have and will discuss running any further labs that may be relevant for your case.
In most cases a preliminary treatment plan will be created for you in the initial visit, and once we have your lab results, a more comprehensive treatment plan will be discussed after reviewing the results together.
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Blood work. If you’ve had any blood work done within the last year, that can be very helpful. Upon booking your initial consultation, our administrative staff will contact you to explain the process of collecting those results for you. Dr. Gardiner, ND uses blood work in combination with your health history to guide treatment. Sharing any labs you’ve done recently can prevent retesting labs you’ve already had done.
Medications/Supplements. Please bring a list of any medications and/or supplements you're currently taking, including dosages.
Questions. We want to make sure all of your concerns are addressed, and thus we recommend bringing a list of your questions with you so they can be discussed during your appointment.
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To ensure you’re taken care of and all of your concerns are addressed, we typically follow a 5-6 appointment structure over the course of 6-12 months.
ONE. The first appointment is your hour-long initial consultation where we gather your health history and discuss any necessary bloodwork to run.
TWO. Once labs have been completed a 60-minute appointment is booked to go through your results together and discuss a comprehensive treatment plan.
THREE. After you’ve followed your treatment plan for 1-3 months a 30-minute follow up is booked to check in on how you’re doing with your plan, assess symptoms and make adjustments as necessary.
FOUR. Generally 3-6 months after you’ve started treatment we meet for a 30-minute follow up to discuss re-running labs, assessing for shifts in your physiology and testing any additional labs that may be indicated at this time.
FIVE. Depending on the labs run, a 30 or 45-minute follow-up is booked to review labs and make adjustments to your treatment plan.
SIX. Unless you want and benefit from support through regularly scheduled appointments, appointment check-ins at this point will be as needed, and are typically every 6-12 months.
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Naturopathic services are not covered by the provincial health care system, however, most private insurance companies do cover naturopathic services.
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Yes, we are pleased to offer direct billing for our patients for most third-party insurance companies.
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Naturopathic doctors have access to conventional laboratory testing (Dynacare in Manitoba) as well as many other functional tests such has hormone panels, food sensitivity testing, and comprehensive gastrointestinal testing.
Unfortunately the cost of labs are not covered by Manitoba Health. Before labs are run the cost is always discussed with the patient.
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If you need clarification on your treatment plan, you are welcome to call or send an email to the clinic. Please allow 48 hours for a reply. If you have a question related to a specific health concern, please note that we are not legally able to provide health advice via email and an appointment will need to be booked.
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We never want you to feel ashamed of not following a treatment plan that we've created with you. Sometimes you need to go through it with us again and have it re-explain. Other times you may have started a protocol but you're overwhelmed and it doesn't fit into your day to day life. In either case, please re-book. It's our job to find a plan that will work for you and sometimes that takes a couple tries.
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While Dr. Gardiner, ND has a practice focused on women’s health, she does offer naturopathic appointments to children.
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Naturopathic medical programs are 4-year post-secondary degree programs at an accredited institution. A 4-year sciences degree is required prior to admission to one of these programs. Currently there are two accredited naturopathic medical programs offered in Canada - one in Toronto and one in Vancouver. The program consists of the same basic medical sciences as a medical doctor, including human anatomy and physiology.
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Regulation of the profession varies from province to province in Canada. In Manitoba naturopathic medicine is a regulated profession and naturopathic doctors are self regulated through the Manitoba Naturopathic Association. This means that naturopathic doctors are held to a standard and must follow health regulations set out by the provincial government.
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Naturopathic doctors have extensive training in lifestyle counselling, nutrition, vitamin/mineral supplementation, botanical medicine, acupuncture, physical medicine (such as massage and spinal manipulation), as well as injection and IV treatments.
Dr. Gardiner, ND chooses modalities/treatments on a case by case basis, depending on what she feels her patients will most benefit from. Lifestyle counselling, nutrition and supplementation (vitamins, minerals and/or botanicals) are her most commonly used modalities.
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We now offer in person appointments, with masks being optional. We also offer virtual telemedicine appointments, so if you are sick or feeling unwell we will change appointments to virtual.
We continue to keep the clinic clean and sanitize treatment rooms between each appointment.