Meet Kelsey Asplin | Naturopathic Doctor, CoAND President

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Kelsey Asplin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Kelsey, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
While Naturopathic Medicine has been around for a long time, a lot of today’s consumers are unaware that it’s a field of medicine that is available to them throughout the country. Naturopathic Doctors are highly trained providers that specialize in prevention, normalization of natural body processes and we excel in treating chronic disease.   There are many people who would be considered lay practitioners, who support people with herbal medicine, homeopathic medicine, life coaching and energy work. There are also more and more MDs and Chiropractors getting certificates in Functional Medicine these days. What many people aren’t aware of though, is that Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) are not lay practitioners and are not MDs with functional medicine training; NDs complete a 4-5 year, clinically based, Naturopathic medical school program. They are highly trained and obtain much of the same education as MDs, however alongside the biomedical sciences (i.e. anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, embryology, etc) and specialty medical fields (i.e. gynecology, cardiology, oncology, rheumatology, pharmacology, etc), they also obtain extensive training in counseling, nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, sports medicine, and physical medicine modalities. The entirety of Naturopathic medical training is rooted in functional medicine ideals. While conventional medicine treats the disease process, Naturopathic medicine focuses on supporting normal body functions. Naturopathic medicine seeks to identify the root cause of a person’s health concerns, and treats the whole person, in the safest way possible. Naturopathic Doctors are also highly skilled at knowing when to refer their patients to specialists or conventional medical doctors.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business is an amazing community of health care practitioners and people who are genuinely interested in optimizing health. Our patients are like family; every day we exchange messages with patients asking about each other’s families, animals, and vacations. We share in each person’s celebrations and sorrows. Our patients come to us because they’ve never before felt seen, and they stay with us because of how deeply we hear them. My clinic is one of the longest standing naturopathic medical offices in Colorado, having served the local and surrounding areas for over 30 years. The clinic also has an incredible legacy of mentoring students interested in following the naturopathic medicine career path; a number of my colleagues were once employed by the previous owners of the clinic, just as I was, and were inspired to join the force of amazing NDs in the state. Getting to this point has been a beautiful, and at times challenging, journey. Naturopathic Medical school was the 4 most difficult and formative years of my life; the 25-30+ credit hours per quarter term, clinical training and preceptoring not only changes your brain, but it challenges so much of who you are as a person. You go in as one person, and you come out as someone else. It instills in you a lot of grit, which is imperative in a world that doesn’t always recognize Naturopathic Medicine as a legitimate profession, despite state and national acceptance on a legal and professional level. I opened my private practice upon graduating and leaned into the struggles of early entrepreneurship. It was never easy. There were many times that I had to remind myself to trust the process; learning to endure discomfort was critical to better understanding the pains my patients experience in their lives. It made me a better doctor and business owner, and gave me the time to become each. I’ve learned so much about showing up for my patients in the ways they really need me, which often comes down to taking the time to really listen and ask questions until I fully understand them. I’ve also learned about the importance of maintaining enough boundaries on my time and energy to be the person I need to be at home and in other aspects of my life without totally burning out. It’s a difficult, but important, lesson to learn that taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do to take care of your patients. This is one of the reasons my patients come to me, because I’m a real person, with a real life and my own very real struggles. And I let them see a little bit of those parts of me. I am able to relate to my patients, which makes them feel more at home with our clinic. Me and my team take a fresh approach to healthcare; we use modern methods and researched modalities, all rooted in a dense historical knowledge of the natural world, and combine those with human connection and allied care teams.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Colorado has so much to offer for every type of interest. I’m someone who loves the outdoors, entertainment, and good food. With that in mind, some of my favorite highlights include: concerts at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater; paddle boarding the reservoirs or mountain lakes; snowboarding or hiking or horseback riding in our breathtaking mountains; taking a motorcycle ride through country roads; enjoying some incredible (and nostalgic) food everywhere from Casa Bonita to Somebody People to Linger. For theatre goers, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts showcases fantastic talents from Broadway and beyond. There are comedy shows, speakeasies and many local breweries and cideries for those inclined to imbibe as well.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a number of people who were incredibly influential on my path to being a successful doctor and entrepreneur. For the purpose of this piece, I’d like to dedicate my shout out to Rena Bloom, ND and Jacob Schor, ND. They took me on as their front desk assistant when I was in college, and taught me so much about running a small business. At the time, I didn’t realize that all the little lessons they were giving me each day would not only shape me as a successful doctor and business woman, but would also allow the clinic (which I took over from them when they retired) to continue to thrive. To this day, I still hear Dr. Bloom in my head when I’m managing the other practitioners that I’ve hired. And when I’m working through a particularly difficult case, Dr. Bloom is always only a phone call away. School and coaches teach you certain ways of running a business, and both have been incredibly helpful to me on my professional journey. But a seasoned, small business owner and mentor like Dr. Bloom has so many more pearls and perspectives to offer that can really make the difference in being the business that my patients love to support. Thanks Dr. Bloom and Dr. Schor!

Website: www.denvernaturopathic.com

Instagram: @DrKelseyAsplin

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkelseyasplin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drkelseyasplin/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drkelseyasplin

Other: Google: Denver Naturopathic Clinic

Image Credits
FSJ Photography