Our Philosophy

Our providers and the care we deliver are different.  Our practice focuses on innovative, cutting edge primary care by integrating medical and holistic care for men, women, and children. We have a family physician (MD) as our medical director, two family nurse practitioners (FNP), two physician assistants (PA) and 4 naturopathic physicians (ND) one of whom is our naturopathic medical director.   All of us are trained to provide primary care and many of us loves to care for children.   Additionally, the providers here all receive continuing training in holistic medlcine.  Some of us have received advanced training and have had vast experience for holistic treatment of certain health conditions.   See services page for areas of focus and see provider pages for areas of expertise.

We don’t just work in the same office; we are all part of a team that shares the same philosophy.  We like each other, we talk all the time, we review cases together and we share the same medical record.  We have regular case conferences where we share patient cases, and we often combine our expertise to provide true integration and excellence.   Because we have providers that focus in certain conditions, many patients will in fact see several of us to benefit from that expertise.   We function as a primary care clinic, as well as, a clinic that have areas of special focus such as food intolerance, gut health, male & female hormones, adrenal and thyroid health.

We take a root cause and holistic approach towards patient care.  Traditional allopathic medicine is more organ or symptom based.  Here is an example.  In a traditional medical clinic, a patient presents with heartburn.  They may get none or some standard tests specifically to evaluate the stomach.  They usually get heartburn medication to turn acid production off in the stomach, to eliminate the symptom from that organ.

Root cause integrative medicine evaluates the heartburn beyond the stomach organ and the acid.  This acid overproduction is rarely the actual problem.  It is our body’s natural healthy response to a problem.  Stomach acid is produced to help digest food, to kill bacteria and viruses and it facilitates the absorption of many nutrients and vitamins. If there’s a food allergy or intolerance and we’re having trouble digesting it, more acid is our body’s attempt to digest it.  If there is an infection in our bodies, stomach acid is our first line of immune defense to kill bacteria or viruses.  So instead of treating the body’s response to a problem, we try to figure out what is the acid a response to.  Usually the acid is responding to a food allergy or intolerance (see our article about food intolerance), a hard to detect subtle infection like yeast, or it’s trying to compensate for some people’s genetic or developed lack of enzymes to digest food.  There are few standard medical tests available to find these root causes, but there are many valid, specific, and scientific holistic tests that do.  This is why we include many options in our evaluation.  They may or may not be covered by your insurance, however we consider it our mission to educate patients about what options they do have in standard medical and holistic testing so that patients get the best medical care. 

All symptoms are a response to an underlying root cause that may not been identified.  We make every attempt to get to the root of symptoms like those in irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, weight gain.   Many patients accept that this is their normal when they haven’t had the option of a thorough evaluation.  If a root cause is identified, and the patient is educated about their health, the patient is able to specifically adapt or eliminate these root causes.  Educating patients at every step so they understand their health is the core of our philosophy.  This is why we take so much time to educate ourselves and our patients.  

This education usually includes major lifestyle and diet changes, and sometimes includes medications, naturopathic supplements, vitamins, and other alternative therapies when necessary.  Our goal is to help people understand and adapt to or eliminate root causes so that they don’t have to have continuing symptoms or be destined for lifelong medications or supplements.   This approach empowers patients to have a higher level of understanding beyond "I have to take this pill for the rest of my life "and it empowers them to do more to heal themselves. 

Not everyone is ready to make major diet, lifestyle changes, or to get needed testing.  This type of evaluation takes our time and yours and can costs money. We order and offer more testing because we are all about being thorough and really getting to the bottom of things.  Some types of testing and holistic treatments aeren't covered by some insurances. That is why we evaluate a patient’s level of commitment, expectations, and readiness for change.  We do not accept every patient into our practice nor do we keep every patient.  Those expecting band-aid symptom oriented medicine only without making any changes to themselves and their root causes likely won’t benefit from our approach.  Those who do not want any holistic options in their care are better at a traditional medical clinic. We love treating those patients that are ready to learn and ready to make changes in their lives.  We provide lots of information, education and explanations.  We connect the dots that allows a patient to really understand why and how to make changes that matter. 

We explain our philosophy in depth, because it is different than any traditional medical clinic.   This is why we have assembled such a diverse and top notch group of providers who are all open minded and contantly getting more educated about many more options.   We continue to educate ourselves, and our staff, on the cutting edge of medicine and holistic medicine.  We also work very closely with a network of medical specialists, counselors, personal trainers, physical therapists, acupuncturist, chiropractors, speech language pathologists, holistic nutritionists, and other holistic providers who understand and appreciate this approach.  This completes our integrative care village around the patient.   Our tools, our network, our providers and our staff provide a comprehensive therapeutic village around each man, woman and child.   This is not just a job for us.  This is a purpose driven, intentional mission. 

If you have additional questions please feel free to ask when you make your appointment.   Here’s to great health and a shout out to everyone who is ready for change! We are not your traditional medical office.  We are Sherwood Family Medicine, an Integrative Health Center.

Clinic Announcements

• Saturday isn't just same day urgent care, you can prebook physicals and visits with primary care and naturopathic providers.  We also offer evening hours till 7pm Monday-Thursday.
• Aesthetic services by Dr. Ruiz ND including Botox^®, Restylane^®/Perlane^® natural fillers, and chemical peels. 
• Sign up for our e-Newsletter to stay up to date on the latest clinic news.
• SLIT Therapy: sublingual sprays to rid nasal allergies or asthma, works just as well as allergy shots at a fraction of the cost and no shots!
• We are the Food Intolerance Center of Portland, testing now covered by most insurance, talk to your provider.
• We love to see kids for routine pediatric care and for integrated care of allergies, asthma, food intolerance, behavior concerns, neurotransmitter testing and the treatment of spectrum disorders.