From the beginning of September, Aza El-Bakri will be training in Niverville.
Brenda Sawatsky
A new naturopathic doctor and acupuncture specialist will soon be accepting patients in Niverville. Starting in early September, Aza El-Bakri will be practicing at least one day a week at Niverville Family Chiropractic Clinic.
ElBakry currently operates out of two locations, including Via Natural Medicine in St. Boniface and his home south of Winnipeg. She and her husband, Khalid Zouni, moved to Montreal from Egypt in 2007 so Zouni could pursue a doctorate in gynecology.
At the time, El-Bakri was working as a conventional physician specializing in parasitology. She took a job in McGill University’s Malaria Laboratory, where she trained research technicians and members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Upon receiving his degree, Zouni began a fellowship in Toronto, and El-Bakry followed him there. Here she decided to change her medical path.
“I’ve worked in public health for years, and at some point you feel like there’s something else waiting for you,” El-Bakry says. “I wanted to see what was out there, and I discovered a beautiful program at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.”
Two years later, with new certifications in naturopathic medicine and acupuncture, Elbakri joined the family in Winnipeg, while Zohni worked in the reproductive field at Heartland Fertility Clinic.
“I practice a very interesting acupuncture technique called the Balance Method,” El-Bakri says. “In fact, the results are immediate and I feel that this method has many benefits. At the same time, I still practice traditional methods in addition to naturopathic treatments.”
Her desire to practice outside of city limits first brought her to Winkler. There, she says, residents were very open to alternative medical practices.
Unfortunately, after 18 months, she decided the commute was unsustainable.
One of her customers from Niverville told her the community was growing, and she drove out to see for herself.
“When I came here, I thought, ‘This is such a nice place,’ and I fell in love with it,” she says. “The people are great. That’s number one. Number two is that the effort is sustainable.”
Ms. Elbakri is fluent in English, Arabic, and French, which will greatly assist her in serving patients in an increasingly multicultural region.
She decided to start small until she could build up her clientele, and for now, Niverville Family Chiropractic’s office will meet her needs. If all goes well, Elbakri hopes to eventually expand the practice into a larger space and offer more appointments.
If that happens, she will consider adding IV therapy.
“We use intravenous therapy with high doses of vitamin C for a variety of diseases, including cancer,” El-Bakri says. “We’re also researching glutathione, which is an antioxidant for things like autoimmune diseases.”
Trained in both conventional medicine and naturopathy, El-Bakri believes the two can and should be considered complementary. She promised to try to work with her primary care physician whenever possible.
Because of her background, she understands medicine and recognizes the traditional way of doing things.
“In naturopathic medicine, you have to be willing to put in the work,” El-Bakry says. “If you’re up for it, naturopathic medicine is right for you. Some people are unmotivated. They want to live their lives the way they want, and for those people, conventional medicine is not an option. It’s the best.”
Because of her job, Elbakri said treatment will require major changes, including not only dietary changes, but also lifestyle changes to reduce stress, increase activity, and cultivate mindfulness. It explains that it is possible.
El-Bakry says that where people persevere and work hard, the results are amazing. In many cases, she has successfully worked with primary care physicians to reduce patients’ dependence on medications.
Some people suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes, while others suffer from chronic fatigue and debilitating depression. She says when people take control of their health and see the results, it positively impacts every part of their lives.
“Sometimes I feel like I need a before and after test.” [photo]” El-Bakri says. “I can see the difference in the details of their lives, and I love that.”
Part of the problem with Western medicine today, El-Bakry said, is that despite incredible advances in diagnosis and treatment, it is still responsible for viewing the human body as different components that function independently. He explains. Practitioners can lose sight of how the proper functioning of each part affects the whole.
“In naturopathic medicine, the person is the whole person,” she says. “We don’t treat patients as sick. If one organ suffers, all organs suffer. So when a person improves, he improves on every level.”
Taking this a step further, naturopathic medicine recognizes that the mind and spirit, along with the body, constitute the three elements of the human being.
Today, she says, most people don’t experience the harmony of the three. And they forget the body’s innate ability to heal itself when given the right tools.
Zoni strongly believes that natural medicine can play an important role in the human condition, even as a conventional medical practitioner. He looks forward to the day when traditional healers and naturopaths regularly work together toward the same goal: healing patients.
Encouragement to do so may need to come from the patient, he says.
“It’s so sad that we’re on the other side of this river when we should be saving money.” [the drowning patient] Together,” Zoni says. “Each of us can add something to patient care, which is why it is so important to work as a team for our patients. [After all], we don’t want them to be patients anymore. ”
