We are celebrating Dr. Michael Mason-Wood, ND – who Dr. Chris likes to refer to as her 20 in 1 guy as he can do just about anything- cook, clean, fix anything, make anything, and most importantly – we think he is an amazing ND. We did a mini interview:

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Mayo which is a small town in the Yukon. One of Mayo’s claims to fame is boosting the coldest and hottest temperature in one year: -50C to +50C. Give or take a few, the population was approximately 500 people.  As a kid, I was exposed to many outdoor activities: hiking, canoeing, snowshoeing, camping, and several sports.  Given the limited amount of children (there were 12 kids in my grade 12 graduation class), everyone had to play every sport to have a team so we could compete in  Whitehorse and Dawson City.  In most events, we got clobbered, however, I was very good at running and badminton and we had an amazing curling team. We won several Yukon titles in these three sports.  I still love curling and curl two nights a week and I am the coach for my son’s curling team.  Growing up, my dad owned the local motel and my aunt owned the only hotel in town – this made for friendly family competition.  We lived in the basement of the motel and I have ironed far too many pillow cases than I care to count, painted the entire motel at least three times and I am an excellent toilet bowl scrubber (not that that helped much on my resume – LOL!).

2. What is your favourite thing about being an ND?

I love being a Naturopathic Doctor because we have so many tools in our tool kit (ie treatment options). This allows us to help patients with their health concerns, no matter how varied.  It is amazing to see patients smile and hear the stories of how they are feeling better – less pain, more energy, better sleep, clear skin, balanced hormones, pain free menstrual cycles, not getting sick every month etc. We are often the last resort for patients as they have been to many other health care providers before coming to see us and I am so happy that we are able to help improve their lives.  I recently had a patient who was told her only option was opioids for the ankle pain she was experiencing for the last 3 years.  After 2 Prolotherapy treatments she noticed an 80% reduction in pain—our medicine works and I wish more people knew about it!.

3. What are your hobbies outside of work? 

Outside of work, I am a budding artist and creative to my core. Similar to my sister, we both go to craft shows and think “oh I can make this or that” but never really have the time to do so.  I do like fixing broken things and I get great satisfaction of preventing something that would have ended up in the landfill by fixing it.  My wife refers to me as the Environmental Police. In fact, one of my specialities is Environment medicine.  Many people are simply not aware of the toxins they are exposed to on a daily basis through the food, air, water and packaging of food products and beverages. I enjoy organic gardening and the spoils that come with it: cooking and canning / preserving food from the garden.  I have several collections, some of which are continually being added to and others that are stagnant but I enjoy looking at.  The one I really enjoy is insect collecting and pinning.  This is thanks to my sister as she ended up enrolling me in an entomology course in university and I found it fascinating. In fact, one of my career choices was to become an entomologist. While I was studying naturopathic medicine, pottery became a favorite hobby of mine and great stress reliever, however, I haven’t made the time to figure where I can continue this passion here in Edmonton. I am looking forward to retirement years and setting up my own pottery/art studio.