Coeur d’Alene Healing Arts owner Dr. Hunter Peterson’s generous gift helps support ND students like recipient Jocelyn Gorman.
Dr. Hunter Peterson knew he wanted to do something special to commemorate the life and work of beloved friend and mentor Dr. Todd Schlapfer.
Schlapfer was a leader in vitalistic naturopathic medicine, and the impetus for Peterson, an alumnus of the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM), to become a naturopathic doctor himself.
In 2018, when Schlapfer was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disorder, Peterson had already spent over a decade observing the doctor’s work with patients and his gift for words.
“To see someone be able to weave metaphors and paint pictures and describe human existence in such profound terms was a really, really amazing thing to be witness to,” said Peterson, who earned his Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine from NUNM in 2013.
After Schalpfer’s death, Peterson reflected on how to pay tribute to a doctor he had admired and often referred to as a “father figure.”
In 2023, he made a gift to NUNM to create the Dr. Todd A. Schlapfer Memorial Scholarship for students in need of financial assistance. Peterson had been a scholarship recipient back when he was studying at NUNM.
Jocelyn Gorman, a student of the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine program who served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council at NUNM, was chosen for the scholarship that same year.
Passionate about providing equitable care to underserved populations, Gorman had been motivated to study neuroscience and mental health advocacy after the passing of her father.
Scholarship applicants were given a philosophical essay prompt surrounding the role and responsibility doctors have to their patients. Every doctor shows up to the “sick room” with their own “host of demons or angels”, it stated, but that character is determined by their own progress in “self-development and healing”.
In response, students shared a personal experience where they realized a part of themselves they had “historically ignored or avoided” and the insights or beliefs that awareness inspired.
Peterson said the scholarship was a way for him to give back to students, as well as to share the legacy of Schlapfer and his ability as a doctor to build personal connections with patients through honest conversation.
“There’s this quality of assessment of big-hearted, authentic expression of someone’s truth in an essay,” Peterson said. “I just thought that would be a great way to contribute to the school, the students, and give someone an opportunity to do that.”
Peterson first began shadowing Schlapfer’s work after returning home from Pomona College with his undergraduate degree. He knew he wanted to become a physician and was given an opportunity to strengthen his skills at Coeur d’Alene Healing Arts, which Schlapfer founded in 1986 after graduating from NUNM.
It wasn’t the first time the two had met.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was barely an hour away from Spokane, Washington, where Peterson was born. The young doctor recalled that both his mother and sister were former patients and likely took him as an infant to see Schlapfer for care.
Decades later, Peterson credits much of what he’s learned in naturopathic medicine to the doctor who started it all. He also learned the ropes of running a business, developing his skills alongside Schlapfer.
In 2014, as Schlapfer prepared for retirement, Peterson became the owner of Coeur d’Alene Healing Arts, a clinic that combines traditional natural therapies with the latest technology in nutrition, botanical medicine, and the health sciences.
“I had space and time to learn and began on another kind of trajectory and lifelong learning path of how to be a leader in terms of an employer,” said Peterson. “It’s probably the longest, steepest learning curve I’ve had in my career in a lot of ways.”
Today, he serves as its clinic director and lead practitioner, and continues to support patients with chronic disease and other complex health issues. Many patients seek him out based on reputation, or a desire to find a health model that better aligns with their beliefs after the medical system has let them down, he said.
Peterson said he feels fortunate to find such success in his career and hopes to provide future opportunities to others within the natural medicine community—especially in ways that align with Schlapfer’s philosophy around healing.
“I think the question framed him and honored him really nicely and if I do it in the future again I’m sure it will be inspired by my knowing of his nature too,” he said.
By Ashley Villarreal, Marketing Content Specialist
You, too, can honor someone through a scholarship donation to NUNM! For more information, contact Dr. Carrie Baldwin-Sayre, AVP of Advancement, at cbsayre@nunm.edu.