Shannon Speakman reveals how being a NUNM patient sparked a desire to attend medical school and pay it forward as a doctor. 

Shannon Speakman first came to the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) as a Health Center patient, but a monumental experience at the clinic inspired her to change course and enroll as a student at the school.   

In 2021, Speakman started the Bachelor of Science in Integrative Health Sciences program at NUNM, becoming the first in her family to attend college. Until that point, she said it had felt like “a pipe dream” to even consider pursuing a degree, let alone achieve one.  

Now in her second year of the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine program, Speakman said none of this would be possible if she hadn’t seen a naturopathic physician who helped to unravel a series of mysterious health issues she was dealing with at the time.

“I chose to try something different by going to NUNM’s Health Center,” she said. “Becoming a patient at NUNM and working with an ND gave me the opportunity to connect the dots between certain lifestyle choices I was making and my health outcomes.”

Before then, Speakman said she thought the only thing that stood in the way of her healing was the correct diagnosis and the right pill to resolve her symptoms.

“While I grew up in Portland in a family with a high level of health literacy,” she said, “in my early adult years, I lost my way.”

It took many years and guidance from NUNM to put what she said were small, sustainable habit changes in place. Over time, she said they compounded into radical results that ultimately changed her life. 

As she continued to visit the NUNM clinic over the years and saw how student doctors approached their work, she said she began to imagine what it might be like to pursue a degree in healthcare and have a career as a physician.

“Seeing people around my age who were doing this was a unique experience,” she said. “It was like getting to peek behind the curtain to see how a doctor is made.” 

Upon completing her bachelor’s degree at NUNM in 2023, Speakman was further motivated to enroll in the school’s ND program. While her experience as a patient was the catalyst for to return to school, she said it was the undergraduate program that helped to affirm her initial vision of becoming an ND. 

Speakman discussed with NUNM her prior connection as a patient and how the bachelor’s program encouraged her journey to naturopathic medicine. 

NUNM: How did you go from being a patient to being a student at NUNM? 

Speakman: In my early 20s, I became a primary care patient at NUNM’s Health Center after experiencing some significant health challenges. I worked for many years as a chef in kitchens after getting my GED and during that time, struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction that was normalized in that working environment. I’d seen multiple conventional doctors to figure out the cause of my health issues, but we kept hitting walls and things progressively worsened. Lacking the direction or answers to what I was experiencing, I chose to try something different at NUNM. Upon my initial visit, the ND made two lifestyle modification suggestions (which were simple, but not necessarily easy) and said if I was able to commit to them consistently for two months and my symptoms didn’t get better, then we’d talk about pharmaceuticals. They recommended I get more and better-quality sleep, as well as drink more water. I remember leaving the clinic pretty upset, but I laugh about it now. While I was certainly not that receptive to those behavior modifications at the time, the ND had planted a seed and caused me to think that maybe I had more to do with my own health outcomes than I’d thought. As we continued to build a foundation together, I was able to get sober and dramatically improve both my health and wellbeing. These changes allowed me to be in a position to pursue higher education, which included a year of high-school-level classes prior to beginning my undergrad degree.  

What was it like to be a student in the Bachelor of Science Integrative Health Sciences (BSIHS) program?  

I remember walking out of the school after my first week of the bachelor’s program with all of my classmates and everyone collectively marveling at the experience. Being a student at NUNM felt like what we imagined it might be like at Hogwarts, with each teacher having their own domain and unique collections of herbs, utensils, lab instruments, and other medical contraptions. It’s so cool to experience all these different facets of medicine. While it’s well-rounded in the core basic sciences, it thoughtfully incorporates courses such as ethics and intercultural communication that help prepare you for a medical degree. As a small program, there’s plenty of opportunity to interact one-on-one with the teachers. They’re all people who want to be there with every fiber of their being and it’s very apparent they’re invested in each individual’s success. 

How did the BSIHS program prepare you for the ND program? 

I’m beyond grateful I found NUNM and had a pre-existing relationship with both the clinic and educational program. From day one of the ND program, we hit the ground running and it felt like I had a significant advantage because of my familiarity with the school. The BSIHS program felt like a mini-ND program, as it featured many smaller representations of larger concepts in the ND program with some of the same instructors. I understand location can be a barrier for students exploring where to get their bachelor’s degree, but if it’s a feasible option and they’re also considering an ND, I wouldn’t recommend they go anywhere else. 

What made you decide to advance and become a naturopathic doctor? 

Representation is important in healthcare. In my case, I am a trauma survivor with my own experiences of homelessness, domestic violence, addiction (and recovery). At NUNM, we learn about the social determinants of health on an academic level, but it’s different to feel it in your bones; to know what it’s like to have pieces of your history that you had no control over impacting your current health. In some of my experiences with healthcare providers, it felt like everything they knew about health disparities they had read about in a book. They didn’t quite understand on a human level, but NUNM emphasized my autonomy and the control I had over my own life to help me rewrite my own narrative. I wanted to give back to others the way NUNM did for me and be a resource for those with backgrounds of hardship, health struggles, or hopelessness to find better health through empowerment and education. I believe in being the “change you want to see” and that everyone deserves both help and a second chance.