Learn True Health With Ashley James

This Learn True Health episode features Dr. Heidi Semanie, who, after the following experience, obtained her Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University. She also has a B.S. in Biological Science with minor degrees in English and Anthropology. No level of education, no number of degrees could have prepared her for her extremely challenging three months as a paramedic in the horrific aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She describes the magnitude of work, of need, of the devastation she saw. It was like a war zone with looting and police escorts. Imagine seeing a bathtub in a tree, houses piled on top of each other, dead bodies that you must remove from the raging river. Before this experience Dr. Semanie had wanted to become a trauma surgeon, but having seen what she saw, having been so intimately involved, “I just thought that I didn’t want to be the person somebody saw once a year to check in. I wanted to be somebody who could be on the ground, helping, hands-on.” Dr. Semanie describes her student