NAEM Evolves
In 2008, Walter Crinnion ND, Jessica Tran ND and Lyn Patrick ND began a discussion about the necessity of creating a specialty organization that would serve to provide clinical guidelines and specialization in environmental medicine for naturopathic physicians and allied primary care providers. In the ensuing 2 years they developed Bylaws, criteria for membership, and created a Board of Directors.
2008
2010 - Naem Created
Thanks to generous contributions from the alumni of Dr. Crinnion’s Spiritmed Clinical Training in Environmental Medicine postgraduate program, the Naturopathic Association of Environmental Medicine was legally created as a non-profit member organization in 2010. It was also provisionally accepted by the AANP as a specialty organization.
The first Board of Directors meeting in Sept. of 2011 included: Walter Crinnion ND, Jessica Tran ND, Chris Spooner ND, Christina Youngren ND, Soram Khalsa MD, Dot Merritt MD and Lyn Patrick ND. Other past Board of Directors are Sarah Rogers ND, Marianne Marchese ND, and Doug Cutler ND. Since then, the Naturopathic Academy of Environmental Medicine has served the medical community by providing quality environmental medicine education from a naturopathic foundation.
2011
2011 - Bylaws were adopted
As our organization has evolved, it has become clear that there is a need for us to serve a wider audience of health care providers. In 2011, Bylaws were adopted to allow membership for licensed healthcare providers- MD, DO, RN, ND, PA, DC, and LAc. The membership has grown steadily throughout the decade to its current 200+ members and includes international members from Canada and China.
NAEM begins producing webinars by speakers including Drs. Walter Crinnion, Paul Anderson, Lyn Patrick, Marianne Marchese, Joe Pizzorno, Mary Cordaro, Bonnie Nedrow, Kelly McCann, John Hibbs, Anne Marie Fine, Louise Tolzmann, Laura Chan and Bob Miller. This body of work represents the beginning of providing our members with the current and relevant updates in Environmental Medicine.
2014
2016
First annual board retreat in San Diego. The board identifies areas of focus leading to a refinement of the Mission and Vision to focus more clearly on providing clinicians with best-practice Environmental Medicine training. The board recognized the challenge many clinicians face when integrating Environmental Medicine into day-to-day practice. Not only is the field extremely broad, it is also one of the fastest changing fields in medicine today.
Environmental Medicine Bootcamp, the first one day conference presented in Portland, Oregon. While the extent of the chemical problems was presented, the focus of the conference was on solutions including assessing and treating water, depuration practices and appropriate testing and chelation of metals.
2017
2018
Second conference in Irvine California, Clinical Tools and Applications of Environmental Medicine. This conference launched the NAEM Toolbox: The Environmental Health Questionnaire (EHQ), the Timeline and the Clinical Guidelines. Following the foundations of the EHQ and Timeline taught to many of us by Walter Crinnion, the board worked tirelessly to refine, re-organize and expand the EHQ. The foundations for the Clinical Guide were laid; this tool is designed for the clinician to interpret the positive findings on the EHQ.
Dr. Bill Rea, often seen as the grandfather of environmental medicine, passed on August 16. Dr. Rea was a mentor to many of us and an icon in environmental medicine. He was often not only years, but decades ahead of his time in. recognizing the health effects of both chemicals and electromagnetic radiation. His leadership has inspired NAEM to include a focus on the huge impact EMR has on health.
2018
2018
In 2018 the Board and voting members of the organization felt that both the organization and the greater health care community would benefit from a more inclusive name. The NAEM Vision Statement declares that “Our goal is to help every clinician easily access and apply fundamental and advanced environmental medicine principles to restore and improve the health of their patients.” With this vision in mind, the current NAEM Board of Directors and the voting members of the organization overwhelmingly voted to rename the organization to the National Association of Environmental Medicine.
Dr. Walter Crinnion, the teacher of so many environmental medicine practitioners and the founding president of NAEM, unexpectedly passes away. Every so often there is a visionary who we encounter in our lives that lights the torch of illumination so brightly, we cannot look away. Dr Walter Crinnion is that man who enlightened us in the crucial role Environmental Medicine plays in the care of our patients. Walter’s vision never wavered; he led the way for thousands of healthcare practitioners to practice this medicine. While these are big shoes to fill, NAEM has pledged to do our part to keep his vision alive.
2019
2019
Dr. Lyn Patrick, after being our brave leader as President of NAEM for two full terms since 2011, passes the torch to our current president, Dr. Bonnie Nedrow. Lyn was the rock of NAEM for so many years; without her faith, commitment and foresight we would not be here today.
NAEM is offering two conferences, an updated and expanded Clinical Guidelines for members and this new website. We hope to continue to serve our environmental community and expand the practice of Environmental Medicine for years to come.
2020
2022
In 2022 we had our first in-person gathering at the Environmental Health Symposium. We gave many many hugs! It was great to get together after such a long hiatus. The connection fueled us with rekindled passion for environmental medicine and we are all looking forward to the future that awaits.
2023
The NAEM Board had an inspirational and energizing retreat in beautiful Julian, CA in June. We came away with a renewed focus on taking NAEM to the next level and a commitment to our membership to continue to advance our educational programs and community fellowship.
