Meet Dr. Dennis Godby
 Hello, I am Dr. Dennis Godby, ND.
As a naturopathic doctor, I have witnessed the
power of a preventative lifestyle and
naturopathic medicine to transform the health
and lives of thousands of patients over the last
6+ years. To nationally share this extremely
good news - how to prevent the preventable - I
founded The
Run: Moving Natural Medicine Forward, and
ran 3,200 miles across the USA, at a 30 mile per
day clip, over 4 months, to promote a healthier
America and to increase the visibility of
naturopathic medicine (see
www.TheRun.org).
After talking to thousands of people across 16
states and Washington, DC, over 124 days on the
highways and biways of America, there is a
virtual consensus among the American people that
our nation is not preventing the preventable,
that our very lifestyles are killing us, and
that as a nation, we are overusing
pharmaceutical drugs!
I grew up using
conventional medicine, as many of you probably did.
My mother was a Registered Nurse (RN), which
afforded me the opportunity of hearing many amazing
hospital stories. Over her 34 years of nursing she
provided care for generations of families throughout
the community. To this day, it is the stories of her
compassionate care for the “whole” patient and their
extended family that serve as an inspiration for my
work in the field of medicine.
What made sense to me as early as my high school
years was what we now refer to as preventative
medicine. I became very passionate about exercise,
while training for track, and other sports. Through
running, I discovered the mind-body-spirit
connection. I experienced the power of endorphins,
also known as the “runner’s high,” long before I
studied about these hormones in physiology class. I
became a lifelong runner, while also enjoying other
rigorous activities such as lake swimming, bicycle
commuting, and hiking.
From my earliest memories, I have had a deep
appreciation for food and healthy eating. Growing up
with California’s abundant fresh fruit and
vegetables, a mother that grew up on a farm and
provided many meals for frequent guests, I became
interested in nutrition at an early age. After
taking a college fitness appreciation class, I
changed my major to Health and P.E., emphasizing
exercise physiology and nutrition. To encourage
running and physical fitness I organized family “fun
runs” in my college community. To test the limits of
human endurance and promote physical fitness and
nutrition I ran to Alberta, Canada, from Corvallis,
Oregon, attempting the longest run ever, without a
support team. Running 39 miles a day, alone, for 37
days, over the Cascades and Canadian Rockies, pushed
my physical and mental limits, and also provided a
tremendous source of spiritual growth.
After college I became more aware of the African
famines and world hunger, and thus began my
increased involvement in social justice work. It was
hard for me to imagine people dying and not reaching
their potential, simply because of a lack of food,
which most Americans took for granted. After much
study and traveling throughout the U.S. on a
“Journey of Truth,” I spent the next decade working
as a community organizer for peace and justice in
Latin America. I had the opportunity along the way
to meet and advocate for Salvadorean and Guatemalan
refugees being protected in the Sanctuary Movement.
I was fortunate to be able to make many journeys to
Central and South America. I learned Spanish, and
fell in love with the Latin American people and
culture. Again, using running as the way that I
could best contribute my energies towards peace and
justice in Central America, I organized and ran
across the North American continent, from San
Francisco to Washington, D.C. This 3,006 mile run
took place over a 16 week period, in the middle of
winter, and became known as a “run of conscience”.
Having the yearning for a deeper spirituality, and
more academic grounding, I attended the Maryknoll
School of Theology, receiving a fellowship, for
which I will forever be grateful. After receiving my
M.A. in Theological Studies, with an emphasis in
social justice and peace, I taught high school
religious studies courses and public school E.S.L.
classes, for over a decade. My students and
colleagues had a profound impact on my life! It was
here that I discovered that the most significant
element in the learning process as a teacher was not
in imparting information to students, but in
developing genuine relationships with my students.
Interactive relationships provided a much greater
opportunity for education to flourish and this
experience has provided the backbone of my medical
practice today.
.
Leaving teaching was emotionally difficult, but I
left with a leap of faith that there was something
else I was supposed to do: to articulate the
body-mind-spirit relationship of holistic health as
a physician-teacher of natural medicine. For the
next six years, I attended and graduated from the
National College of Naturopathic Medicine in
Portland. I now have the opportunity and the
privilege to practice medicine in California as a
licensed primary care provider; I can do what I love
– helping people to not only optimize their health
and energy, but to also improve the overall quality
of their life. I feel honored that I am able to make
a difference in the lives of my patients.
After witnessing the struggle of my mother and other
family members with type 2 diabetes – an almost
completely preventable disease - I made the
commitment to spend the rest of my professional life
on the prevention, treatment and reversal of
diabetes and the many other chronic conditions.
My goal as a naturopathic doctor and teacher is to
assist patients in living to their fullest health
potential, physically, psychologically, emotionally
and spiritually.
Preventing illness is the primary goal in
naturopathic medicine. However, when a person
becomes out of balance, and has a "dis-ease" or is
not optimally healthy, the first principle of
naturopathic doctors is to do no harm - to utilize
the most natural, non-toxic, and the least invasive
therapies first. Another high priority for an NMD is
finding the underlying cause(s) of illness, not
merely treating symptoms, therefore, hundreds of
disgnostic and functional medical labs are available
to help diagnose.
In order for any treatment plan to work, it must be
practical, easy to understand and implement,
affordable, and most importantly, it must be
prescribed and individualized for each patients'
needs. The only ideal treatment plan is one that
patients will actually commit to using.
Credentials – Dr. Dennis Godby, BS, MA, ND
Education and Training
-
Functional Diagnostic Medicine Training
Program, Functional Medicine University, 2008
-
Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine, National
College of Naturopathic Medicine, Portland,
Oregon, 2004
-
Masters of Arts, Theological Studies,
Maryknoll School of Theology, Maryknoll, NY,
1990
-
Bachelors of Science, Exercise Physiology,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 1979
-
Certified Seminar Leader, American Seminar
Leader’s Association, Pasadena, CA
Credentials
Affiliations/Experience
-
Sutter Center for Integrative Health
Complementary Medicine Affiliate, Sacramento, CA
- Diabetes Wellness Coach, Sutter Connect, Sacramento,
CA, (2005-2006)
- High School Social Justice Religious Studies
Teacher, LaSalle High School,
Milwaukie, OR; Sacred Heart Cathedral, San
Francisco, CA, (1991-1998)
- Community Peace and Justice Activist (1982-1991)
Author
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