Growing up on the Comstock
Dr. Van Dyke was born and raised in Northern Nevada. He spent most of his time in the Sierra Nevada mountains in a small historic mining town of Virginia City near Reno and Lake Tahoe. In this small town of less than 750 people he learned the importance of community and service to others. He enjoyed the mountain lifestyle with lots of hiking, biking, camping, fishing, sledding and skiing. He was very active in Boy Scouts and in sports, especially basketball, volleyball, and even an after-school gym hockey league for a number of years. After graduating high school, Dr. Van Dyke served in the United States Army in communications for 4 years. While living in Las Vegas, Nevada, he pursued a career in computer and information technology, becoming very adept at diagnosing and correcting telecommunications systems. In addition to his analytic skills, he was always interested in nutrition and how the body functioned and adapted, which led him to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition with a focus on Sports Nutrition.
What are those tables doing here?
Dr. Van Dyke was raised to utilize food as medicine, which is what drove his passion for nutrition. As a young boy, his family enjoyed making homemade herbal remedies and he was fortunate enough to experience chiropractic care to support his health. Despite growing up with a strong background in using naturopathic methods and principles, it was not until he was halfway through his bachelor program that he discovered there was such thing as a naturopathic doctor. While he was visiting Bastyr University in Washington to explore continuing in a Masters of Nutrition program, he saw the spinal adjusting tables, which peeked his interest – “what are those doing here?”. He began asking a lot of questions to the naturopathic student running the tour and the admissions advisor, to which he discovered all the offerings of naturopathic medicine. From that point on he knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life which was to become a Naturopathic Doctor. After his trip to Washington, he became more aware of the options for health care and the role & outcomes of using naturopathic medicine versus conventional medicine. He was extremely excited for the next adventure as he pursued the next stage of his career – attending Bastyr University to become a Naturopathic Doctor.
Gathering more knowledge
Always interested in gaining more information, Dr Van Dyke also completed a second degree program at Bastyr University, earning a Master of Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine. He was able to attend a 3-week externship in China observing herbal and acupuncture treatments at ChengDu and Shanghai University hospitals. He discovered that the combination of using natural medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine allowed for an even deeper understanding of complimentary and integrative healing systems. Dr. Van Dyke completed three years of residency, one of which focused on non-opioid pain management. After residency he joined the staff at the Neil Riordan Center for Regenerative Medicine where he treated acute and chronic conditions for all ages with non-opioid pain management including acupuncture, regenerative injection therapies, spinal and fascial manipulation, nutrition, and nature cure. He also taught orthopedics and physical manipulation therapy to medical students at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine (SCNM).
On becoming a Canadian Goose
By happy circumstance while living in Arizona, he met a former SCNM graduate which resulted in him often visiting the Edmonton and Red Deer area over the next few years. After exploring his options, he followed his heart and moved north to Red Deer to continue his particular style of blending naturopathic and traditional Chinese medicines in managing complex conditions and helping people succeed on their health journeys. In his spare time, he enjoys following his passions for cooking a wide variety of foods, watching movies, re-learning how to ski, and spending as much time with his wife and their cats as time allows.
Dr. Van Dyke has held licensure for naturopathic medicine and acupuncture in the states of Washington and Arizona and currently is a member in good standing of both the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta (CNDA) and the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND).