AGM Nominations

Dr. Khalili Afsoun, ND

Dear Members of the CAND Board of Directors,

It has been quite some time since I have wanted to get involved with and support our naturopathic institutions.
Therefore, when Dr. Zeifman mentioned to the faculty at CCNM that the CAND was looking for potential board members, I reached out to him to find out what the membership would entail. Based on our conversation, I am eager and excited at the prospect of joining you and serving the national naturopathic community together.

As a full time faculty member at CCNM, and someone who is in private practice and a clinic owner, I feel that I have this unique position of understanding the needs of our community not only from the perspective of being an educator, but also from the standpoint of being in private practice and a business owner.

Furthermore, CCNM has students from all over Canada, the United States and even other parts of the world and as a result, I feel invested in the well-being of our profession nationally and internationally. I believe being a CAND board member, will provide the opportunity for me to get involved on the national level where we can together support the profession and help it grow and flourish further all over the country—in every province and territory.

With respect to previous experience, I served as the faculty rep on the Board of Governors of CCNM for a total of 11 years from 2005 to 2016, and as such am familiar with how boards operate, govern, make decisions and inspire.  I was also the chairperson and president of CCNM Faculty Council from 2005 to 2008 and represented the faculty on the Curriculum board Committee from Jan. 09 to Jan. 2020. I continue to serve on several CCNM committees and I mentor many NDs in private practice. I am a team player, dedicated and loyal to the profession and service oriented. My skills as a faculty member, a business owner and a practitioner can all help understand the needs of our naturopathic community in Canada.

In terms of my current employment and practice details—I am a full time faculty member at CCNM—since September of 2003 where I did a 2-year residency and since 2005, I have supervised 3 clinic shifts at the RSNC.  Currently, in addition to my three shifts, I teach a few different courses, namely a 3rd year elective course in clinical nutrition as well as year one and year two clinic observation and reflection courses. In addition to working at CCNM—I own 2 clinics one in North York and one in Waterdown Ontario where I see patients and have a few associates and essentially run 2 businesses.

I am passionate about the future of our profession in Canada and look forward to having the opportunity to serve the CAND and make a positive contribution to our naturopathic community.

Sincerely,
Dr. Afsoun Khalili BSc, ND
Associate Professor, Clinic Faculty
Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine
1255 Sheppard Avenue East
Toronto, ON M2K 1E2

Dr. Jason Bachewich, ND

CAND Board Nomination Candidate: Dr. Jason Bachewich ND

I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to become a Board Director as this perfectly aligns with my goal of representing our profession on a national level. I am eager to help the organization develop policies and goals to bring greater acceptance and awareness of the benefits, education and skills Naturopathic Doctors can provide during the healthcare crisis the nation is witnessing.

I have eagerly participated in governing as a student, as the science representative at my undergrad university and the clinic representative at CCNM. Since moving back to Winnipeg, I have volunteered as an examinations committee member and been an active participant on the provincial regulatory board for over 14 years; holding the title of Board Member, Secretary and currently on a second term as President. My duties have included representing the board during government relations when our umbrella act governing all regulated healthcare professions in the province was undertaking a rewriting period. I have also represented our profession at federal Health Canada meetings regarding Tick born infections and policy in Ottawa.

My wife, Dr. Mary Anne Hembroff ND and myself own Nature Doctors, Manitoba’s largest integrative health clinic that includes 9 ND’s, 1 Nurse Practitioner, 2 Acupuncturists, 2 Massage Therapists, a Holistic Nutritionist and a Counsellor. Our experience over the last 18 years has taught us how to lead, how to listen, how to compromise and how to make the hard decisions necessary when working with a large group of diverse and passionate individuals.

I graduated with a BSc honors from Brandon University (Botany and Zoology) and started my Masters degree in Mycology at the University of Toronto. During my education at CCNM, I served as the student representative for Metagenics and continued with them as a Clinical Advisor for 3 years after graduation. I have lectured on many topics internationally (US, Mexico, Indonesia) and nationally including presenting at the OAND and SANP on Lyme and Infectious Diseases. In my spare time, I partnered with 2 other people to start a supplement company that supplied Vit. D supplements to China.

My practice focuses on complex patients involving hidden infections, toxicity and autoimmune conditions. My involvement with the local Lyme community lead me to make connections with a few infectious disease doctors. This relationship developed into being a contributing member of the TICCS clinic in Winnipeg – Canada’s first publicly funded Tick born infection clinic. I helped determine entrance requirements, took part in round table discussions with specialists regarding difficult patients and helped to bring awareness to other factors including diet, lifestyle, environmental factors and nutritional deficiencies that contribute to a patient responding or not to conventional therapies.

Thank you for your consideration.