Kelly Baltazar
At the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) in Portland, Oregon, students in the College of Naturopathic Medicine are guided by a leader who understands the transformative power of their future profession on a deeply personal level.
Kelly Baltazar, ND, DC, MS, serves as the Dean of the College of Naturopathic Medicine, an attending clinician, and an Assistant Professor. Her journey to this role began not in a classroom, but on the mats as a young, competitive gymnast.
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The Patient Who Became a Doctor
When she was just 13 years old, a career-ending injury left Dr. Baltazar in persistent pain. After consulting multiple medical specialists with no relief, she was told there was nothing more that could be done. This moment of frustration sparked a personal quest for healing, leading her to naturopathic medicine.
“I was captivated by a profession that strives to find and treat the underlying cause of disease and the whole person,” Dr. Baltazar explains. “These were aspects in my own personal health care that had been missing.”
This experience set her on a path to earn her naturopathic medical degree from Bastyr University (2005), followed by a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and a Master’s degree from National University of Health Sciences (2006).
A Philosophy of Teaching and Healing
For Dr. Baltazar, being a doctor is synonymous with being a teacher—a concept embodied by the naturopathic principle docere. “It may also be why I love teaching students,” she says.
Her clinical philosophy is simple yet profound: she has witnessed the immense therapeutic power of simply being present with a patient and has repeatedly seen how “very low intervention therapies can have the greatest benefit on patients.”
This approach is backed by a rich and varied clinical career. Before joining NUNM, Dr. Baltazar served as a naturopathic oncology provider at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Chicago, where she also provided training to residents. She has been a medical volunteer for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk and has served on the board of the Illinois Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
What Students Learn from Dr. Baltazar
With eight years of teaching experience, Dr. Baltazar brings real-world practicality into the classroom. She teaches a wide range of courses, including Orthopedics, Oncology, Rheumatology, Physical Medicine, and Pediatrics. Her goal is to make every topic engaging by grounding it in clinical experience.
In the clinic, her teaching style creates a safe space for growth. “My goal is to provide students an environment in which they feel comfortable asking questions and asking for help,” she says. She hopes every student leaves their rotation having had at least one moment that pushed them beyond their comfort zone—whether performing a new physical medicine technique or sitting compassionately with a patient facing a serious diagnosis. “It is in those moments that help sculpt students into the physicians they will become.”
Advice for Future Naturopathic Doctors
Dr. Baltazar finds immense joy in witnessing her students’ “aha!” moments, from grasping a complex concept to performing their first successful spinal manipulation. She thrives on the eclectic mix of backgrounds in the student body, which she says makes every discussion engaging.
For those considering the path, she offers this advice: cultivate passion, self-motivation, and balance.
“It is a rigorous journey but the result is so rewarding,” Dr. Baltazar affirms. “Naturopathic medicine is the only profession trained to approach patient care guided by its principles and the therapeutic order. It is a very powerful and effective approach to patient care.”
