Meet Dr. Rowin
Dr. Julie Rowin MD is board certified in Neurology, Neuromuscular Medicine and Integrative Medicine. She is unique amongst neurologists in that she practices holistically and has additional training in Medical Acupuncture, Yoga and Ayurvedic Medicine.
Her holistic healing approach to the treatment of adult neurological conditions integrates nutrition, acupuncture and mind-body energetics with conventional medical management.
Her treatments are designed to promote the most gentle way to help you restore your body to balance. Dr. Rowin partners with you to create hope, health, and healing.
Dr. Rowin combines modern conventional diagnostic and treatment approaches with integrative, functional and holistic strategies to help you on your path to wellness. Dr. Rowin goes beyond treating your symptoms and searches for the root cause of your disease with the goal to reverse illness and repair the body. In order to accomplish this, she uses a detailed medical history to get to know your lifestyle, dietary habits and life stressors.
Dr. Rowin will search for underlying triggers that are contributing to your illness through cutting-edge testing and tailor the intervention to your specific needs. Her approach is personalized and individualized; every patient is unique.
My Philosophy
I believe that our bodies have an innate intelligence for healing.
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Disease (Dis ‘ease’) in the body is often due to a bystander effect or collateral damage from our body’s attempt to defend itself from persistent environmental triggers such as toxins, processed foods, stress, and chronic infections.
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To effectively heal, it is essential to search for and remove the environmental trigger(s) whenever possible, and then provide the body with the needed diet, nutrients and mind-body interventions to promote repair.
Bio
Dr. Julie Rowin is a board-certified neurologist, neuromuscular specialist and acupuncturist. She completed her medical school training and Internship in Chicago at Northwestern University Medical School in 1993. She went on to do her Residency and Fellowship training in Neurology, Neuromuscular Medicine and Electromyography at Rush University. She was Assistant Professor of Neurology at Rush University from 1998-2004. Then from 2004-2013, she was Associate Professor of Neurology and founding director of the MDA/ALS Center and MDA Clinics in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Rowin has been actively involved in medical student, resident and fellow teaching, notably serving as the director of the clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Rush University Medical Center from 2001-2004. Dr. Rowin has served on the Neuromuscular Medicine Accreditation Committee for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and as an oral board examiner. She has provided medical and scientific input as a member of the Medical Advisory Boards for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, serving as the chair of the Medical Advisory Board for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of Illinois. She has been a reviewer for the journals Neurology, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, JAMA, Muscle and Nerve and the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.
Dr. Rowin became interested in Functional Medicine and Acupuncture in 2012 and is currently in private practice in the Chicagoland area.
She has obtained additional board certification in Integrative Medicine and Medical Acupuncture. She also has training in Ayurveda (certification in Ayurvedic health counseling, 2008-9), Acupuncture (Helms Medical Acupuncture Course for Physicians, 2014-5) and Yoga (200-hour yoga teacher training). Her holistic healing approach to the treatment of adult neurological conditions integrates nutrition, acupuncture, mind-body energetics with conventional medical management.
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Dr. Rowin is a sought-after public speaker, leader, educator and author on the subject of disease prevention and integrative management of neurological and neuromuscular disease. Her research interest includes the health benefits of Farm to Table eating. She also works in collaboration with the University of Illinois Department of Medicine regarding microbiome health and gut health in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She has 37 peer reviewed original scientific research articles, 22 platform and abstract presentations, and 7 book chapters and invited reviews. She has done 12 international and national invited lectures. She has several distinguished awards for her work in ALS including “The Iron Horse Award” from the ALS Association, “Ben Byer ALS Awareness Award”, and “The Hilda Glassman Award for Clinical Management Research” from the ALS Association. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and has been involved in numerous public speaking engagements on the topic of integrative and functional medicine management of neurological and neuromuscular disease.
Conditions I Treat
As a board-certified neurologist and neuromuscular specialist, Dr. Rowin sees patients with neurological conditions such as neuropathy, neurodegenerative diseases, myasthenia gravis, pain syndromes and cognitive and mood disorders.
She has a special interest in autoimmune disease and how gut health and stress relate to neurological disease.
My Story
This is my story of transforming from a traditional medical doctor to an integrative healer. Several life experiences have shaped the way I practice medicine and healing, each one molding me and changing my understanding and beliefs about healing and gratitude. At the age of 19, I was violently assaulted by an unknown person on the streets of Los Angeles. At the time this was traumatic both because my life was threatened and because I was violated. However, over time I’ve grown to be grateful for what I’ve learned from the experience because it showed me that the world needed caring healers. And it was through feeling alone and abandoned in the aftermath that I saw my way to helping others. Without this event, I probably wouldn’t have found my true calling.
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Afterwards, I did a complete 180 degree turn in my education and obtained my MD degree. This was only the beginning of my transformation. After medical training, I worked in academic medicine as a neurologist and neuromuscular specialist for nearly 20 years, enjoying most of it. But the endless stress, the disconnect with the medical/pharmaceutical industry and the new corporate face of US medicine took its toll. I found myself getting sick. I was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. When I realized that I didn’t want to take the very medication that I prescribed to patients nearly daily, as I knew all too well the side effects of this particular medication, I knew I had to change the way I practiced.
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In medical school, we were taught to approach disease with pharmaceutical and surgical intervention. In certain situations, this is an effective method of treatment, but I knew there was more to learn. I began to explore integrative and holistic methods of healing. After finding success with my own disease, I took a major turn in my career path toward natural healing. I couldn’t continue to treat patients by limiting therapy to medications without considering the root cause or the “why” of the illness. I needed to change. I eventually found and embraced functional medicine principles. I became board certified in integrative medicine and medical acupuncture. Reversing my own disease made me a true believer.
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As a neurologist, I now incorporate everything I’ve learned from my 15 years of yoga and meditation practice, yoga teacher training, energy healing and Ayurvedic training. I advocate food as medicine, natural supplements and a healthy lifestyle. The more patients I see, the more I connect with the intuitive side of healing. I recognize the importance of connectedness, and I bring spirituality into my work and daily life as I believe that caring for our spirit and our planet is part of this process. This makes my work joyful and effortless. I’ve truly found my path, and I believe that the body has an immense ability to heal itself. I’ve witnessed miraculous recoveries from courageous people who are willing to take the plunge to change their lifestyle, improve nutrition and embrace natural healing.
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I still use medications, but almost never in isolation. My goal with patients is to work towards less medication and more vitality. I feel blessed and grateful every day to be a witness to my patients’ healing journeys. I’m committed to continued learning, and to sharing my knowledge and passion of holistic healing with others.
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It’s an honor to share my story with you.
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Contact
Julie Rowin, MD LLC, Integrative Neurology
Verde Valley Naturopathic Medicine
1835 W. State Route 89A, Suite 3
Sedona, AZ 86336
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For Appointments and Inquiries:
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For more information and new patient forms visit: VVNaturopathic.com