Biography:

Dr. Atkins graduated from the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster, BC as a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND, Naturopathic Physician). He recently joined a practice with Drs. Kristen Bovee, ND, Marita Schauch, ND, and Ming Kwan, RMT at Peninsula Naturopathic Clinic in Sidney. Dr. Atkins is a general practitioner with a special interest in pain management, functional medicine, patient education, and clinical nutrition. As a naturopathic doctor he also has received training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, intravenous and other needle therapies, spinal manipulations and NMT.

Areas of Interest:

In BC, Naturopathic Doctors are trained to be general practitioners in their field and through additional training can perform a number of other therapeutic modalities.  Dr. Atkins has an interest in physical medicine, pain management, dietary and lifestyle optimization for chronic disease prevention and has received additional training in I.V. and chelation therapy, neural therapy, and FirstLine Therapy to provide the utmost level of care to his patients.

As a Child:

Michael James (MJ) Atkins grew up in Whitby, Ontario a suburb of Toronto with his parents, Mike and Joan.  Encouraged to develop his skills in science, he had aspired to become a doctor.  He attended Pringle Creek and Anderson Collegiate in Whitby, and continued with his studies to pursue a degree in Biology (BScH) at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.>

Educational Background:

During his time at Queen’s he became disenchanted with the constructs of Western Medicine due to an inherent shortsightedness by often treating mere symptoms and rarely addressing the root cause of disease.  After completing some nutrition and ethnobotany classes in university he became very interested in a preventive lifestyle as being a “cure for disease”, and becoming a catalyst for change in his own life.  These interests were piqued during a work opportunity at Zhejiang University in China where he met an American who was studying TCM who presented him with an intriguing health concept.  In TCM, diet and lifestyle comprise the foundations for health while herbal and nutritional therapies are considered adjunctive.  Indeed this concept is often downplayed in Western Medicine and has encouraged Dr. Atkins, and many others, to seek Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).  And so began his journey with Naturopathic Medicine.

Today:

Dr. Atkins is an avid cyclist who is enjoying his new life in the beautiful city of Victoria. When he isn’t participating in activities like cycling, hockey, yoga, and hiking you can find him in his kitchen preparing healthy meals. He is currently practicing with the rest of the health care team at the Peninsula Naturopathic Clinic. He enjoys making healing fun and accessible, and has helped to create educational materials for the public. He was a co-host on the internet radio program Naturopathic Radio with Dr. Brent Barlow and is interested in pursuing this further in the future (please contact if you know of any opportunities). Within the next year he also plans on creating a cooking class that not only teaches people how to cook quick and nutritious meals, but is also intended to be an integrative “food-as- medicine” course educating people on health benefits of proper nutrition.

Dr. Atkins emphasizes the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise as cornerstones of optimal health and the prevention (cure) of so many chronic illnesses. Likewise, addressing minor health concerns before they escalate is essential. It has been said that we should “treat matters of great concern lightly, treat matters of small concern seriously”. This is a philosophy that will revolutionize healthcare for those seeking to attain optimal health.