Dr. Walter Fernyhough
Take Flight Osteopathic Wellness
5013 50 Street, Olds, AB, T4H 1P5
I was born in Northern Saskatchewan, then was moved to BC at 3 months of age. Growing up in Richmond, BC I was signed up for field hockey at a young age, which I stayed with until my early 20s. I loved sports and played school rugby, football, and volleyball. At a young age I also played badminton, and wasn’t too bad as I recall. I may have to challenge Christal to a game one of these days! I worked in construction in my 20s and early 30s before going back to school to learn naturopathic medicine. After obtaining 3 years of university, I qualified to attend the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto. I returned to BC to finish the last two years of my medical school training at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine. I graduated in 2007 and got my BC naturopathic license the same year. I moved to Alberta in July of 2024 after 15 years of running my own naturopathic clinic in Abbotsford, BC. During this time, I doctored for a Junior A and a Junior B hockey team. The first year I was with the Junior B team (the Pilots), we won the western championships. As a licensed naturopathic doctor I am trained as a primary care physician in western medicine, which means being familiar with all types of western diagnosis and treatment. I was also trained in Chinese Medicine (including acupuncture), modified chiropractic, and homeopathy. Even though I do not use Chinese medicine and chiropractic manipulation in practice, I am glad I learned them so I can understand their strengths and weaknesses for my patients who are experiencing, or wanting to experience, these modalities. The majority of my practice involves treating hormone imbalances , including sex hormones (male and female), thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones, and growth hormone. I also work a lot with musculoskeletal issues, chronic and acute infections, skin issues, toxicity issues (including heavy metals), and cardiovascular issues. I have extensive experience in prolotherapy, naturopathic injections, ozone therapies, chelation therapies, and IV therapies, and was certified to prescribe pharmaceutical medications in BC, which is not yet permitted under an Alberta license.
Naturopathic physicians (NDs) have extensive training in Western medicine (including pharmaceutical medications, and all forms of western medical diagnosis), but are also trained in nutrition, herbal medicine, Chinese medicine, and homeopathic medicine (Dr. Fernyhough was trained in, but does not practice, Chinese and homeopathic medicine). Some skills and certifications are acquired outside the regular naturopathic colleges. Dr. Fernyhough adds prolotherapy and other injection therapies, ozone and other oxidative therapies, chelation and other intravenous therapies, and bio-identical hormones to the list of extra skills and certifications (note: Alberta NDs (including Dr. Fernyhough) are not presently authorized to prescribe pharmaceutical medications, including bio-identical hormones, but Dr. Fernyhough has extensive experience prescribing these medications for the past 15 years while licensed in BC).