Meet Dr. Sandy

With over 17 years of private practice and hospital experience, Dr. Sandy Colvard is an accomplished Naturopathic Physician specializing in integrative cancer care.  While a cancer diagnosis can be daunting, Dr. Colvard is here to help you on your personalized healing journey, regardless of stage or choice of treatment methods. Dr. Colvard believes in an integrative approach to cancer and has worked with some of the nation’s top clinical and academic oncologists, as well as a myriad of alternative therapy providers and modalities. She believes there is no “one-size fits all” model to cancer.

Using researched-based supplementation and treatments to avoid drug interaction and limit side effects, Dr. Colvard works seamlessly with the provider team of your choice to curate a healing process that works for you. In addition to Oncology, Dr, Colvard has several additional specializations honed through clinical & private practice. She has a particular interest and expertise in anxiety/depression and grief and finds this work to be a key component in aiding her cancer patients, as well as supporting their families/loved ones. Dr. Colvard has always been particularly intrigued by the role the brain plays in overall health, and how emotional states affect our health on all levels: physical, mental, and spiritual. From her work as a Primary Care Physician, she is also well-versed in hormonal imbalances, thyroid/adrenal fatigues, autoimmune conditions, GI issues, chronic disease, and neurology. Dr. Colvard uses various aspects of these specializations frequently in her cancer care to promote overall whole health.

Dr. Colvard knows “all too well” of the toll a cancer diagnosis can have – both on the patient and on the patient’s loved ones.  Having lost her mother to a rare and undiagnosed type of lymphoma while she was in medical school, Dr. Colvard’s resolve to care passionately and tenderly for cancer patients only strengthened as she finished her training while simultaneously grieving the loss of her mom.  Spurred by frustration from the lack of answers during her own mother’s battle with the illness, Dr. Colvard has devoted her career to furthering our understanding of the science behind cancer diagnosis and researching safe, supportive, natural cancer care that focuses on the whole person: body, mind & spirit.

Dr. Colvard is currently practicing at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute at the University of California, Irvine. Working in both clinical practice and academia, Dr. Colvard works one-on-one with Cancer patients and in Cancer Survivorship, leading Cancer Remission Group Medical visits in Southern California.

Prior to her position with UCI, Dr. Colvard served as the Director of Integrative Training for CHI Healthcare: a non-profit, multi-disciplinary, primary care clinic in the Washington, DC area.  As part of the executive leadership team at CHI, she was responsible for weekly Grand Rounds to discuss patient care from an integrative perspective, teaching fellow practitioners, and collaborating about alternative/natural methods to address illness/disease and chronic conditions.

Dr. Colvard also served as a Naturopathic Physician at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) hospitals in both Atlanta, GA and Philadelphia, PA: treating patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings. At CTCA, Dr. Colvard supported patients undergoing treatment for all types and stages of cancer. She also gained specific experience and unique expertise in hematologic cancers and autologous stem cell transplants during her tenure.

While working at CTCA, she attained her board certification as a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO). The American Board of Naturopathic Oncology – the board certification branch of the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP) – provides the most rigorous additional education and certification available for Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) interested in cancer care in North America and worldwide. Designation as a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO) requires meeting a strict set of criteria. Naturopathic physicians with a FABNO designation are committed to excellence in integrative oncology and to furthering the science and knowledge for the benefit of patients.

Today, Dr. Colvard is a nationally recognized and licensed Naturopathic Doctor, cancer expert, educator, radio/podcast guest, and speaker. She also facilitates a variety of workshops/groups and lectures on Cultural Competency for LGBTQ+ Healthcarenationwide.

Dr. Colvard is a graduate of Sonoran University (formerly Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine) in Tempe, AZ. She has a myriad of teaching experience, having served as Attending Physician to both Primary Care and Oncology Resident Physicians in several settings. She was also honored to return to Sonoran as Clinical Science Faculty. As a faculty member, Dr. Colvard was honored to receive the prestigious Graduating Class Clinical Faculty Award for her “devotion to and love of teaching, enthusiasm, patience, and compassion, instructional excellence, and demonstration of commitment to the college and to the profession.” She is also a proud alumnus of Smith College in Northampton, MA, having earned her Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) in Neuroscience.

An athlete for many years, Dr. Colvard enjoys playing competitive softball and volleyball. She loves using both sides of her brain, as she has also performed as a singer, dancer, and actor! Some of her favorite activities and proudest accomplishments include having her own well-known band in the Washington, DC area and acting in many theatrical productions. In her free time, she loves going to the theatre, ballroom dancing, fine dining, singing karaoke, and playing with her Shetland Sheepdogs.