Dr. Shabita Teja, ND + Pharmacist

Her Story

Diagnosed at 22, in the middle of pharmacy school

I was 22 and in the middle of pharmacy school when I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I understood the pharmacology of my own medications better than most patients ever get to, and it still wasn't enough — within a few years I'd had two surgeries: first an ileostomy, then a J-pouch. I've lived without a colon ever since.

Two systems, one patient

Pharmacy school taught me how drugs work. Living with IBD taught me what a prescription doesn't fix — the fear before a flare, the logistics of an ostomy bag, the quiet toll chronic illness takes on a life outside the exam room. That gap is why I went back to school again, this time to the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine.

Today I practice at the intersection of both trainings. I'm not choosing between conventional and natural medicine — I'm using whichever tool actually fits the problem in front of me, informed by having been the patient as much as the provider.

Why I take longer appointments

A big part of why I built my practice this way is time.[Exact appointment length to be confirmed before publishing] — but first appointments run well beyond a typical visit, because most of what actually helps a patient doesn't fit into a 10-minute slot: the full history, the medication list nobody's looked at together, the questions people don't ask until someone actually has time to listen.

Beyond the clinic

Outside the clinic, I'm a mom to two boys, and I also live with chronic pain — I was one of the first women in BC to receive a spinal cord stimulator to manage it. Between the ostomy, the J-pouch, and the stimulator, I've spent a lot of time on the other side of the table, and it shapes every plan I build with a patient.

I've also stayed involved in the community around IBD and integrative health: I serve on the Board of Directors for United Ostomy Canada, and I've written for South Asian Woman, Natural Selections, and naturopathic clinic sites including Vitalia Health, plus weekly wellness segments for Country 107.1FM.

My hope is simple: that patients leave feeling like someone actually saw the whole picture — not just the diagnosis, but the person living with it.