homeopathy (remedies made from herbs, plants, minerals and other natural ingredients) and laboratory, allergy and other testing. Mehdi Khosh and Beneda also treat patients at the Satsun Center of Integrative Health Care in Overland Park offering family medicine; naturopathy; acupuncture and Chinese medicine; mental health and wellness; bodywork and energy healing and nutrition and lifestyle coaching. Regardless of location, their approach is not a replacement for primary care, Mehdi Khosh says. Rather, he sees it as a collaboration with a patient’s other physicians to treat illness, fortify the body’s natural defenses and build a base for long-term health. “It is a partnership,” Farhang Khosh agrees. “I want to establish a very healthy relationship with the other doctors here for the sake of the patients.” While naturopathy is still relatively new in Kansas, it’s a long-held family tradition for the Khosh brothers. They grew up in Iran, grandsons of a well-regarded physician and direct descendants of Avicenna, who is considered one of medieval Persia’s most influential philosophers and scientists.
But when the post-Islamic revolution government began persecuting non-Muslims in the 1980s, the Khoshes, who belong to the Bahá’í Faith, fled to Pakistan. Farhang traveled with a guide, but Mehdi and a friend set out alone. They were stopped at the border, where guards took their possessions and threatened to kill them. Then an amazing thing happened. The militia leader recognized Mehdi Khosh as a relative of his own family’s doctor. “My grandpa had treated his family in the past. Because of that, he let us go free,” Mehdi Khosh recalled. “I decided then to go into medicine.”
in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University, joined Farhang (her husband) and Mehdi at their clinic in 2008 after six years in integrative medicine at KU.
Left to right: Deena Beneda, Farhang Khosh and Mehdi Khosh operate Natural Medical Care, a stand-alone practice in Lawrence.
The practice is going strong now, but it wasn’t an easy start. Sixteen years ago, Lawrence was welcoming but largely unfamiliar with naturopathy. So, the Khoshes gave seminars, talked to the media and published articles. They began attracting new patients, but soon faced another challenge: licensing. Kansas at that time did not license naturopathic doctors, so the Khoshes practiced under
Mehdi Khosh shows the various naturopathic medicines at Natural Medical Care.
Farhang and Mehdi Khosh reunited in Pakistan before making their way to the U.S. They both earned bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry from KU and doctorates in naturopathic medicine from Seattle’s Bastyr University. They completed their residencies in Wichita, and then returned to Lawrence. The Khoshes established Natural Medical Care in 1999. Beneda, who has a B.S. in organismal biology from KU and a doctorate
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