Eric Dorninger
ND, LAc
Eric Dorninger completed his doctor of naturopathic medicine and his master’s degree in acupuncture at Bastyr University in 2003.
Dr. Eric Dorninger graduated pre-med from University of Colorado, Boulder in 1997. Highlights during undergrad included volunteering for Porter Care Hospice, shadowing renowned herbalist Brigette Mars, and earning his EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) certificate. This dual exposure of medical perspectives laid down the roots for Dr. Dorninger’s integrated approach to diagnosis, treatment, and healing.
Following undergrad, Dr. Dorninger served as an EMT for the Cranford First Aid Squad in Cranford, NJ. Thereafter, he completed his naturopathic doctor (ND) degree program and master’s degree in acupuncture at Bastyr University in 2003. He then returned to Boulder, Colorado to complete a 2-year residency in naturopathic primary care.
In 2005, Dr. Dorninger founded Roots and Branches Integrative Health Care, a clinic dedicated to “Mystery Illness” where he focuses on elucidating the underlying causes of unrelenting chronic illness. Dr. Dorninger is not concerned with what you have as much as he is with why you have it. He has dedicated his professional life to a deeper understanding of differential diagnosis based in the tradition of “Remove Obstacles to Cure.”.
In 2006, a student of Dr. Dorninger’s Men’s Health course introduced him to Dr. Kharrazian’s Functional Medicine coursework, sponsored by Apex Energetics. Dr. Dorninger is forever grateful for this connection as it catalyzed his collaborative and collegiate relationship with Dr. Kharrazian. To this day, Dr. Kharrazian remains one of the utmost influences in Dr. Dorninger’s professional life, supporting his dedication to improving patient outcomes.
After the 2013 floods in Boulder, Dr. Dorninger noticed that patients who were initially getting better suddenly regressed. Moreover, patients he was struggling to diagnose got worse. Fortunately, he was guided to the honest, data-driven, peer-reviewed, reproducible published work of Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker on mold and biotoxin. In 2014 Dr. Dorninger signed on for his Shoemaker certification training.
Dr. Dorninger is a certified Shoemaker practitioner and remains true to the Shoemaker protocol. The most difficult step in restoring quality of life in the chronically ill is finding the true, reproducible, lab- and imaging documented underlying causes.
According to Dr. Dorninger, diagnosing underlying causes and facilitating accurate treatment plans is a grind. At Roots and Branches, we embrace the grind. In addition to private practice, Dr. Dorninger teaches functional medicine for Apex Energetics, practices Jiu-Jitsu, skis, and enjoys watching his biotoxin-genetically susceptible kids thrive post chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) treatment.
Financial Disclosure
Dr. Eric Dorninger has the following financial interests. He receives a speaker’s fee and is reimbursed for his travel and related accommodation expenses by the sponsor, Apex Energetics, Inc.