Over the summer, while taking a medical assisting course, the class was learning about non-traditional medicine when our instructor brought up the topic of Naturopathic medicine, specifically, her experience with a naturopathic doctor. She said that she had gone to visit this doctor out of sheer curiosity about what the heck a naturopathic doctor was and what the experience would be like, and found herself pleasantly surprised at the results. My instructor explained that she had gone in because she had been dealing with high blood pressure for a while and wanted to see what a naturopath would suggest. She said that the doctor assessed her and put her on a course of natural treatments to follow, including what she couldn't eat and what supplements to start taking. Although skeptical of its ability to treat her high blood pressure, she followed the treatment anyway, as she really had nothing to lose. To her surprise, after a few weeks, she could notice the effects. She had lost some weight in her face due to the removal of excess fluid retention and when the doctor checked her blood pressure, it was within normal range. She was shocked. How could this have been possible without the use of medication? Obviously, she wasn't quite sure, but she was impressed that it had worked. I don't quite remember why my instructor stopped visiting the naturopath, but her experience definitely piqued my interest.
As someone who grew up in a Hispanic family, finding natural remedies to cure your illness has been pretty standard to my upbringing, and to discover that there are doctors that actually practice this way, was rather intriguing. In hopes of educating you on something that I found very interesting or also something that you might want to pursue, I wanted to write this post to give you more information. Of course, I am not an expert on the topic, but from what I've gleaned from the sources at my disposal, I want to share the bit of knowledge that I have acquired.
What is Naturopathic Medicine?
By the definition of the American Association of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic medicine is a distinct primary health care profession, emphasizing prevention, treatment, and optimal health through the use of therapeutic methods and substances that encourage individuals' inherent self-healing process (1). What their practice includes is clinical and laboratory diagnostic testing, nutritional medicine, botanical medicine, naturopathic physical medicine, public health measures, hygiene, counseling, minor surgery, homeopathy, acupuncture, prescription medication (NB: This depends on the state of practice), intravenous and injection therapy, and naturopathic obstetrics ( this is natural childbirth for my non-science peeps). Overall, what naturopathic medicine emphasizes is using the most natural methods to promote healing in the human body with the mentality that your body has the ability to heal itself.
How Does One Become a Naturopathic Doctor?
Similar to someone pursuing an MD, to become a Naturopathic Doctor ( or ND) one must attend an accredited naturopathic medical college. This is a different type of medical school from where you go to pursue an MD, but from what I learned from the information put out by the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges(2), the two types of programs share similarities. Both programs heavily emphasize a strong core in the basic sciences in the first two years of schooling. So, like MDs, NDs have to review biomedical sciences, such as biochemistry and anatomy. NDs also learn to diagnose illnesses. So they are also taught the diagnostic sciences. Where the programs differ is in years three and four. For MD programs, years three and four are spent doing clerkships ( rotations through the different medical specialties). These are typically observational, so you are mostly just shadowing at this time. For NDs, years three and four are typically more hands-on. From what I understand, they spend those years practicing the skills that they will be utilizing during their practice and this helps prepare them to begin practicing once they graduate. Also, like MDs, Upon graduation, NDs have to pass a postdoctoral board examination ( their version is the NPLEX) in order to receive a license.
Differences Between MDs and NDs?
One of the initial differences between the two programs, is the availability of medical colleges. For MDs, there are a myriad of colleges across the country. I know that just in Illinois alone, we have seven medical schools. For NDs, The AANMC states that they only offer seven accredited programs at eight campuses in North America (3). Two of these campuses are in Canada, so if you are aiming to stay in the U.S. you'd only have about six schools to choose from.
Another difference is licensure. While MDs I'm pretty sure, are accredited in every state, there are only seventeen states ( along with D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) that have licensing laws and a specific scope of practice for NDs (4). Oddly enough, one of the states that isn't included in this list is Illinois, although one of the AANMC's listed naturopathic medical programs is in Chicago.
The scope of practice also differs in each state. I'm not sure how this all works in Illinois ( I know some NDs practice here even though it isn't a licensing state), but I know that some states allow NDs to prescribe medication, while some do not.
One of the main differences between the two types of doctors would be the focus of practice. For NDs, their practice of medicine is typically primary care. So, they'll mainly focus on family medicine. For MDs, there are all sorts of specialties out there. This is one of the main reasons that MDs have to do residencies. While in medical school, MDs survey the different specialties and during their fourth year, apply to residency programs in their specialty of interest. They will then spend an additional 3-7+ years ( This all depends on which specialty is chosen) training to become that type of doctor. So, if you have always dreamed of becoming a pediatric hematologist, ND wouldn't be your desired route.
My Thoughts on Naturopathic Medicine as a Future MD Student?
Regardless of the differences, I think that what naturopathic medicine has to offer is pretty cool. They tend to focus on a more holistic style of treatment ( assessing the person as whole) and I think that is definitely something that could be ( and I believe is more so heading towards being) integrated into allopathic medicine. I also like the idea of using more natural methods of healing. Many of the treatments that NDs utilize have been around for ages (i.e. acupuncture) and I'm pretty sure there's a reason they are still around. The earth is teeming with natural substances for medical usage, but of course, we don't know what every little thing does and when we do discover the possibility of something being used as a cure, it needs to be heavily researched. I am obviously very Pro-MD (after all, I am pursuing one), but I think that NDs would be an excellent addition to the health care team and could serve to educate allopathic medicine on alternative ways to cure illnesses.
I hope this post gave you a better Idea concerning Naturopathic Doctors and possibly sparked your curiosity. As always, I enjoyed sharing this with you and I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Talk to you soon!
~Genesis<3
Links and Resources
1.&3.-American Association of Naturopathic Medicine: http://www.naturopathic.org/medicine
2. &4.-Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges: http://aanmc.org/
