WHAT IS NATUROPATHIC EDUCATION?

You may have wondered what kind of training Naturopathic Doctors (ND’s) get before they can practice. Asking yourself, is it a serious, science-based curriculum, does it measure up to the education and training MD’s receive? Do they have actual internships and hands-on practicums, or is it primarily theory studies? You wouldn’t be alone in having these questions. While Naturopathic medicine has been around for quite some time, it’s still a relatively new modality in Western culture.

 

To answer your questions, we’ll take you through all there is to know about Naturopathic education and training so you can make an educated decision for your health. You might be surprised to learn that, like a conventional Medical Doctor, an ND must first complete an undergraduate degree at the university level before beginning a four-year, full-time accredited naturopathic medical program. This training includes a standard medical curriculum, consisting of clinical sciences and diagnostics, as well as training in disciplines such as clinical nutrition, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, botanical medicine, physical medicine, and counselling. ND students also learn about the latest advances in science, disease prevention, and clinical techniques. For the final two years of their medical program, naturopathic medical students intern in clinical settings, all under the strict supervision of licensed naturopathic physicians.

 

An accredited ND program includes over 4,000 hours of total in-class instruction and a minimum of 1,200 hours of hands-on clinical training. Graduates are required to sit for the NPLEX exam, the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examination, and pass in order to receive the title N.D. or Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, and to practice.

 

PREREQUISITES FOR NATUROPATHIC MEDICAL SCHOOL

To gain admission into an accredited naturopathic medical school, a prospective student must have earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Students are also expected to have completed courses in English and the humanities as well as math, physics, and psychology, with a strong emphasis on chemistry and biology. Many accredited naturopathic medicine programs also recommend that prospective students complete courses in some of the following areas to better their chances of admission:

 

• Anatomy
• Business
• Calculus
• Cell Biology
• Community-Cultural Studies
• Ecology
• Environmental Studies

 

• Genetics
• Global-International Studies
• Leadership
• Management
• Marketing
• Microbiology
• Nutrition
• Philosophy

 

• Physics
• Physiology
• Religious Studies
• Research
• Sociology
• Statistics

 

Finally, prospective students must demonstrate appropriate observational and communication skills, motor function, intellectual-conceptual abilities, integrative and quantitative abilities, as well as behavioural and social maturity.

 

CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE PROGRAM VS. NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE PROGRAM

The general educational structure for both conventional medical doctors and naturopathic physicians is quite similar in the first two years of study. The first year focuses primarily on biomedical sciences, including anatomy and biochemistry, while the second year focuses on diagnostic sciences including; physiological assessment, the pathophysiology of diseases, clinical chemistry, hematology, immunohematology, immunology, and medical microbiology. Students also delve into laboratory analysis and how laboratory data correlates to human disease.

 

In the third and fourth year of schooling, conventional medical students focus on applying their acquired medical knowledge to real-life situations in conjunction with simultaneous classroom studies supporting these real-life situations. Naturopathic medical students, on the other hand, begin hands-on clinical training and practice, often at their schools’ teaching clinics and/or at off-site clinics, always under the closer supervision of licensed naturopathic physicians. This affords naturopathic medical students a distinct advantage over conventional medical students in that they graduate with experience in diagnosing and treating patients, even before they begin formal practice.

 

Another difference between MD and ND education is that MD’s must complete medical residencies before being able to practice, as a result, many opportunities exist for MD’s in a wide range of medical facilities. Instead of such residencies, new ND’s often choose to work shadowing a practitioner in private practice for 1-2 years in order to bolster their hands-on patient experience before venturing out on their own.

 

THE PRINCIPLES OF NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE

The practice of naturopathic medicine is based on six principles of healing, which are all founded on the objective observation of the nature of health and disease and are examined in conjunction with scientific analysis. These principles are:

 

1. First Do No Harm (primum non nocere)
A Latin phrase meaning non-maleficence, which is one of the principal precepts of bioethics that all students in healthcare are taught and is a fundamental principle throughout the world. ND’s are taught that no harm should be inflicted by the neglect of symptoms or overuse of medicines.

 

Rather, naturopathic medicine is intended to be gentle and effective, using the lowest force of intervention to shift a patient toward health.

 

2. Identify and Treat the Cause (tolle causam)
This principle implies treating the cause, not just the effect. A collection of symptoms is the language that the body uses to communicate an imbalance. These symptoms are valuable clues that can be used to determine the cause of the illness. Rather than treating the symptoms, naturopathic medicine aims to determine the true cause of illness (and then to treat that cause).

 

3. Treat the whole person – body, mind, and spirit (tolle totum)
The essence of a person’s health reaches beyond their physical or mental symptoms. Reconnecting a patient with their “wholeness” is a vital component of health and wellness. ND’s are taught to consider social and environmental influences along with physical ones to understand the wholeness (and health) of an individual and community at large.

 

4. Physician as Teacher (docere)
A Latin word meaning to instruct, teach, or point out. Teaching about health is an essential aspect of patient care for ND’s. When a physician provides explanations about the mechanisms of the body, a patient can make educated choices about their health care going forward and take an active role in their health and well-being. Teaching goes a long way towards empowering patients to take charge of their own health.

 

5. The Healing Power of Nature (vis medicatrix naturae) – also known as natura medica
Meaning “Nature is the physician of diseases", a phrase attributed to Hippocrates that sums up one of the guiding principles of Hippocratic medicine, which is that left alone, the body can often heal itself. It is the root concept of homeostasis – steady; applies to any process of living things to actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival.

 

6. Prevention (Praevenire)
Meaning "prevention is the best cure". ND’s emphasize disease prevention, assessment of risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease, and make appropriate interventions to prevent illness.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Licensed ND’s, like MD’s, are primary care physicians; meaning that they are a patient’s first stop for medical care and are trained to diagnose and treat illnesses. Unlike MD’s; however, ND’s utilize a whole-person approach to wellness. This entails tailoring and personalizing therapies specific to their genetics, nutrition status, lifestyle, and capacity for implementing suggestions, as opposed to merely writing prescriptions, or giving a set of instructions to follow.