What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic medicine is based on the belief that the human body has an innate healing ability. Naturopathic doctors (NDs) teach their patients to use diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and cutting edge natural therapies to enhance their bodies’ ability to ward off and combat disease. NDs view the patient as a complex, interrelated system (a whole person), not as a clogged artery or a tumor. Naturopathic physicians craft comprehensive treatment plans that blend the best of modern medical science and traditional natural medical approaches to not only treat disease, but to also restore health.
Naturopathic physicians base their practice on six timeless principles founded on medical tradition and scientific evidence:
- Let nature heal. Our bodies have such a powerful, innate instinct for self-healing. By finding and removing the barriers to this self-healing—such as poor diet or unhealthy habits—naturopathic physicians can nurture this process.
- Identify and treat causes. Naturopathic physicians understand that symptoms will only return unless the root illness is addressed. Rather than cover up symptoms, they seek to find and treat the cause of these symptoms.
- First, do no harm. Naturopathic physicians follow three precepts to ensure their patients’ safety:
- Use low-risk procedures and healing compounds—such as dietary supplements, herbal extracts and homeopathy—with few or no side effects.
- When possible, do not suppress symptoms, which are the body’s efforts to self-heal. For example, the body may cook up a fever in reaction to a bacterial infection. Fever creates an inhospitable environment for the harmful bacteria, thereby destroying it. Of course, the naturopathic physician would not allow the fever to get dangerously high.
- Customize each diagnosis and treatment plan to fit each patient. We all heal in different ways and the naturopathic physician respects our differences.
- Educate patients. Naturopathic medicine believes that doctors must be educators, as well as physicians. That’s why naturopathic physicians teach their patients how to eat, exercise, relax and nurture themselves physically and emotionally. They also encourage self-responsibility and work closely with each patient.
- Treat the whole person. We each have a unique physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, sexual and spiritual makeup. The naturopathic physician knows that all these factors affect our health. That’s why he or she includes them in a carefully tailored treatment strategy.
- Prevent illness. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has never been truer. Proactive medicine saves money, pain, misery and lives. That’s why naturopathic physicians evaluate risk factors, heredity and vulnerability to disease. By getting treatment for greater wellness, we’re less likely to need treatment for future illness.
Currently, Oklahoma does not have a legal definition of what Naturopathic Medicine is and thus does not have a licensing law to define the scope of practice for ND's. Dr. Kellman is licensed to practice medicine by the State of California.
Licensed States & Licensing Authorities
Currently, 15 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands have licensing laws for naturopathic doctors. In these states, naturopathic doctors are required to graduate from a four-year, residential naturopathic medical school and pass and extensive postdoctoral board examination (NPLEX) in order to receive a license. For information about the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examination Board (NPLEX) and the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE), please see our Education page.
Licensed naturopathic physicians must fulfill state-mandated continuing education requirements annually, and will have a specific scope of practice defined by their state's law. The states that currently have licensing laws for naturopathic physicians are:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- Oregon
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- United States Territories: Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
Organizations
The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges (AANMC) was established in Febrary 2001, to propel and foster the naturpathic medical profession by actively supporting the academic efforts of accredited and recognized schools of naturopathic medicine.
AANMC Member Schools:
14500 Juanita Dr. NE, Kenmore, Washington 98028-4966
Phone: (425) 823-1300, Fax: (425) 823-6222
049 SW Porter St., Portland, OR 97201
Phone: (503) 552-1555
200 East Roosevelt Road
Lombard, IL 60148
Phone: (630) 629-2000, Fax: (630) 889-6499
* Granted candidacy status from the CNME in March 2008
2140 E. Broadway Rd., Tempe, Arizona 85282
Phone: (480) 858-9100, Fax (480) 858.9116
Health Science Center, 60 Lafayette Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604
Phone: (800) EXCEL UB ext. 4108
1255 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, M2K 1E2
Phone: (416) 498-1255, Toll Free: 1-866-241-2266
Boucher Centre, 300-435 Columbia Street, New Westminster, British Columbia, V3L 5N8
Phone: 604-777-9981, Fax: 604-777-9982
P.O. Box 178
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Phone: 413-528-8877
Fax: 413-528-8880
President: Marcia Prenguber, ND
Executive Director: Daniel Seitz, JD, MAT
The Council on Naturopathic Medical Education's mission is quality assurance: serving the public by accrediting naturopathic medical education programs that voluntarily seek recognition that they meet or exceed CNME's standards. Students and graduates of programs accredited or preaccredited (candidacy) by CNME are eligible to apply for the naturopathic licensing examinations administered by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE), and are generally eligible for state and provincial licensure in the U.S. and Canada.
P.O. Box 69657
Portland, OR 97201
Phone: (503) 250-9141
Phone: (416) 498-4255×227
President: Paul Sanders, PhD, ND
Executive Director: Christa Louise, MS, PhD
The NPLEX (Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examinations) is the examination graduates of one of the approved naturopathic medical colleges must pass to be eligible for licensure in any of the 16 states or 5 provinces that license/register naturopathic physicians. The North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners is responsible for qualifying applicants to take the NPLEX, administering the NPLEX to examinees, and preparing and sending exam results and transcripts to licensing/regulatory authorities.
8948 SW Barbur Boulevard #157
Portland, OR 97219-4047
Phone: (503) 778-7990
President: James Spring, DC, ND.
Executive Director: Christa Louise, MS, PhD
The purpose of NABNE is to determine the qualifications of applicants to take the NPLEX, to administer the NPLEX to examinees, and to prepare and send exam results and transcripts to licensing/regulatory authorities. The institutions that regulate naturopathic medicine grant authority to NABNE to be the examining body for the naturopathic profession through their agreement to use the results of the NPLEX Examinations in their determination of the candidate’s eligibility for licensure (United States) or registration (Canada). End Site Builder Main content area
