How are naturopaths educated?

Dr. Bogus says. . .

Any licensed naturopathic doctor (N.D.) attends a four year, graduate level naturopathic medical school and is educated in all of the same basic sciences as an M.D. There is even a nationalized basic science board examination that the physicians in training must pass in order to graduate with a doctorate degree from the school they choose. These physicians in training also have clinical rotations in medical care facilities where they see patients, diagnose, treat, and manage cases with in the realm of primary care.

In addition to the standard medical curriculum (called allopathy), holistic and nontoxic approaches to treatment with an emphasis on disease prevention and optimizing wellness are the included in the naturopathic standard. Also, the naturopathic physician, is required to complete four years of training in clinical nutrition, homeopathic medicine, botanical medicine, psychology, and counseling. A naturopathic physician takes rigorous professional clinical board exams so that he or she may be licensed by a state or jurisdiction as a primary care general practice physician.

Each accredited school has to complete a process of evaluation that can take several months to years to complete. There are currently only a handful of accredited schools in North America. The official and only accrediting association is AANMC (the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges). It's important to be aware of the other associations and schools out there that are claiming to be naturopathic medical school accredited by some other organization. Please be aware that if a school is not accredited by AANMC, it does not meet the high standards of education necessary to educate naturopathic doctors. The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges was established in February 2001, to propel and foster the naturpathic medical profession by actively supporting the academic efforts of accredited and recognized schools of naturopathic medicine.

Another important governing association that is in place to assure quality education for accredited schools is the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME). Their 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. Only 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.

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. NABNE 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.

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).

Additional information on the naturopathic schools that are included in the accreditation process or ones that are already accredited can be found on the following website; American Association of Naturopathic Medical Colleges