What Is Naturopathic Medicine?

"A Naturopathic Doctor (N.D.) has completed a postgraduate medical education specializing in primary care natural medicine. Naturopathic doctors are distinct from acupuncturists, chiropractors, osteopaths, and medical doctors. They are uniquely trained to provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to assist your body's innate healing processes. Naturopathic doctors are skilled in diagnosis and treatment of disease utilizing natural therapeutics including clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, physical medicine, and hydrotherapy. They tailor these approaches to the needs of each individual patient. Naturopathic medicine is effective in treating most health problems, whether acute or chronic. Naturopathic doctors cooperate with all other branches within the medical field, referring patients to other practitioners for diagnosis or treatment when appropriate." - California Naturopathic Doctors Association

Education

"As with all physicians today, Naturopathic doctors are trained at accredited, four to five-year, post-graduate, medical institutions. The training consists of a comprehensive study of the conventional medical sciences, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, microbiology, immunology, clinical and physical diagnosis, laboratory diagnosis, cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, etc, as well as detailed study of a wide variety of natural therapies. In their last two years of their intensive clinical training, they learn how to integrate the principles of naturopathic medicine into clinical practice." - California Naturopathic Doctors Association

Nutritional and Lifestyle Modification Training Requirements for Licensed Primary Health Care Providers
Coursework Recommended by U.S. Surgeon General	Naturopathic Physician	Registered Dietician	Medical Doctor
Biochemistry and Physiology	321	120	369
Basic Nutrition, Nutrition Assessment and Interpretation	48	108	Elective
Diet and Disease; Therapeutic Diets	84	7	0¹
Counseling	130	36	0²
Internship	1342³	900⁴	0⁵
National / State Exams	Yes	Yes	No⁶
Total Hours	1925	1171	369
Notes: (1) Not taught in most schools.
(2) MDs receive about 170 hours of pyschiatric clerkship; not likely to include behaviorally-oriented counselling.
(3) This figure represents hours spent in outpatient clinics, where supervised training always includes dietary and lifestyle assessment.
(4) May be performed in food management rather than clinical nutrition.
(5) Medical internship does not normally include training in diet and disease.
(6) Less than 4% of tests are in the nutritional area; mostly in biochemistry, physiology, and pediatrics.
Source: American Association of Naturopathic Physicians

Learn More

To learn more about Naturopathic Medicine, visit our Resources Page.

Common Paths in Medical Education (link to PDF)