What type of education and training did the naturopath receive?

Essentially there are 2 types of naturopathic education.  The first type is an intensive 4 year accredited program recoginzed by the US Department of Education.   This graduate-level naturopathic medical school program includes all of the same basic sciences as an M.D., but also studies holistic and nontoxic approaches to therapy with a strong emphasis on disease prevention and optimizing wellness. In addition to a standard medical curriculum, the naturopathic physician is required to complete four years of training in clinical nutrition, homeopathic medicine, botanical medicine, psychology, and counseling (to encourage people to make lifestyle changes in support of their personal health). In addition to class room studies, this program requires over 1000 hours of clinical application and experience.  At the end of the program, the naturopathic physician takes rigorous professional board exams so that he or she may be licensed by a state or jurisdiction as a primary care general practice physician. (AANP:www.naturopathic.org)

Schools recognized by the US Department of Education as accredited institutions:

Bastyr University

National College of Natural Medicine

Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine

University of Bridgeport – College of Naturopathic Medicine

Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine

Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine

The second type of naturopathic education is an internet correspondence course that may be completed in several months. These programs claim to be accredited, but are not recognized by the US Department of Education as accredited institutions. The program has far less academic training and no supervised clinical training or experience. These “naturopaths” do not take the professional board exams as their education is not adequate enough to be eligible for a license.

Some of the distance learning programs include:

Clayton College of Natural Health

Everglades University

Global College of Natural Medicine

Before you see a Naturopath, make sure to ask where they received their training.

For more information go to:

http://www.newlifejournal.com/octnov03/coward_1003.shtml