Valerie wrote:
Again- these 'professional' doctors are not quacks but I realize there are what would be called quacks out there- but again- these naturopathics have the same education as conventional doctors (so they would not be quacks) PLUS more:
naturopathic physicians are licensed to practice medicine, and therefore do not work under or over medical doctors, unless they choose to partner together. The naturopathic medical curriculum includes all of the conventional medical doctors' curriculum plus the naturopathic modalities, so there are more than twice as many courses and more than twice as many classroom hours in naturopathic school than in conventional medical school. The way that a naturopathic physician uses baking soda includes in liquid, sterile form and is administered as medicine.
This is a bit misleading here. While it seems to include a large amount of classroom time, I would say their clinical education seems to be a small portion of the program. There are not many of the clinical courses found in a med school, like radiology, internal medicine, emergency medicine and surgery. All of their clinical experience seems to be in clinics, none of it seems to be in an inpatient setting. I used Bystar college as an example.
It also fails to make note that for a medical doctor, the end of med school means they are halfway through their clinical training. After medical school there is a three to seven year residency. These practitioners seem to start right out of school.
I would not let a med school grad treat myself or my family without supervision until he has completed his first postgraduate year. Nor would any institution allow this.
Also note that they only seem have prescribing privileges in two states, Washington and Arizona. What they are permitted to do seems more like this in the other states I checked (I use my home state as an example):
(From the Maryland Naturopathic Doctor'e Ass. website)
What will be the scope of practice for NDs in Maryland?
Order and perform physical and laboratory examinations, including phlebotomy, laboratory tests, orificial examinations, EKGs, and physiological function tests
Order diagnostic imaging studies and interpret the reports of the studies
Dispense and order natural medicines (foods, vitamins, enzymes, botanicals, homeopathics, etc. )
Hydrotherapy
Electromagnetic energy
Therapeutic exercise for basic services
Nutrition and health counseling
Naturopathic musculoskeletal mobilization
Will NDs be permitted to prescribe pharmaceuticals under the current law?
No. The current law does not permit NDs to prescribe any pharmaceutical drugs. However, the bill does require the creation of a Naturopathic Formulary Committee that will outline a proposed formulary that includes pharmaceutical drugs. This proposed formulary will then need to be adopted by the Maryland General Assembly in order to be part of the naturopathic scope of practice.
Will NDs be primary care providers under the new law?
NDs will not be licensed as primary care providers under this law.
So, as you can likely see, they have a very limited scope of practice in most states. This looks more like a Chiropractor than an MD.
IF you want someone with this lack of training and experience feel free. But I really feel the need to insure that all who read this know the difference. They do not have all of the training of a medical doctor, that is for certain.
J.M.
(Who is really to busy with the real world to keep looking all this stuff up)