Doctors of Naturopathic Medicine are doctors trained at a four-year, post-graduate school designed to educate Naturopathic Physicians. But in New York State, we are not licensed as physicians. Our schools are accredited by the US Department of Education through the Council of Naturopathic Medical Education and through the regional accrediting agencies that accredit other schools of medicine.

Our education provides the necessary training to act as physicians in any of the licensed states and includes:

• Pharmacology
• Minor Surgery
• Laboratory Diagnosis
• Physical Examinations
• Injection therapies

However, the main point of going to a school of Naturopathic Medicine is to learn how to encourage healing within the body using natural therapies such as:

• Homeopathy
• Botanical medicine
• Nutrition and dietary supplements
• Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Naturopathic Manipulative Technique - a form of spinal manipulation
• Hydrotherapy
• Environmental Medicine
• Mind/Body Medicine

Why is all of that information important? Because in NYS I can only act as a consultant, not as the physician I was trained to be, and it is very difficult.  My clients come to me because they want help with using less invasive and suppressive methods.  Although I can make recommendations to them, my hands are tied when it comes to ordering labs or even performing a basic physical examination.  If someone comes to me with an ear infection, I’m not even allowed to look in their ear to see if the eardrum is intact. If I see that there labs are showing improvement, I cannot decrease their pharmaceutical dosage.

The worst part is that because we live across the river from Canada, many people will drive over the border to get naturopathic health care. In other parts of New York we also compete with Vermont and Connecticut.  So although we have competent naturopathic physicians working within the state, it is often more convenient for potential clients to leave the state so that they can get the comprehensive health care they want.

In addition, many naturopathic physicians choose to leave our state or not move back here at all because it is so difficult to practice.  While I attended naturopathic medical school I met at least 3 people who are from the area, but refuse to come back.  But there are six schools in North America.  We would definitely have a lot more return home if there was a license in place.

Assemblymember Deborah Glick denied our licensure efforts (almost a decade of trying) because she is not convinced of the safety and efficacy of the profession.  Yet the #1 killer in America is conventional medicine:  783,936 deaths each year are attributed to iatrogenic causes (a disease or death caused by the physician, or a therapy prescribed by a physician).  Where’s the ribbon for that?  Heart Disease is the next runner up with 699,697, followed by cancer with 553,251 deaths per year.   I guarantee we can do better than that.

Also, a license would increase safety through accountability for continuing education, as well as, the policing of Naturopathic Physicians.  There would be a medical examiners board to make sure that each doctor is practicing within the law and not harming people.  If Assemblymember Glick and the Higher Education Committee was really concerned with safety of their constituents, then instituting a license for NDs would be better.

As for efficacy, there a quite a few sources.  Unfortunately, there are few examples of naturopathy used as a whole system, but there are plenty of research studies on individual modalites.  Also, There is an ND in Vermont who instituted a wellness program for a collection of car dealerships.  His program showed that for every dollar spent by the company on this program, they saved $8.20 that they were losing through medical costs, absenteeism, presenteeism, and disability.  If it wasn’t effective, you wouldn’t see this kind of benefit.

And then there are individuals who could tell their stories about how they were helped by a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. 

If you live in NY and have ever seen benefit from visiting a Naturopath who attended a residential, accredited program, whether it was here or elsewhere, then I urge you to please write a letter to Assemblymember Glick and her committee.  You can find out more about it through the NYANP and email them your letter here: http://mim.io/3c205?fe=1&pact=1612819671