Discover How Naturopathic Medicine Focuses On Whole Person Health

Naturopathic Physicians: Medical Specialists in Preventive Care & Whole Person Health

This white paper provides supporting evidence for the profession’s significant and unique contributions to preventive, whole person care and models of integrative clinical practice, to:

• Inform readers about the naturopathic medical profession in order to strengthen the US healthcare workforce by delineating the unique clinical practice of naturopathic physicians, and their contribution to both individual patient and population health.

• Demonstrate the clinical efficacy of naturopathic theory and practice, as evidenced in contemporary clinical research, particularly when addressing chronic disease.

• Illustrate robust models of interprofessional collaboration, and integrative practice between naturopathic physicians and other licensed healthcare providers.

• Advocate for further inclusion of naturopathic physicians within the current healthcare workforce, including the clinical, educational, research, and public health sectors.

The naturopathic profession stands ready to provide training for its model of care to collaborate with other healthcare professionals and to share its knowledge, while working toward the collective goal of enhancing whole health care for an increasingly receptive public.

ENDORSEMENTS

“It was refreshing to see a medical field that is interested in a holistic approach to personal care. I was especially impressed with the emphasis on prevention and balanced nutrition. I can envision the day when there is increasing collaboration between MD and ND practitioners and scientists.”
— Kent Thornburg, MS, PhD, FAPS, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Former and Founding Director, Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University
“People are not the mere sum of their parts, and all good care is duty bound to respect the greater whole- and to be, accordingly, holistic. That elusive imperative is best served when patients are empowered with options; when root causes are given the attention they warrant; and when care genuinely encompasses the cultivation of health along with the reaction to disease. These objectives and more are served by effective, respectful, and responsible collaborations across disciplines. Where allopathic medicine most often falls short, naturopathic medicine tends to shine. This thoughtful paper evinces a bridge between the two, highlighting the contributions naturopathic care can make to the shared goals of all healers. Follow carefully where this reasoning leads, and our patients will be the beneficiaries.”
— -David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM, Founder, President, True Health Initiative, CEO, Diet ID, Founding Director (1998-2019), Prevention Research Center, Yale University / Griffin Hospital, Past President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine
“I have been involved in the development of Naturopathic Medicine since 1976 when first introduced to this approach to health care. This magnificent contribution to the understanding of the foundations and approach of Naturopathic Medicine will have a enduring impact on its adoption as an important contributor to the evolution of health care at a time when this system of healing is so needed”
— Jeffrey Bland, PhD, FACN, FACB, CNS, President, Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute, Founder, Institute for Functional Medicine
“For over a century, naturopathic medicine has been a champion of whole person health. This outstanding and attractive White Paper effectively describes healthcare which focuses on helping each person understand their unique physiological needs and the many ways that natural medicine can promote health and reverse disease by supporting our powerful healing systems.”
— Joseph Pizzorno, ND, Founding President, Bastyr University, Chair, Institute for Functional Medicine, Editor-in-Chief, IMCJ, Author, The Toxin Solution, Co-Author, Textbook of Natural Medicine
“As a Professor, co-founder of the Integrative Medicine Initiative, and Director of the Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences graduate program at Georgetown University, I found this white paper to be comprehensive and enlightening regarding the emerging field of Naturopathic medicine. Naturopathic medicine is a field that embodies many key elements of the patient-centered and personalized healthcare model emerging in the 21st century. It is imperative that healthcare professionals have access to the information and understanding presented in this document. A collaborative allopathic and naturopathic approach to patient care will contribute to better management of chronic diseases and holds great promise for helping us all become healthier people. ”
— Hakima Amri, PhD, Professor, Physiology and Biochemistry, Director, Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences Graduate Program, Department of Biochemistry and Cellular & Molecular Biology, Division of Integrative Physiology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Co-Editor, Molecular Medicine. IntechOpen Book, Co-Author, Avicenna's Medicine: A New Translation of the 11th-Century Canon with Practical Applications for Integrative Health Care
“As a family physician dedicated to advancing health justice, I have worked inter-professionally with naturopathic physicians for two decades and helped set up the first ND in a Federally Qualified Health Center in California. I can say that naturopathic physicians will be an essential part of addressing health inequities. The focus on whole person care while utilizing accessible, low-cost therapeutics such as nutrition, exercise, mind-body techniques, botanical medicine, and other non-pharmacologic approaches can lead to improved outcomes and patient safety for a myriad of chronic diseases including chronic pain, depression/anxiety, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Everyone deserves good medicine!”
— Sharad Kohli, MD Co-founder, Integrative Medicine for the Underserved
“Naturopathic medicine supports the very core of human health. Our health care system and the millions of patients that we care for are calling out for this effective model that builds on the innate healing potential that lies within each person. We have built our clinic around the foundation that naturopathic medicine provides. This overview of the naturopathic profession outlines the core principles and tenets that resonate so deeply with me and thousands of patients we have treated with whole person care.”
— Scott Shannon, MD, ABIHM, Integrative Psychiatrist Wholeness Center, Author of the Medical Textbook "Mental Health for the Whole Child"
“Healthcare in America continues to evolve. Advancing scientific understanding and new therapeutic modalities are cornerstones of allopathic medicine. However, life is far more complex that our reductionistic and materialistic scientific approach acknowledges. Naturopathic medicine with its foundation built upon whole person care, including the body, mind, spirit and environment, is well positioned to aid conventional allopathic medicine in addressing the burgeoning effect of lifestyle related diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Licensed naturopathic physicians are trained in a holistic approach that uses a scientifically-based systems biology model while examining how the determinants of health - genetic, physiologic, psychosocial, behavioral, economical, environmental, and spiritual - can contribute to the disruption of health allowing disease to propagate. The focus on using evidence-based natural therapeutic interventions that aid the innate healing capacity of an individual complements conventional medical advancements in disease management. As a result, licensed naturopathic physicians play an essential role in the multidisciplinary approach to restoring and maintaining health of individuals.”
— Dave Johnson MD, FACC, Integrative Cardiologist, Integrative Wellness Grand Rapids
““This document is filled with wonderful information and is expansive as well as succinct. It is an excellent tool for NDs to use in their practice and for naturopathic universities to use in their communications. It can also be utilized to educate communities and populations both nationally and globally. It is a stellar document.”
”
— Sandy Gooch, PhD, Founder of Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Markets, Author of ‘”If You Love Me Don’t Feed Me Junk”, Founder of Healthy Meals Team, Los Angeles City Schools
“The practice of naturopathic medicine helps us recognize what a whole-person treatment can be. This multi-level approach leads to better long term health and happier patients. We need to rethink our medical approaches in a fundamental way—what a beautiful practice when the doctor is not just managing disease, but really helping people learn how to cultivate health.”
— Adam Blanning, MD, Denver Center For Anthroposophic Therapies, Author of “Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs: Holistic Approaches for Challenging Behaviors in Children.”
“I have worked with and collaborated with many naturopathic doctors over the past twenty years. They have added a great deal to my knowledge of medicine and healing and I have found that by combining their knowledge base and mine, we have much more to offer our patients.”
— Neil Nathan, MD, Founding Diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine (now called the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine), author of the book “Healing is Possible: New Hope for Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia , Persistent Pain, and Other Chronic Illnesses”
“This is a beautiful paper, both in design and content on this important and emerging profession. Get it and read it if you want to know more about natural medicine.”
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— Wayne B. Jonas, MD, Executive Director, Integrative Health Programs, Samueli Foundation
“Naturopathic doctors have a resonant belief and deep expertise in natural medicine and whole person healthcare. Good healthcare is built upon collaboration. As specialists in natural medicine, naturopathic doctors are pollinators, spreading the essential principals and practices of naturopathic medicine for the betterment of healthcare. We have inherited this responsibility based on the profession’s legacy of visionaries – Benedict and Louisa Lust, John Bastyr, Joseph Pizzorno, and many
others - all of whom share a deep belief in the healing capacity of the healthcare system and the patients it serves.
”
— Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO, Associate Director, Fellowship in Integrative Medicine, Professor of Clinical Medicine, The University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine
“As a nation we are at a crossroads with our individual and collective health. Naturopathic medicine
gives each person the skills and knowledge to identify and control their physical and psychological
well-being. It also offers insights into environmental toxins and their problematic health
implications. Naturopathic physicians promote optimal wellness over time through prevention,
healthy living and remedies that strengthen one’s overall well-being. Now is the time for an
enlightened paradigm that values wellness over organ-specific symptomatic treatment managed
though pharmacology. Natural medicine offers self-determination and healthy well being through
research, positive outcomes, and lower costs. It allows you to lead a more robust and full life.
”
— Susan E. Cayleff, PhD, Professor Emerita, San Diego State University, Author of: Nature’s Path "A History of Naturopathic Healing in America" (2016)
“The modern well trained licensed Naturopathic Physician is in a unique position to approach a patient’s
health from the whole spectrum of medical intervention.... from the most simplistic and fundamental,
including essential lifestyle changes, the botanical and nutraceutical condition specific medicines, the
more assertive medications including pharmaceuticals, and then identifying times for referrals to
specialists for procedures, surgeries and aggressive medical management. A physician with the training
and knowledge that a licensed ND receives, can maximize the strengths of natural medicine
approaches and minimize any weaknesses, while also maximizing the strengths of conventional
medicine interventions and minimizing it’s weak spots. This flexibility, complexity in thinking,
integration of options and collaboration with the larger medical community and other specialists, is
what makes a natural medicine specialist, the Naturopathic Physician, of high value to our society and
health care system.”
— Tori Hudson, ND, Clinical Professor NUNM, Bastyr, SCNM, CCNM; Medical Director A Woman’s Time, faculty AIHM.
 

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