Calgary Naturopathic Doctor. What is Naturopathic Medicine?

A Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree program is 4 years in duration. There are two accredited naturopathic medical schools in Canada – The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) in Ontario and Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine (BINM) in British Columbia.

The training of a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) includes basic sciences (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, etc.), pathophysiology, diagnostic/physical examination, pharmacology and laboratory assessment & interpretation. NDs are also extensively trained in Clinical Nutrition, Botanical Medicine, Physical Medicine, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture.

Naturopathic medical students are introduced into the clinic environment beginning their 1st year of the program up until they become a "Naturopathic intern" in 4th year, under the supervision of a licensed ND. Similar to conventional medical schools, naturopathic students complete OSCE examinations to demonstrate competence in physical & clinical diagnosis relating to all body systems. Naturopathic Medical students may apply for a selected number of seats within extended focused rotations to gain experience in a given field (e.g. adjunctive cancer care, sports medicine, pediatrics, fertility, fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue, mental health and more). There are also community satellite clinics outside the school's primary teaching clinic available for interns to practice at for 4-month long rotations. All interns must complete a mandatory number of patient visits in addition to specific visits applying each of the modalities of naturopathic medicine.

After 2nd and 4th years of naturopathic school, ND candidates are required to write 2 sets of board exams - Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examination 1 and 2 (NPLEX 1 and 2), similar to USMLE I and USMLE II (conventional medical school). In order to practice as an ND, must successfully complete both NPLEX examinations, including board examinations in physical examination & diagnosis, acupuncture and any other restricted activities that the ND wishes to administer in practice. These examinations offered by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE) allow NDs to practice anywhere in North America, provided they comply with state & provincial board examinations, regulations & jurisprudence examination requirements.

There are 6 Principles of Naturopathic Medicine by which Naturopathic Doctors practice:

• 1) First, do no harm (primum non nocere): Thorough assessment of patient condition, medications, physiology and mental-emotional health is taken into consideration prior to recommending treatment options to ensure that patient health care is safe and optimal.

• 2) The healing power of nature (vis medicatrix naturae): The body has its own inherent capacity to heal. This DOES NOT mean that all conditions must be treated "naturally".

• 3) Identify and treat the cause (tolle causum): This principle exemplifies that there may be more to an individual’s presentation than what meets the eye. What is the root cause? How might we treat the symptom more effectively, rather than masking symptoms with a “quick fix”? If this symptom is recurring and it repeats a cycle where it recurs with more rigour each time, why is this happening? Are there multiple symptoms that might be connected to one another by a common thread? If we can try and determine the "why", then we might be able to address the cause. This may potentially improve symtomatic outcomes.

• 4) Doctor as teacher (docere): NDs play a significant role in patient education. Healthy discourse and time devoted to answering questions.

• 5) Treat the whole person (tolle totum): An individual’s health relies on more than just their physical health. Psychological, family, social, lifestyle, genetics and mental-emotional health factors ALL PLAY A ROLE IN OUR HEALTH and all factors MUST be taken into consideration. Naturopathic medicine aims to address the patient as a whole, not as individual parts.

• 6) Prevention (praevenic): There is no guarantee that one would not acquire any type of health concern or disease over their lifetime. However, prevention is a principle of naturopathic medicine in the sense that trying to be proactive may help reduce negative outcomes. For example, research is showing time and time agian the importance of lifestyle and modifiable risk factors (e.g. smoking, alcohol, etc.) in some forms of non-communicable dsiease (e.g. cancer, diabetes, etc). Although genetics may play a role in cancer for example, lifestyle changes (such as exercise) may improve chronic disease outcomes.

Dr. Nadia Mawji, ND

Calgary Naturopathic Doctor

**Any information provided in these blog posts are intended for information purposes only and not to be considered naturopathic medical advice. See your naturopathic doctor for individualized support & guidance.