natureopathic medicine?

[dph201]

I got this letter yesterday from a school in Arizona about natureopathic medicine. Does anyone know anything about it?

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[SM-UCLA tech]

I received the same letter.

Can anyone else say..... "ya, right!"

thanks but no thanks! I'm getting tired of all the podiatric school letters too!!!

 

[dph201]

Yeah, enough with the podiatric medicine. I don't like feet.

 

[Dr. Wall$treet]

ya im from here, the school is like 10 mins from me and they are all CRAZY there! i have met a fewwho have attended.. ya it was naturopathy alright.. all the people did that imet were sit around and smoke up haha.. i got the same letter.. you definetly DONT wanna go there!!

 

[dph201]

Thanks for the warning. But I wasn't planning on going there. I just was curious to hear what it was about. I had never heard of it before.

 

[republicandr]

Well, natureopathic medicine is basically dealing with herbs and supplements. These practitioners go to a natureopathic medical school for about 4 years (I think). When they are done with the schooling, then they can start a practice.

People who have exhausted the traditional Western medical system (i.e. MDs) may start to seek out alternative medicine.

A friend of mine went to a natureopathic practitioner. She had a stroke and lost use of the left half of her body. Slowly, she started to recover. She started seeing a practioner because other people she knew recommended him. The practitioner went over her diet with her and made recommendations about which foods she needed to avoid and which ones she should eat more of (i.e. eat less fatty foods, eat more vegetables). Then he "prescribed" herbal remedies (i.e. take Chamomile, Vitamin E, etc.). She has recovered from her stroke and is functional now, but I think it mostly has to do with the MD's medicine that she was prescribed.

Anyway, when you are an MD, practicing out the real world, remember that many (if not most) of your patients will have tried or will currently be trying alternative medical treatments as well. I grew up on them.

 

[nitemagi]

I was planning an N.D. back in my early days of considering healthcare. I let it go, though. N.D. stands for naturopathic doctor, and is different than just being a naturopath. In fact there's a big rivalry between the two. Naturopaths favor less schooling and just using techniques without tons of training, whereas naturopathic physicians go through four years of medical school, the first two of which are supposedly identical to the first two of allopathic medical school. They then get trained in natural therapies-- herbalism, chinese medicine, hydrotherapy, diet and lifestyle changes, etc. They are licensed in 11 states as full primary care providers, meaning they can do everything that an M.D. can(though if I remember right they're limited in a couple of areas like prescriptions and surgery). They don't do a residency. Though I like a lot of the philosophies, as I also do with osteopathic medicine, many of the N.D.'s and D.O.'s I spoke with recommended I get an M.D. first. It just makes the whole healthcare field more accessible. This was several years ago, and my focus in medicine has changed a bit now anyway. I believe there's only 4 ND schools in the US, and one in canada. The two most reputable are in seattle(Bastyr) and portland(National College of naturopathic medicine). Like most health professions, I believe it has its place. Just do a lot of research.

 

[MeganRose]

I think its kind of flaky. My aunt, who I love to death but is definitely very odd, is an ND. She's a BSN who found out about the ND degree a few years back. She came to visit me this summer and was talking about studies in the ND field the healing power of crystals and vibrations-- because of my heritage, I know that nature does hold a lot of natural cures but I don't think that with modern medicine it can be relied on 100%-- bottom line 4 years of school for something that your grandmom could've told/given you...