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Jade Cuevas
Professor Eva Pohler
WRC 1023-057
7 April 2014
Naturopathic Practitioners are Definite Doctors
There is a clich picture that tends to come to mind when we talk about doctors in
Western culture. Most people tend to believe that a true or real doctor can only be a
person wearing a lab coat with a stethoscope draped around their neck, most likely in a
hospital or medical center setting. From this Western ideal has stemmed a natural
inclination to doubt the validity of other alternative practitioners that deal in the field of
alternative or naturopathic medicine in place of Western medicine- even if they do help.
These naturopathic doctors (or N.D.s) include chiropractors, acupuncturists, and more.
This Western view limits people to the options of medical care they can choose from as
well as their options of aid. Therefore, naturopathic doctors are true doctors because they
have the proper training and education, have a proper medical process of treatment with
effective results, and run practices just as any other doctor does.
To clarify what it means to be a doctor and what it entails,one can look to
Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Here, we see that the medical definition of a doctor has
two definitions. The first definition states a doctor is, A title conferred by a university on
one who has followed a prescribed course of study, or given as a title of distinction; as a
doctor of medicine, laws, philosophy, and other disciplines. From this, we can take away
that a doctor is a person of proper training in their field of work, certified at the university
level. The second definition of a doctor is, A physician, especially one on whom has

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been conferred the degree of M.D. or D.O. degree. More generally, an independent
practitioner in any health care profession. From this definition we can see that a doctor
does not have to have an M.D. (an official medical doctor title), but are the most
commonly associated with it. As well, this definition shows that a doctor can deal
somewhere within the field of health care and be apart of an independent practice of their
specific medical field.
These two definitions, though general observations, include a wide complex
umbrella of specifications that are involved with being a doctor. As the definitions state, a
doctor must be someone with a specialization in the medical field. Accompanying that, a
doctor must know how to use the medication in their field and properly treat patients in
need that pay to be apart of their practice. As well, deriving from the second definition, a
doctors practice may be independent and run effectively in the economy it is placed in.
For Western reference, this means running a practice similarly to any regular business
would. Based on the two definitions from Stedman's Medical Dictionary and the specifics
they cover form the basis of what it means to be a true doctor.
The first reason a naturopathic doctor is a true doctor is because they have the
proper training and education as any other doctor does. Just like a regular doctor, to
become a certified N.D. one must go to a specialized schooling and partake in rigorous
admission and years of education. According to the American Association of
Naturopathic Physicians official website, all licensed N.D. must complete a four-year,
graduate level naturopathic medical school, and pass a licensing exam. From this, a
prospecting N.D. learns all the same basics that come with an M.D. along with the
addition of teaches of naturopathic practices, treatments, and medication (What Is a

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Naturopathic Doctor?). Michael Stanclift, a certified N.D., expounds on the topic of his
training in an article he wrote for The Huffington Post: As N.D. students, we spend all
our clinical time in a family practice (outpatient) setting, under the supervision of an
attending (usually N.D.) physician. Due to such hands-on training, one can see that an
N.D. can be just as informed as an M.D.- perhaps even more at times.
The second reason a naturopathic doctor is the equivalent to a conventional doctor
is due to the fact that their methodology and process are medically proper and beneficial
to those in need of aid. The naturopathic medicine practiced by N.D.s, while seen as
unconventional by most, can still be proven as effective. Unlike Western medical
practices, the biggest component of naturopathic medicine is the idea of healing not just
one part of the body, but all the parts of it in order for the best possible status a patient
can be in. Iva Lloyd explains this difference stating, The diagnostic and treatment
processes are fundamentally patient-centered and health-focused; not disease or symptom
focused (30). Though modern Western ideals include fast-paced lives with fix it now
attitudes, both N.D.s and M.D.s will agree that the best healing is one that comes from
both aspects of a healthy mind and body that N.D.s focus on.
The last reason naturopathic doctors are just like any other regular doctor is that
they run efficient practices. When the word naturopathic comes about and is explained,
people immediately assume it is some type of old-world apothecary setting where
naturopathic practices take place. In reality, they are nothing of the sort. In fact, Stanclift
also says in his article that most people do not realize that N.D.s will always work
alongside other M.D.s. He uses the word team to describe the sort of relationship,
explaining that doctors refer patients to one another for the patient to seek proper help

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(You're What Kind of Doctor?). Just as one would not have their regular dentist
preform jaw surgery, one would not have their acupuncturist do the job that only a
dermatologist is trained for. An N.D. is there to help a persons overall health just as any
other general physician. It is the same business, but with different approaches.
On the contrary, many people like to downplay the effectiveness of naturopathic
doctors by stating the fact that they are unable to prescribe prescription drugs that a
regular physician with an M.D. would be able to due to the lack of proper licensing.
While this used to make conflicting, it is actually a shrinking problem. As time goes on
each state in America is growing an acceptance towards naturopathic doctors and giving
them access to prescribe drugs when it is needed. Overall, N.D.s try their best not to
resort to Western medication, vying for a more natural approach, but is sometimes
necessary in certain situation, such as infections (McGovern "Idaho Naturopathic
Physicians Want State Licensing.") With this growing acceptance, soon N.D.s
everywhere will be able to prescribe drugs just as a regular doctor would be able to
further help their patients when in a dire situation.
In conclusion, the Western culture has a very specific view of what a doctor is
with certain opinions of what they should definitely not be. Naturopathic doctors are true
doctors based on the facts that they have the proper training and education, have a proper
medical process of treatment with effective results, and run practices just as any other
doctor does. While being closed off to other medical practices may be thought as an act
of caution on the part of a Western civilian, it closes off the medical care options that one
may find helpful and closes the mind of opportunity through harsh scrutiny. This scrutiny

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makes those who take part in the field of naturopathic medicine out to be shams without
realizing how helpful a naturopathic doctor can be.

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Works Cited
Doctor. Stedman's Medical Dictionary. 27th ed. 2000. Print.
Lloyd, Iva. Naturopathic Medicine. The Energetics of Health: A Naturopathic
Assessment. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2009. 29-56. Elsevier. Web. 7
Apr. 2014.
McGovern, Cady. "Idaho Naturopathic Physicians Want State Licensing." The Idaho
Business Review. 5 March 2014: N.p. ProQuest. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Kind, Christoph. Naturopathic Physicians Trained in Drugs. Times Colonist. N.p. 20
Feb. 2009. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Stanclift, N.D. Michael. You're What Kind of Doctor? The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
What Is a Naturopathic Doctor? AANP. American Association of Naturopathic
Physicians, n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. http://naturopathic.org

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