Advice about how to become a naturopath?!


Question: Advice about how to become a naturopath?
I'm thinking of going to some form of natural medicine school. It seems like most of them only requires 60 units from college. I'm 99% sure that this is the career path that i want, but I'm nervous about not finishing the college degree I've been working on. (biology) Should i go straight to naturopathy school/chinese medicine school/acupuncture/whatever it ends up being or should i finish my four year biology degree first?

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Accredited naturopathic medical colleges require virtually the same pre-requisites as do all other US and Canadian medical schools. Some are actually more stringent, requiring applicants to have COMPLETED undergraduate studies before applying.

Here's a link that details the legitimate naturopathic medical colleges in North America:
http://www.naturopathic.org/content.asp?…

My advice? Definitely finish your undergrad. And be sure that you cover the med school pre-requisites in your studies. If you're nervous because you're not sure you're capable of graduating, you may want to consider another field of study. Naturopathic med school is INTENSE. We learn everything your average family doc learns... and over and above that we also learn the natural treatment modalities, etc. And we do it in the same amount of time (4 year degree, 1 year clinical) which means significantly more personal time investment (and way more classroom/clinical hours.)
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Just wanted to correct some misinformation...
In Canada and the US, there absolutely IS a set of external standards to which naturopathic doctors must adhere. Not all states are currently regulated, unfortunately. This allows people in unregulated states who've undergone inferior training (or sometimes no training at all) to call themselves "naturopaths." HOWEVER, whether the state is regulated or not our profession requires that registered naturopathic doctors meet the same professional standards for training, competence and continued learning.

Any naturopathic doctor registered with the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (US) or the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (Cda) meets or exceeds those standards.

naturopathic doctor



Anyone can call themselves a naturopath, you don't 'become' one.

Get a real degree first, then when you realise that people think naturopaths are a joke, fraudulent and fake, you'll have a proper qualification to fall back on.

Better still, just continue your biology education with further degrees, this is far more ethical and responsible than following a fake 'occupation'.



60 units of college? That's only 3-4 semesters right?! And naturopaths expect us to take them seriously as medical professionals?! Quitting school to go into a field like naturopathy is a baaaad idea. My advice is to finish your biology degree, get some insight into how science and research works and then decide whether or not you want to go into a tradition and pseudoscience-based field like naturopathy.



The reason it only requires 60 points is because it's not science. Aren't you capable of doing something in a real medical subject like well medicine (probably too hard for you), dietitian? physiotherapist? sports medicine?

Unless you want to be scamming people and being self delusional about your abilities go into a real medical field, heck even pharmacology would be good. Every otherthing on your list is not medicine it's scamming. Aim on doing something good for society and going into real, scientific medicine



Go ahead and finish your biology degree. It will come in handy in your naturopathic career and you'll probably be able to get advanced standing for some of the naturopathy degree. It all works out to your benefit.
I know biologists, chemists and physicists who became Homeopaths and/or studied TCM.



Most naturopaths are regular MDs (sometimes nurses or PAs) who've also taken naturopathy training. If you want more credibility in the greater world, finish your biology degree, become a doctor or a nurse, whichever you feel is more feasible, and then take naturopathy.

There may be nursing schools that allow you to study naturopathy at the same time. Not so sure about medical schools; they stick more to the mainstream.

The trouble with studying natural medicine on its own is that it's not a legally recognized field. While there are naturopathy schools offering degrees and certificates, there's no external standard for becoming a naturopath. Each school can set its own, and not all the schools are accredited.

If you don't have a degree in a recognized field of study, from a fully accredited school, you're at a major disadvantage. You might still be considered credible by people who don't care about those things, but you have more pull if you can also show a "legitimate" medical background.




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