# Naturopathic physicians - are they "doctors" legally or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526 "2002-12-29T19:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/1 "2002-12-29T19:08:50Z")
I saw some one described as a “naturopath” in this [Village Voice article](http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0301/schlesinger.php) so I looked up the [American Association of Natropathic Physicans](http://www.naturopathic.org/). This is what they say about being a naturopathic physician - > [@](#): > > Education and Licensing - > > A Licensed naturopathic physician (N.D.) attends a four-year graduate level naturopathic medical school and is educated in all of the same basic sciences as an M.D. but also studies holistic and nontoxic approaches to therapy with a strong emphasis on disease prevention and optimizing wellness. In addition to a standard medical curriculum, the naturopathic physician is required to complete four years of training in clinical nutrition, acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, botanical medicine, psychology, and counseling (to encourage people to make lifestyle changes in support of their personal health). A naturopathic physician takes rigorous professional board exams so that he or she may be licensed by a state or jurisdiction as a primary care general practice physician. Are these people really considered “physicans” by insurance companies. Is anyone allowed to prescribe non-OTC medication without an MD degree? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/2 "2002-12-29T19:14:20Z")
Osteopaths are not "M.D."s but are physicians in every sense of the word. (They are "OD"s.) Sounds like from your quoth that naturopaths would be on the same footing, but I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/3 "2002-12-29T20:56:37Z")
Osteopaths (DOs) are on equal footing with Allopaths (MDs) for the most part, as their core curriculae focus on fundamental physiology and pathophysiology, with an emphasis on evidence-based medicine. In my state, both MDs and DOs are regulated by the same medical licensing board. Unlike Chiropractors (DCs) who have their own. I have no idea how naturopaths (NDs) fit into this scheme, but I suspect there will be many barriers to their acceptance by MDs and DOs, and it will be up to the NDs to demonstrate equal competence to end up on an equal footing. Personally I don’t think they’ll be able to demonstrate that. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/4 "2002-12-29T21:19:55Z")
Having said that, I guess I really haven’t answered your question. At this point and in my state (and I believe in most if not all others), these NDs can’t prescribe medication, aren’t given admitting privileges at hospitals, and don’t get re-imbursed from the vast majority of medical insurance programs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/5 "2002-12-29T21:33:23Z")
I am not personally familiar with the curricula at ND schools. I do, however, have a number of doctor friends who had a genuine and sincere interest in naturopathy, and quickly lost it after doing electives with naturopaths and were seeing what was done in practice (by those specific NDs). I emphasize again I have no personal knowledge of NDs, and wish they would publish more of their results. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/6 "2002-12-29T22:06:03Z")
It would appear that the folks at [Quackwatch](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Naturopathy/misrep.html) don’t think much of the discipline. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/7 "2002-12-29T22:09:47Z")
Here’s a more comprehensive overview of naturopathy from [Quackwatch](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Naturopathy/naturopathy.html) than my first cite. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/8 "2002-12-30T05:32:08Z")
I know of some doctors who have an MD and also an ND. This was common years ago when not all states recognized osteopaths. The doctors would get and MD and a DO. Now all states recognize both degrees. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/9 "2002-12-30T05:55:32Z")
Australia has a significant number of licensed medical practitioners who also hold qualifications in an alternative medicine dicipline. There was a time when you only had to hang up a shingle to call yourself a chiropractor, osteopath, or a naturopath - that is no longer true (although you CAN call yourself a therapist or counsellor without any qualification whatsoever). Alternative medicine qualifications can be obtained at our government funded tertiary institutions, and some of our health funds DO rebate part of the cost of visits to alternative medicine practitioners. Some suppliers of the ingredients used to prepare herbal and other naturopathic preparations will ONLY supply practitioners who hold a formal qualification in the field and are a member of a professional association. Other ingredients which alternative practitioners would dearly LIKE to be able to prescribe (L-Tryptophan and selenium, to name two), can only be prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner. No matter how highly qualified an alternative practitioner is here, though (and a lot of them do study much of the same basic science as medical practitioners), they cannot prescribe the same medications, perform the same procedures, order the same medical tests, or refer to specialist doctors as can a fully qualified medical practitioner (and here - at least - getting your medical degree is only PART of the process of becoming fully qualified). ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naturopathic-physicians-are-they-doctors-legally-or-not/145526/10 "2002-12-30T14:23:34Z")
I’d always be leery of any “alternative medicine.” I don’t remember who pointed this out, but it’s hard to disagree with it: if a treatment has been shown to be safe and effective, it’s “medicine.” If it _hasn’t_ been shown to be safe and effective, it’s _not_ “medicine.” It appears that “alternative” in this context simply means that no one actually know whether it works or not. True, it _might_ work, but then again, it might make you worse, or cause other ailments. Are you willing to bet your health on it?