Preventative medicine is the key to affordable healthcare. The more we can work to keep ourselves well, the greater contributors we our to our community. Many states in the US have taken the steps to license Naturopathic Doctors in order to establish their place in the medical world. Most primary care Doctors are licensed as an MD which means they have completed medical education within the conventional medical, or allopathic approach to health. This system is ideal for handling emergencies and extreme health imbalances, yet it often has little to offer in keeping people well. A common recommendation to “watch and wait” with a sub-clinical disease process leaves little hope for improvement.
Naturopathic Doctors are trained in the western medical system equivalent to the MD education. However, the emphasis shifts in the 3rd and 4th years of training to incorporate herbal medicine, nutrition, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, physiotherapy and more. The ideal healthcare system incorporates all systems of healthcare to take the best of each and apply them in an effective manner. For a comparative review of the education of leading Naturopathic and Conventional medical schools in the US, see the attached document here: Nat-Med-Ed-Comp-Curricula.
Licensing Naturopathic doctors benefits communities in a variety of ways. It makes more physicians available in an era where there is a nationwide shortage of primary care doctors. It allows the option for the first point of contact for patients to be with Doctors who emphasize what people can do for themselves to improve their health. Naturopathic Doctors spend more time with patients traditionally, allowing for more personal attention and an opportunity to explore the mind-body relationship. Naturopathic Doctors are experts in herb-drug and food-drug interactions providing a close watch to notice when dosages may need to be altered to support the changes in the individuals body. This expertise is critical in a time where patients glean a great deal of their health information from online sources and natural food store clerks. People often end up taking a wide variety of substances without any oversight of how things may be working together in their body.
As a healthcare practitioner, my experience spans over 20 years in a variety of roles. Initially working in home health and institutional care as a Nurse Aid, I observed the end stage of care for a wide variety of chronic health conditions treated exclusively with allopathic therapies. From there, I witnessed thousands of patients diagnosed with chronic diseases improve as a medical student intern in Integrative Medicine clinics. As a medical researcher with the Helfgott Research Institute in Portland, I got to know the process of determining what works in healthcare from the evidenced based model. While the research in natural therapies is generally smaller studies due to financial constraint, there is plenty of data to support its use, once as we begin to look.
Licensed as a Naturopathic primary care Physician in Portland, Oregon I was able to provide both natural and pharmaceutical tools for illness, covered by health insurance. Some patients prefer to avoid pharmaceuticals altogether or have responded negatively in the past to drug therapies. Still, there are a wide variety of options to choose from when treating illness with natural medicine. Other patients present with a health condition that will improve more quickly with pharmaceuticals but whose underlying health can be supported with natural medicine to prevent long term damage. Many individuals experience a state of health that is not clinically ill, but not 100% well either. This is where natural medicine can make dramatic change in a person’s life. Using tools from all systems together gives us the greatest potential to improve health and have lasting change.
Please support the effort to license Naturopathic Doctors in Colorado, and throughout the US in order to provide options for people in their healthcare services. For specific details please follow the instructions below.
Thank you for your time in supporting natural medicine and working toward affordable options in healthcare.
Sincerely,
Dr. Hart
| Colorado Association of Naturopathic Doctors | ||
| It’s time to write again! | ||
ACT TODAY – – – IT MAY BE TOO LATE TOMORROW!
HB 1111 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary committee sometime this next week. If we are successful, we “may” be assigned to the Finance committee, but will for sure go before the Appropriations committee… then on to the Senate floor and passage by May 8th, the last day of the 2013 legislative session.
Opponents of this bill have been vocal and unrestrained in spreading false claims about what this bill does. The legislators want to hear from you… again! Please take a moment to write the committee members.PLEASE SEND YOUR E-MAIL TODAY TO ALL OF THE COLORADO SENATORS LISTED BELOW. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR MESSAGE. THANK YOU!
1. SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS: Please support Colorado House Bill 13-1111 concerning “Regulation of Naturopathic Doctors.” False and misleading claims are being circulated from those fraudulently using the title, Naturopathic Doctor, in order to practice medicine in Colorado. HB 1111 will protect the consumer by allowing them to check credentials and file complaints against anyone using the title, Naturopathic Doctor or ND.This legislation will protect the health and well being of Coloradans to conveniently and easily:
Determine who is qualified to be called a Naturopathic Doctor and who has completed a four-year graduate level clinical doctorate degree from an accredited naturopathic medical program, has passed a national exam, and has met other qualifications for regulation; Check credentials and backgrounds of those who are Registered as Naturopathic Doctors; Lodge complaints against a Naturopathic Doctor should harm or wrongdoing be suspected; Be confident that when someone is called a “doctor,” that he or she has the training to provide the safe and effective care inherent in the title; Be assured that their Naturopathic Doctor will communicate and collaborate fully with other health care providers as a member of the health care continuum; and Be assured that the Naturopathic Doctor they choose has completed annual mandatory continued competency and carries adequate malpractice insurance. DORA has reviewed this profession numerous times since 1993 and has recommended that Naturopathic Doctors be regulated in 1998, 2005,and in 2008 which is the last time that Colorado law allowed Naturopathic Doctors to undergo the Sunrise process. The time is now to pass this bill. Please vote YES on HB 1111! 2. SIGN YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS # # # 3. Copy and paste into Bcc field: lucia.guzman.senate@state.co.us; jessie.ulibarri.senate@state.co.us; steve.king.senate@state.co.us; kevin@kevinlundberg.com; irene.aguilar.senate@state.co.us
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