With some of the derogatory statements made lately by Medical Doctors about the training of ND's, I was beginning to wonder if there was something fundamentally missing from my training that would make me unable to practice as a primary care provider. My curiosity about what a GP learned about primary care that I was missing in my training abated after reading PalMD's final comments that arose from his "ND Challenge."
Occasionally I find myself agreeing, at least to some degree, with the frustrations that Medical Doctors express about Naturopaths. Certainly both sides have a vested interest in their training and have every right to defend it. But in this case, I was disappointed by the lack of substance to the attack.
The crux of PalMD's final post is where he states the naturopath is, "fanatically wrong." Then, he went on to write that this judgment was based on a point that he was not entirely clear about in the first place. Further on, the same mentioned naturopath is called a cult leader! I'm not sure exactly why but possibly because of her expertise in diabetes and selling a book on the same topic (A conflict of interest? Possibly).
So, this is a first for me... I read these blog feeds every day but have never specifically commented or posted my opinion. What I realized is that if there is a difference between MD's and ND's on the capability of being a primary care doctor, it is a matter of opinion and not the ability to function effectively and safely.
The primary care physicians and family GP's certainly have their territory infringed upon as Naturopaths continue to expand their scope of practice. I guess I can't blame them for digging in their heels. Ultimately, naturopathy needs the critiques and, although they may not agree, naturopathy influences them too (for example, nutrition is now being taught in some medical schools). My hope is that some time in the future it will all be to the patients' best interest.
1 comment:
exactly why do naturopaths want to become primary care providers anyway. isnt naturopathy a niche market anyway? why dont you just stay that way and keep prescribing your clients herbs, and leave the medicine to the MDs, DOs. im very suspicious of naturopaths, and their need to encroach into medicine. this act just reinforces the notion that they're a bunch of medical school rejects and now with their ND degrees, trying to play doctor. i'm sorry but your naturopathic training is just not the same as the medical training training given in medical schools. i took the complementary and alternative medicine elective at my medical school, and um, well, i think naturopathic therapy along with homeopathy and chiropractic is NUTS, dangerous, scientifically unsound, and will only increase healthcare cost because it will distract people from receiving real treatments while accruing cost from this quacky alternative therapies and finally driven into financial ruin when they have to receive expensive treatments from real docs after their disease advances.
- MD student
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