Licensure for naturopathic doctors (N.D.s) in Massachusetts will soon be available. The goal of licensing is to help assure the safe practice of naturopathic medicine in the Bay State.
Massachusetts’ residents will no longer need to leave the state to find licensed N.D.s, members of the Massachusetts Society of Naturopathic Doctors (MSND). Only Rhode Island, among New England states, does not license N.D.s.
N.D. care is not covered by health insurance, and there are no N.D.s on Martha’s Vineyard. Dr. Lisa Arnold, who has practiced naturopathic medicine in Sandwich and Orleans for 17 years, says she has seen Vineyard patients. In an interview this week, she said there are about 40 N.D.s in the state.
“A lot of our training is the same as [a medical doctor’s],” Dr. Arnold said, “but we also do a lot with education, nutrition, herbal medicine, and lifestyle counseling.”
Naturopathic doctors are trained in postgraduate, four-year, in-residence, regionally and nationally accredited naturopathic medical schools. Graduates pass examinations prior to eligibility for licensure, and are required to do industry-standard continuing-education coursework.
Dr. Arnold said the next step is to form a state board of naturopathic doctors to make rules and regulations. The five-member board will consists of two N.D.s, a medical doctor, a pharmacologist, and a layperson. They will be appointed by the governor. In addition to the national exam that naturopath students take, Dr. Arnold said, they will have to take a state exam to qualify for a license.
The MSND claims, in a press release announcing that Governor Charlie Baker had signed the licensure bill into law on Jan. 11, that there has been a shift in attitudes and toward natural and integrative medicine, and that numerous naturopathic institutions are recipients of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and other grants to advance medical research. Naturopathic doctors have been awarded competitive NIH fellowships, the release says.
For further information, see msnd.org.