It’s common to hear people ask about the differences between naturopathic practitioners and doctors. Or, you could come across debates about whether naturopathic physicians are real doctors. To correctly answer such questions, you first need to understand the types of work each medical professional handles or the differences in their academic qualifications.
Or, you could easily differentiate them if you know the type of disease or treatment methods each use. As a result, to avoid confusion, you can explore more about the services of a naturopathic physician from avenues like Collingwood Naturopathic Clinic. At clinics like this, you’ll explore Naturopathic medicine in detail and how it can help you deal with different diseases. Next, let’s look into the differences between a naturopathic physician and a typical doctor. Plus, explore whether anyone dealing with naturopathic medicine is a real doctor or not.
What Is a Naturopathic Doctor, and Are They, Real Doctors?
A naturopathic doctor or physician is a medical practitioner who deals with naturopathic medicine. And this is the type of medicine that deals with diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases using nature’s healing powers.
In other words, a naturopathic doctor treats by looking at every patient as a whole. Unlike typical doctors, a naturopathic physician doesn’t focus on particular symptoms, diagnoses, or diseases. Instead, they consider all factors a patient contains as far as their overall health is concerned.
They combine multiple strategies to rule out diseases such as genetics, diets, lifestyle habits, exercise history, and social factors. At the same time, the physician also involves environmental exposures and emotional factors when examining a patient. And in the end, the ultimate goal of a naturopathic physician is to restore balance in the body and support patients through natural healing processes.
So, Is a Naturopathic Physician a Real Doctor?
The answer to this question depends on the perspective you’re asking it. For example, if you ask if a natural medicine physician goes to a medical school and attains medical knowledge like typical doctors, the answer is yes, a naturopathic doctor is a real doctor.
Or, if you’re asking whether or not a naturopathic physician is the same as a typical doctor that earns the title of a medical officer, the answer is no.
The Work of a Naturopathic Doctor and How Their Treatment Approaches Differentiate Them from Real Doctors
In clinics, community centers, and hospitals, you’ll find medical practitioners who embrace natural medicine divided into the following classes.
Naturopathic Physicians
Also known as naturopathic doctors, these natural medicine practitioners have similar academic qualifications to typical doctors. They attend medical schools and earn their four-year degrees. They are also certified and learn the exact fundamental sciences as medical officers.
However, compared to medical officers, naturopaths involve their studies with diets, additional treatments using herbal medicine, homeopathy, and phycology. Also, in some countries, a naturopathic physician is licensed and authorized to offer services after passing relevant state exams from the place’s medical teaching institutions.
Traditional Naturopaths
Unlike their counterparts, these natural medicine practitioners don’t have to necessarily attend medical schools and earn degrees or become accredited naturopaths. Instead, they gain knowledge by practicing and learning from multiple herbal medicines.
In other words, they try different herbal medicines and embrace the most effective in helping patients cure and prevent diseases.
Healthcare Practitioners
This group of naturopaths deals with dental, chiropractic, and osteopathic medicine. They can be trained nurses in natural medicine or experienced naturopaths that decide to specialize in a particular area of medicine like dentistry.
The Treatment Approach of Naturopathic Doctors That Differentiates Them from Real Doctors
Apart from their extensive knowledge in natural medicine and taking particular subjects in medical schools, naturopaths differ from real doctors in how they approach diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
They Treat Diseases’ Underlying Causes
A naturopathic physician believes treating the underlying cause of a disease help keeps the body safe against common vulnerabilities. They focus on identifying why patients are experiencing the symptoms and how to resolve them.
For instance, if you suffer from repeated upper respiratory diseases, a naturopathic doctor will examine the underlying cause by inspecting possibilities such as allergies. Or, they can assess for food intolerances and even problems with the immune system.
They Treat the Patient as a Whole
Besides focusing on the underlying causes and possibilities of diseases, a naturopathic physician examines the patient as a whole. In other words, they believe when a patient is sick, their entire body suffers malfunctions that need to be addressed instead of paying attention to a particular part or organ.
