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Nichts13 · Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 1

Hello,

Can someone please tell me if American ND's graduating from one of the American naturopathic schools can practice in Europe or Asia? I'm having trouble finding resources on physicians working over there.

Thanks for your input.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 2

Proabably a good question to direct to the AANP.

www.naturopathic.org/

rmfischer · Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1

This answer might come 4 years too late Smile

Anyway: Although Naturopathic Medicine claims to have its roots in Europe, there is currently no phycisian license for NDs. In general, the independent diagnosis and treatment of diseases is reserved for MDs only. However, some countries have additional licenses. In Germany, the so called "Heilpraktiker" may also treat and diagnose indepedently, but with several limitations. These practitioners have passed an exam which examines your potential of being a "danger to public health". There are no exams regarding the expertise in treating or diagnosing modalities, and there is no specific education required to sit for this exam. Heilpraktiker can also be found in Switzerland, where education and licensing are better developed. In Italy and Spain, there is no specific license for health practitioners, but if you are a trained ND, chances are good, that they will grant you an individual license for practise, limited to the things you are trained in (as far as I know, you will need to sit for a jurisprudence exam). In Austria - where I come from - practicing medicine is strictly reserved to MDs, there are no other practitioner licenses. In the UK there is no regulation of naturopathic practitioners, unfortunately I have no further knowledge about the practising situation in UK and also in France.
To summarize, as far as I know, there is no ND license in whole Europe, but in some countries NDs can obtain limited practitioner licenses. Finally, you can also work under the supervision of an MD (In reality this means that you share an office, and he covers you with his title. This can be a bit of a hassle, but if you are good in what you do, the MD will want to keep you in his office as an important asset, and you can make a pretty decent living without being officially licensed.)
Rainer
SCNM Q3 student