naturopathydigest.com -- Going Global with Naturopathic Medicine

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Going Global with Naturopathic Medicine

By Peter W. Crownfield, Executive Editor

Worldwide, people are in dire need of naturopathic medicine. Is the profession truly prepared to provide it?

In our continuing efforts to support and advance the naturopathic medical profession, Naturopathy Digest will begin sharing your message with a wider audience – the global audience.
Is the world ready for naturopathic medicine? Certainly the current health care landscape, with its pharmaceutical horror stories, medical mismanagement and HMO red tape, has left the public looking for alternatives. And naturopathic medicine is the perfect alternative – compassionate, thorough, preventive care from doctors who work with patients to maximize health through natural means. As naturopathic physicians, you truly are the primary care physicians of the 21^st century and beyond.
But is naturopathic medicine ready for the world? This is a different question altogether. Is the profession positioning itself to provide the public with the care it so desperately needs? Is the profession sharing the message of naturopathic medicine – not just with colleagues, be they NDs, MDs or otherwise, but also with potential patients? Relatively speaking, it’s one small step for health care providers to value naturopathic medicine; it’s a giant leap for humankind if the consumer public understands, trusts and seeks out your care.
Let’s get back to our first question for a moment. Is the world ready for naturopathic medicine? Just look no further than naturopathydigest.com. According to our latest statistics, more than 14,000 people visited the site last month. Evidence suggests that among site visitors, naturopathic physicians were in the minority. Who else visited the site? One can only speculate, but consumers probably accounted for a large percentage of site activity.
Suddenly, addressing our second question becomes that much more important. Is naturopathic medicine ready for the world? It needs to be, and the public needs an accurate picture of who you are and what you offer.
A Unique Opportunity
That’s where Naturopathy Digest comes in. For 18 months, we’ve mailed the print publication free of charge to every practicing naturopathic physician in the United States and Canada. From conversations with NDs, it is clear we are fulfilling our initial goal: to support the growth of naturopathic medicine by serving as a reliable source of information for practicing naturopathic doctors.
But by all indications, the public at large remains uninformed about the essence of naturopathic medicine. This impacts each and every practicing ND in terms of income, professional credibility, and most importantly, patient care. And what’s more, consumers might not be just uninformed, but horribly misinformed – consider that while naturopathydigest.com is the 10^th most popular site if one Googles “naturopathy,” and the Web site of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (naturopathic.org) is first on the list, many of the sites from 2-9 are not supporters of naturopathic medicine. Some disturbing examples:

#2: www.skepdic.com – “The Skeptic’s Dictionary.” As if the name of this site isn’t damaging enough, you’ll be treated to such statements as the following: “Naturopaths are … prone to make grandiose claims about some herb or remedy that can enhance the immune system. Yet, only medical doctors are competent to do the tests necessary to determine if an individual's immune system is in any way depressed.”

#4: www.quackwatch.org – “Naturopathy: A Skeptical Look.” This site is notorious for disparaging any non-allopathic profession at any time. The first statement on the page: “Naturopathy, sometimes referred to as ‘natural medicine,’ is a largely pseudoscientific approach said to ‘assist nature,’ ‘support the body's own innate capacity to achieve optimal health,’ and ‘facilitate the body's inherent healing mechanisms.’" Later on, site visitors can read the following: “The difference between more and less educated naturopaths is . . . like comparing more and less educated witch doctors. It could actually be argued that less schooled naturopaths are safer because they may have a smaller bag of tricks and, because they don't consider themselves ‘primary health physicians’ are more apt to refer patients to M.D.'s [sic] for additional care.”

#7: www.anma.com – Web site of the American Naturopathic Medical Association. As you know full well, the ANMA is a poor representation of the naturopathic medicine you are trained to practice (to say the least). But does your average consumer visitor to anma.com know that? Probably not. “ANMA is the leader in the field of naturopathic medicine … recognized by the World Organization for Alternative Medicine as the primary organization representing naturopathic medicine in the United States,” the site boasts. Those unaware of the distinction between a medically trained naturopathic physician and an online-trained naturopath won’t get any closer to the truth here.

Suffice it to say, more needs to be done to educate the public about the value of naturopathic medicine. After all, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, approximately eight of every 10 Internet users search for health information; that’s nearly 100 million adults. And of those users, more than half are looking for information about diet, nutrition, vitamins or supplements; primary areas of expertise for the naturopathic physician.

Taking all this into consideration, we think we can best serve the profession long-term by focusing our efforts on communicating to a wider audience – a global audience. To that end, this publication will become online-only from this point forward. Naturopathydigest.com will continue to feature the latest clinical perspectives, research, news and information relevant to the naturopathic profession. We also will continue to mail out ND Online, a monthly e-newsletter alerting you that new content has been posted on naturopathydigest.com.

Recognizing that naturopathic physicians may not have the time to read any print publication in its entirety, ND Online lets you scroll through brief summaries of the latest content and access the complete article if desired. If you are not yet receiving this free e-newsletter, you can subscribe online.

We continue to encourage article submissions addressing any aspect of naturopathic medicine – however, as part of our attempt to expand beyond the profession’s borders, we encourage articles written not only to practitioners, but also to patients/consumers. For more information, view our Article Submission Guidelines online.

By the way, we also encourage you to link to naturopathydigest.com from your practice Web site. It’s a great way to boost your site traffic and ours. In terms of Google rankings, this will help us combat those dubious sites that rank high on search results using the keyword “naturopathy.”

New Site Features

In addition to continuing to provide cutting-edge editorial content, we are in the process of adding a variety of unique site features we believe will support naturopathic medicine as it spreads its message beyond the confines of its own professional circles to educate the world. Naturopathydigest.com will now become truly interactive. We hope this will more accurately reflect our mission statement: “Dedicated to providing accurate, authoritative information for the advancement of the naturopathic medical profession.” As a robust source of information on naturopathic medicine, the site will be relevant to not only NDs, but also to other health care professionals and the public. Online features already available or currently in development include the following:

ND-Only Discussion Forum

A private, online forum exclusively for you – the naturopathic doctor. A unique user ID and password is required for entrance to this forum. Your unique ID and password appear on the bottom of the front page of this issue. Once you enter the site, you will be able to modify your password. This forum allows naturopathic doctors to advance the profession by establishing a true intraprofessional dialogue, 24 hours a day.

Note: If you do not have access to your unique user ID and password (i.e., you are reading this article online, never received the print issue, or if you ever forget your user ID or password), please call (800) 324-7758 or e-mail circulation@mpamedia.com.

“Ask a Naturopathic Doctor” Discussion Forum

This open forum allows patients, consumers and other health care professionals to ask you – the naturopathic doctor – questions. While any ND can post a response to a question at any time, we encourage naturopathic physicians to serve as forum moderators. Each moderator would be responsible for monitoring the discussion forum several times a week, ensuring collectively that all questions are answered.

If you would like to be a forum moderator, please send an e-mail to editorial@mpamedia.com with “Forum Moderator” in the subject field. Please include your curriculum vitae and a color headshot.

Live Forum Discussions

During a live forum discussion, an “expert” speaks on a particular topic and fields questions from the “audience” members. The expert is a naturopathic physician; the audience is anyone who registers to join the discussion. This is a great way to network with colleagues, other health care professionals and the public.

If you are interested in signing up to lead a discussion and can dedicate approximately one hour of your time (date and time to be determined), please e-mail editorial@mpamedia.com with “Web Chat” in the subject field. Include your CV and a color headshot, along with the topic you would like to discuss. As this is a periodic feature of the Web site, space is limited.

The Seventh Naturopathic Principle: Carpe Diem

In a previous article, I urged you to consider Naturopathy Digest “your publication.” I continue to do so.

I truly believe naturopathydigest.com provides a setting for the advancement of naturopathic medicine, both within the profession and on a global level. I wholeheartedly encourage you to participate. You deserve to be recognized for your unique training and abilities, and millions of patients deserve to receive the care only you can provide.

Remember, you can help shape how the world views naturopathic medicine. If you don’t, others will do it for you. Are you willing to take that risk? Please get involved by networking with your peers and informing the public about authentic naturopathy at naturopathydigest.com.