·       Let nature heal. Our bodies have such a powerful, innate instinct for self-healing. By finding and removing the barriers to this self-healing—such as poor diet or unhealthy habits—naturopathic physicians can nurture this process.

·       Identify and treat causes. Naturopathic physicians understand that symptoms will only return unless the root illness is addressed. Rather than cover up symptoms, they seek to find and treat the cause of these symptoms.

·       First, do no harm. Naturopathic physicians follow three precepts to ensure their patients’ safety:

o      Use low-risk procedures and healing compounds—such as dietary supplements, herbal extracts and homeopathy—with few or no side effects.

o      When possible, do not suppress symptoms, which are the body’s efforts to self-heal. For example, the body may cook up a fever in reaction to a bacterial infection. Fever creates an inhospitable environment for the harmful bacteria, thereby destroying it. Of course, the naturopathic physician would not allow the fever to get dangerously high.

o      Customize each diagnosis and treatment plan to fit each patient. We all heal in different ways and the naturopathic physician respects our differences.
 

·       Educate patients. Naturopathic medicine believes that doctors must be educators, as well as physicians. That’s why naturopathic physicians teach their patients how to eat, exercise, relax and nurture themselves physically and emotionally. They also encourage self-responsibility and work closely with each patient.
 

·       Treat the whole person. We each have a unique physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, sexual and spiritual makeup. The naturopathic physician knows that all these factors affect our health. That’s why he or she includes them in a carefully tailored treatment strategy.

·       Prevent illness. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has never been truer. Proactive medicine saves money, pain, misery and lives. That’s why naturopathic physicians evaluate risk factors, heredity and vulnerability to disease. By getting treatment for greater wellness, we’re less likely to need treatment for future illness.

Education

MD's and ND's have some areas of common ground, namely their education. MD's are trained in basic sciences and clinical sciences to prepare them for the various illnesses and emergencies they will face during their practice. ND's are also trained in all these sciences in their education. As with all physicians today, Naturopathic Doctors are trained at accredited, four to five-year, post-graduate, medical institutions. But unlike MD's, they are also trained in a variety of traditional natural therapeutics, including botanical medicine, clinical nutrition, homeopathy, hydrotherapy and naturopathic manipulative therapies. ND’s are required a minimum of fifteen hundred hours of clinical education under the supervision of licensed naturopathic doctors in order to graduate. ND's learn how to integrate this diverse knowledge by weaving their conventional medical knowledge with the principles of naturopathic medicine and its treatments to create a natural health care program tailored for each individual patient. Medical educators and legislators alike have been impressed with the high standard of education required of naturopathic physicians.

Licensing

A naturopathic physician is required to take rigorous professional board exams in order to be licensed by a state or jurisdiction as a primary care general practice physician. Naturopathic medicine has an independent accrediting agency, the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME), which is the recognized authority for establishing and maintaining the educational standards for profession. A nationally standardized licensing exam (NPLEX) has been established, which is used in nearly all of the states which currently license NDs. Currently, 14 states license NDs (as does Puerto Rico and four Canadian provinces). In these states, NDs practice as independent primary care general practitioners with the ability to diagnose and treat medical conditions, perform physical exams and order laboratory testing. In these states, many health care consumers specifically choose NDs as their primary care providers. In states such as South Dakota, which do not yet have licensure laws regulating naturopaths, there are ample services that can be provided.