Naturopathic Medical Education: A Comprehensive Guide to Programs and Accreditation

The field of naturopathic medicine has experienced significant growth, with increasing numbers of institutions offering training programs. These programs aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become primary-care doctors who integrate traditional natural health knowledge with modern medical training. This article provides an overview of naturopathic medical education, including accredited programs, curriculum, clinical training, and licensure.

Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges

Graduation from an accredited naturopathic medical college is a prerequisite for licensure in many jurisdictions. These colleges adhere to rigorous standards set by accrediting agencies, ensuring a high-quality education that prepares graduates for the demands of clinical practice.

The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges (AANMC), established in 2001, plays a vital role in advancing the naturopathic medical profession by actively supporting the academic efforts of accredited and recognized schools of naturopathic medicine. To be eligible to sit for the national naturopathic licensing examination (NPLEX), administered by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE), candidates must attend and graduate from one of these schools.

The Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine recognizes eight schools that hold full accreditation in the teaching of naturopathic medicine. These schools are also accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME), the national accrediting agency for programs leading to Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND or NMD) or Doctor of Naturopathy (ND) degrees, as recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. The CNME ensures that schools provide a rigorous, standards-based education that combines traditional natural health knowledge with modern medical training. Schools are required to meet a prescribed set of standards before being accredited and must be reviewed for reaccreditation at least every seven years. The standards are made publicly available and can be viewed in the CNME Handbook of Accreditation.

Fully Accredited Naturopathic Medical Schools:

American College of Naturopathic Obstetrics/NUNM (Portland, Oregon, USA): Specializes in naturopathic midwifery.
Bastyr University (Kenmore, Washington, USA): Offers a range of natural health programs, including naturopathic medicine.
Bastyr University (San Diego, California, USA): A branch campus of Bastyr University, providing naturopathic medical education.
Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine (BINM) (New Westminster, British Columbia, CAN): A Canadian institution dedicated to naturopathic education. Note: In February 2021, BINM merged with the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) under the name Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and the former BINM campus is now a branch campus of CCNM.
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) (Toronto, Ontario, CAN): A leading Canadian institution for naturopathic medical education. Note: In February 2021, CCNM merged with the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine (BINM) under the name Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and the former BINM campus is now a branch campus of CCNM.
National University of Health Sciences (NUHS) (Lombard, Illinois, USA): Offers a comprehensive curriculum in traditional naturopathic medicine.
National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) (Portland, Oregon, USA): A prominent naturopathic medical school with a focus on integrative medicine.
Sonoran University of Health Sciences (Scottsdale, Arizona): Dedicated to a comprehensive team approach to health sciences education in the fields of medicine, nutrition, and mental health. Formerly known as Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences.

It's important to note that accreditation status can change. For example, in May 2025, the CNME Board of Directors issued a show cause sanction to Bastyr University's ND program due to non-compliance with CNME Accreditation Standard III ("Planning and Financial Resources"), Sections B1 and B2 ("Institutional Financial Resources").

Curriculum and Training

Naturopathic medical education encompasses a broad range of subjects, including basic sciences, clinical sciences, and naturopathic modalities. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in medical knowledge and the skills necessary to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease using natural therapies.

Preclinical Training

Similar to allopathic and osteopathic medical education, naturopathic programs include rigorous preclinical training that emphasizes the basic sciences. This includes subjects such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, and pharmacology. Naturopathic schools generally have more in-classroom hours than osteopathic and allopathic training programs. Naturopathic schools teach from 80 to 120 hours of naturopathic models of care during the first and second preclinical years. The integration of clinical experiences earlier in the curriculum has been increasing in naturopathic schools, as well as allopathic and osteopathic.

Clinical Training

The clinical training of naturopathic students primarily takes place in outpatient clinics under the supervision of licensed naturopathic doctors. These rotations provide students with hands-on experience in patient care, allowing them to apply their knowledge and skills in a real-world setting. A distinguishing factor of naturopathic clinical education is the addition of and emphasis on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM modalities include training in herbal medicine, nutritional medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, mind-body medicine, massage, and natural childbirth. Naturopathic schools rely extensively on naturopathic physicians, licensed acupuncturists, and other providers of CAM modalities for their clinical education.

Comparison to Allopathic and Osteopathic Medical Education

Allopathic, osteopathic, and naturopathic medical education all prepare students to practice medicine yet diverge in certain respects. The combined match of allopathic and osteopathic residents, as well as increasing similarities and crossovers in curriculum and methods of practice, highlight this fact. In addition to the basic-science curriculum, osteopathic students study osteopathic manipulative medicine, and naturopathic students concentrate extensively on nutritional and herbal therapies. Naturopathic clinical training is almost exclusively outpatient-focused in preparation for a community-based practice. Postgraduate residency training has grown and converged for allopathic and osteopathic medical graduates, and while it has developed in scope and structure for naturopathic medical graduates, that training hasn’t yet become a standard practice.

Licensure and Regulation

To practice naturopathic medicine, graduates must pass the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Exam (NPLEX) conducted by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE). They must also apply for licensure in the state or province in which they plan to practice.

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Continuing Medical Education

All physicians, irrespective of the pathway they pursue, are required by their respective licensing boards to participate in continuing medical education (CME) for a specified number of credit hours. Individual states determine the number of credit hours required and the specific topics that must be covered.

Postgraduate Training

Graduate medical education (GME) refers to the additional education that physicians receive following their medical school training and is usually delivered in the form of a residency program that teaches the physician an increasingly specialized skillset within a specialty discipline. Naturopathic residencies are less stringently regulated and don’t increase the scope of practice; rather; each residency program has a scope and individualized design for training that isn’t uniform. The CNME has reviewed, accepted, and deemed each beneficial to the naturopathic profession. Due to their reliance on outpatient clinics for clinical education instead of hospitals and the lack of Medicare reimbursement for naturopathic treatment modalities, naturopathic residency costs are shouldered by the schools and other organizations that sponsor them. As a result, opportunities for naturopathic residencies are much more limited than those for the allopathic or osteopathic professions. Fewer than one out of 10 naturopathic graduates participates in a residency.

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