Profile of a Profession: Naturopathic Practice - Center for the Health ...

UCSF Center for the Health Professions
The second regulatory concern should be assurance of the public’s safety. This needs to be
balanced with the opportunity for access, the third regulatory concern. In most cases there
should be little that prevents an individual from making a decision to seek a naturopathic
provider’s assistance. Because many of the aspects of the practice are non-invasive, the public’s
protection while not absolutely assured is not grossly endangered. To put this more positively, the
public has felt itself well positioned to make its own judgments about consuming naturopathic
therapy, and this right of access should continue. However, when naturopathic practice does
become more invasive it is important that adequate regulatory safeguards protect this dimension
of the public’s interest.
What follows is our case study of naturopathic practice. Not surprisingly the part of the practice
that desires standardization and formalization has produced more information that is verifiable
and of a standard form. The other part of the profession that values its freedom and innovation
is more difficult to capture and describe. We have done our best trying to recognize the value of
each approach and to point to ways in which each can live with the other in a way that serves the
public and enriches the practice.
4 Introduction