here, using some ai-llm muscle on a recent AANMC video which had current ND students from each member campus participating [I’ve anonymized the individuals]:
001. the AANMC video is their 2026-10-12 upload “The Making of an ND: Medical Student Panel” which I carefully transcribed by way of WhisperX and then proofed
002. contents:
002.a. the science statements included:
“[host's definition of naturopathy] naturopathic medicine first and foremost combines that science and nature, okay? [...the slide says] 'naturopathic medicine combines the rigors of science with the healing power of nature. Mind, body, spirit' [...host continues] you can see Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico [...the slide includes the language] National University of Health Sciences [...and] Sonoran University of Health Sciences [...] okay, National University of Health Sciences, they are in Chicago [...] Sonoran University of Health Sciences, located in Phoenix [...one ND student states] I am a third year student at the Sonoran University of Health Sciences [...] I have loved everything I'm learning at the Sonoran University of Health Sciences [...another student says] so, and it was still so rooted in science as well, which is something that I really valued, just being from such a, you know, as many of people are from a very scientific background [...another student says] my undergraduate degree was in neuroscience [...another student says] I absolutely love science [...] we get to really stay tied to our science roots for those that that's important to [...] it's not just people like me that are straight from undergrad with a biomedical science degree [...] here at National University of Health Science, we have a couple options for students [...] profound science";
002.b. the coded vitalism includes:
“[host] naturopathic medicine first and foremost combines that science and nature, okay? [...the slide says] naturopathic medicine combines the rigors of science with the healing power of nature. Mind, body, spirit [...] then they learn about the healing power of nature and how to use it";
002.c. a source documents for comportment:
the 2026 CT Polished Report;
the video’s proofed transcription;
003. taskings to Perplexity:
“Consider the attached docx transcription's contents in light of the preponderance that the attached 2026 CT Polished Report pdf represents. Specifically answer these queries: 1) are the students within the video presenting naturopathy broadly as 'rooted in science'?; 2) is AANMC by way of the video transparently communicating the science-exterior sectarian and belief-based nature of naturopathy’s healing power of nature?; 3) in light of the preponderance via CT, what does AANMC’s 'making of an ND' contextually achieve in terms of science, belief, educational standards, and healthcare ethics? Anonymize any specific reference to any specific student from the transcription. Output your results as a docx."
I additionally followed up with:
"How does the AANMC video perform in terms of truthful commerce if it were to be treated as advertising or attempted inducement?"
004. results:
004.a. for "1" - the science posture, infused into the students:
"Yes. Several students explicitly present naturopathic education or practice as scientifically grounded [...] multiple student endorsements and the host’s framing invite viewers to regard the ND pathway as a scientifically grounded form of medical education [...] three propositions must remain separate: students study biomedical subjects; students value scientific identity; and the profession’s distinctive diagnostic or therapeutic claims are scientifically validated. The first two do not establish the third. Homeopathy illustrates the distinction: its inclusion in a science-framed professional package does not resolve the evidence problem identified by NCCIH, which states that there is little evidence supporting homeopathy for any specific condition and cites a major assessment finding no reliable evidence of effectiveness";
and of course, there are the institutional labels for two of the schools as "health sciences" subset naturopathy subset homeopathy subset supernaturalism / spirit.
004.b. for "2" - transparent vitalism and its science-ejected belief status:
"No—not transparently in the supplied transcription. The host names the “healing power of nature” and the therapeutic order but does not distinguish ordinary physiological recovery from a doctrine of innate wisdom or a vital force [...] naming a principle is not explaining its epistemic status. The webinar discloses the principle's name, not an adequate account of its scientific status. “Healing power of nature” can sound like ordinary biological recovery; “stimulate self-healing” can sound like a description of established physiology. In the supplied record, the host does not clarify whether these expressions are metaphors, testable mechanisms, or foundational commitments about how healing occurs. Nor does the introduction separate that foundation from therapies whose efficacy must be established independently. AANMC’s own therapeutic-order article is more revealing. It says every person has an “innate wisdom and intelligence” tending toward optimal health, identifies this with Vis Medicatrix Naturae, and describes healing as engaging a “vital force” or “life force.” It then names homeopathy among therapies intended to stimulate this force or process. Its core competencies likewise describe an inherent self-healing process as “ordered and intelligent.” These are primary-source grounds for identifying a doctrinal component; the characterization need not depend on a hostile outsider’s description [...] a transparent account would tell prospective students what the principle means, distinguish established physiology from vitalistic interpretation, and explain which interventions lack reliable supporting evidence. The supplied presentation instead places the principle alongside scientific rigor without making those boundaries visible";
same as it ever was. Transparency is bad for the naturopathy education business.
004.c. for "3" - apples and the trees they fall from:
"The webinar repeatedly pairs demanding study, science backgrounds, clinic participation, and doctoral vocabulary with naturopathy. The resulting message is stronger than “some courses cover science”: it suggests that the professional system is scientifically warranted. That inference is not established by student enthusiasm or workload. In the Connecticut context, the discrepancy becomes consequential because the report identifies repeated promotion of the same homeopathy included in the webinar's reported introductory slide [...] belief: presenting doctrinal adherence as professional formation. Students describe deep identification with the principles and therapeutic order, and finding peers who share their philosophy. These accounts establish that belonging and philosophical fit matter in the educational experience; they do not prove that the curriculum excludes criticism. Nevertheless, the presentation treats the principles as competencies to learn and apply rather than propositions whose evidentiary status needs explanation. AANMC’s published vital-force account shows why this matters: scientific identity and doctrinal commitment are being presented as an integrated professional identity without a clear boundary between them [...] The strongest defensible conclusion is that “Making an ND” offers scientific reassurance without a comparably clear account of the doctrine and evidentiary limits embedded in the professional system. In light of the Connecticut report’s recurring concerns, that omission is not a trivial stylistic matter: it obscures the distinction between learning science and subjecting a healing tradition’s own claims to scientific correction. The proper object of criticism is the institutional presentation and its accountability gap—not the intelligence, sincerity, religion, or personal worth of individual students";
hear, hear.
004.c. follow-up:
"If treated as advertising intended to induce enrollment, the AANMC video raises substantial truthfulness concerns—principally because its overall message may convey broader scientific validation than the presentation substantiates. The strongest concern is not that every statement is false, but that accurate statements about scientific coursework, demanding study, compassion, and accreditation are combined in a way that can imply that naturopathy’s distinctive doctrines and treatments are scientifically established. That is a credible deceptive-advertising concern, not a demonstrated legal violation on the present record [...] The presentation risks inducing prospective students to purchase an educational pathway by allowing the scientific credibility of some coursework and practices to stand in for scientific validation of the profession’s distinctive doctrines and interventions [...] The most supportable verdict is therefore: the video performs poorly on evidentiary transparency and presents a substantial risk of misleading enrollment inducement through its overall scientific impression. Calling it proven fraud or an established statutory violation would go beyond the available record; identifying a potentially material mismatch between the scientific assurance conveyed and the distinctions disclosed does not."
naturopathy: it's a small world after all... As in a manipulative sectarianism in the classic sense of the 19th century and what Flexner's revolution sought to remedy. And Perplexity tells me this is a better way to state that [!!!]:
“The AANMC webinar presents naturopathy as a closely connected professional community whose distinctive healing doctrines are enveloped in the language of scientific medical education. This resembles the medical sectarianism criticized by Flexner: scientific coursework can coexist with a therapeutic identity whose foundational commitments are not shown being subjected to the same corrective scrutiny. The concern is not the community’s small size or the students’ sincerity, but whether shared belief is being presented to recruits as scientifically warranted knowledge.”
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