I recently received an email from the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges [AANMC] inviting me to a webinar, wherein naturopathy is labeled as science and professional [see 001., below]; I then look at what AANMC says about naturopathy, and what NUHS's ND lead, who is part of that webinar, says in his 2008 naturopathy textbook [see 002., below]; and, then I THINK about this falsehood in terms of academic loans [see 003., below]:
001. AANMC states:
001.a. in "November 12 Naturopathic Medicine Informational Webinar":
"for this event, the AANMC is proud to introduce Rachel Marynowski, a fourth-year student at National University of Health Sciences (NUHS) [...] our webinar will also include presentations by naturopathic medicine professionals [...] including 'An Introduction to Naturopathic Medicine' presented by Dr. Fraser Smith, assistant dean of the NUHS naturopathic medicine program."
Note: so, we have the label of science and professional upon the naturopathic. And, we have Smith. The webinar agenda can currently be accessed here, where AANMC tells us: "this event is sponsored jointly by the seven accredited colleges of naturopathic medicine comprising the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges (AANMC)."
"prior to entering naturopathic medical school, Rachel attended the University of Georgia, where she received a bachelor of science degree in public health [...] Rachel plans on returning to Georgia, where she was born and raised, to practice traditional naturopathy in an integrative setting."
Note: again, AANMC explicitly links naturopathy to SCIENCE, and I'd argue 'typical academic science' at that. Also, this person will be a 'typical ND' per "traditional naturopathy."
002. what does AANMC & Smith say about naturopathy [and is it honest & true]?
002.a. AANMC states on their web site:
002.a1. that they are comprised of, per their homepage: "Bastyr University, Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, National College of Natural Medicine, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, University of Bridgeport [UB, where I did most of an ND], National University of Health Sciences." True enough.
002.a2. that naturopathy is science-based.
Note: AANMC states that this is typical science. This isn't true, or honest. Now, because they claim professions-level ethical status, they must be held to the highest of ethical strictures. It is not at all difficult to research the scientific status of what is the naturopathic, and to find that such is indeed hugely not science. This false 'due diligence' of 'scientific professionalism', therein, I consider a deliberate ruse.
Note: now, HPN is not being honestly contextualized here. You are not being informed. You are being, in my view, manipulated and deceived. The language is falsely naturalistic and is quite incomplete. HPN is mentioned three times on the page, yet AANMC never here shares the in fact sectarian belief that HPN is: vitalism, which I usually encapsulate as a belief in a 'purposeful life spirit' running the body. Also, at UB, I was taught not only that HPN is a "life force", but also that it is a concept which I have termed 'autoentheism', that that HPN / life force is, as they call it there, "god power within". This AANMC page disgusts me with its huge level of deceit, since naturopathy's HPN ['the vis'] is hugely science-ejected, and they don't reveal that at their upper-most echelon academic consortium's supposed definition webpage.
002.b. Smith's 2008 naturopathy text:
002.b1. so, Smith of this supposed SCIENCE university that contains presumably the SCIENCE degree known as naturopathy has written the naturopathic textbook "An Introduction to Principles and Practices of Naturopathic Medicine" (ISBN 9781897025253; 2008). Smith states, regarding 'the vis', in the chapter "Naturopathic Philosophy and History":
"naturopathic medicine [...uses] therapies that support the person’s self-healing potential. Naturopathic medicine is the embodiment of a tradition in medicine that could rightfully be called 'vitalistic' [...] the vitalistic tradition is based on the premise that the body has an inherent ability to heal, a premise referred to in Latin as vis medicatrix naturae, healing power of nature [HPN], and that the human being is a dynamic creation of body, mind, and spirit, more than the sum of its parts [p.018...] vis medicatrix naturae. Co-operate with the healing power of nature. The concept of a healing power of nature [...] a healing power inherent in the organism [...] this power [...] this healing power [...] the vis [...] the flexibility and open-ended nature of this concept is a good thing. The bounded rationality of any particular individual or group cannot capture the entire meaning [...] the vis is the core focus of the Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine, the most elaborate guide to the profession available. The discernment of the necessity of working with the vis medicatrix naturae is what makes naturopathic medicine a distinctive field. In practical terms, the principle of vis medicatrix naturae means that we work with the self-healing systems of the body [...] the self healing drive [...] a dynamic, intelligent, and adaptable system to restore function, integration, and dynamism. This healing force is not a separate entity from us that 'inhabits' our body and 'heals' us; rather, we are talking about the very nature of the human being. The vis is the inborn power of the individual to adapt and to heal [...] this power [...] our power to adapt and heal [...] all physicians rely on the vis [...] the vis medicatrix naturae [...] the vis medicatrix nature - the healing power of nature [p.019...] supporting, stimulating, or unchaining the vis [p.022]."
Note: so, the vitalistic HPN is the essentially naturopathic. Included in the concept is a form of supernaturalism, per "spirit". "Intelligence" implies purpose which implies goal-directedness, a.k.a. teleology. Therein, 'purposeful life spirit'. Again, AANMC has said that naturopathy is science-based and HPN based at the same time.
002.b2. and Smith also states, regarding naturopathy as 'of the professions' level scientific':
"[per NUHS's president Winterstein] the [naturopathic] profession needed this textbook of fundamentals to help standardize naturopathic curriculum in health science colleges [preface...and per Smith, the] science [...] of naturopathic medicine [...] may we all better understand the art of medicine, the science of the human organism [p.008...] this book is also designed for patients with a basic health-science education [p.010]."
Note: so we have the professions claim, and the science label.
003. so, overall:
naturopathy claims that within science is the vitalistic and the supernatural, while both are outside of science. The absurdity is obvious: naturopathy claims that something is what it is not. I consider this an 'academic mislabeling racket', minimally. I can only imagine the huge amount of money going into these seven North American ND granting schools under false pretenses / labels. I believed naturopathy's mislabelings way back, and those education loans are going to be with me for the rest of my life. So, I can't imagine there being a statute of limitations for anyone carrying loans from pursuit of an ND, as it is oftenmost Federal debt that cannot be dismissed. Yet, I anticipate a day of reckoning.
