Naturopathic Doctors Need Your Support
What is a Naturopathic Doctor?
Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) undergo education and clinical training within accredited institutions dedicated to naturopathic medicine. Their role encompasses diagnosing, preventing, and treating both acute and chronic conditions with the goal of restoring and maintaining optimal health by supporting the body’s inherent healing mechanisms.
Naturopathic medical education includes a strong foundation in biomedical sciences—including anatomy, physiology, pathology, and clinical diagnosis—along with in-depth training in nutrition, lifestyle medicine, botanical medicine, and physical medicine. Importantly, NDs also complete substantial coursework in pharmacology, including drug mechanisms, interactions, contraindications, and safety—training that becomes increasingly relevant in a world where many patients use both prescription medications and supplements.
Rather than merely suppressing symptoms, NDs work to identify and address root causes of illness, crafting personalized treatment plans accordingly. They integrate traditional healing approaches with modern evidence-based strategies, including lab testing and diagnostic evaluation when appropriate. Guided by the Therapeutic Order™, naturopathic doctors prioritize interventions in a sequence that maximizes benefit while minimizing potential harm.
In 2013, Colorado became the 17th state to provide legal recognition for NDs, along with the District of Columbia. There are currently 26 states and U.S. territories that recognize and regulate naturopathic doctors.
The Naturopathic Doctor Practice Act in Colorado was a major victory for the field of naturopathic medicine. However, the initial scope of practice (the set of professional boundaries that establishes what an ND can and cannot do set by the legislature) was built on a limited understanding of the rigor, depth, and clinical breadth of naturopathic medical education. We want to change that.
What Can I Do to Help?
Help NDs secure a scope of practice that reflects their rigorous education and clinical training—including their training in pharmacology, diagnostics, safety, and integrated patient care.
NDs are a viable solution in Colorado’s commitment to improving healthcare access—offering a continuum of care that can reduce long wait times for appointments, support stronger patient compliance, and improve long-term outcomes.
Call or email your legislator and tell them you support naturopathic medicine—and you support a scope of practice that reflects the full reality of ND medical training. Give Colorado residents the freedom to choose a naturopathic doctor who can practice to the level of their extensive and rigorous education.
Find your legislator and write/call/email them to encourage education and a better understanding of what a ND does. For help, reference the CoAND Fact Sheet.
2025 Talking Points
Naturopathic Doctors are regulated in Colorado. Licensure (Registration in Colorado) enables patients to differentiate between naturopathic doctors with an accredited, in-residence, doctorate degree in naturopathic medicine, from those lay people who provide naturopathic care but who do not have the same level of education. Only those with the title “naturopathic doctor” or “ND” have graduated from accredited medical programs, passed national board exams, and fulfill continuing education requirements.
CoAND represents all registered Naturopathic Doctors in Colorado. Find a Colorado ND here:
Registered NDs could fill the gap of known primary care shortages in Colorado.
Registered naturopathic doctors COULD contribute to filling the shortage of primary care physicians more easily with a modern scope of practice.
🌿Colorado is projected to be short 2,424 doctors by 2030.
🌿Primary Care alone is projected to be short 1,773 providers.
🌿Rural regions east of Denver have ratios as high as 5,636 residents for each primary care provider.
🌿54 of Colorado’s 64 counties are health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).*
*Cicero Institute
Naturopathic doctors emphasize prevention, lifestyle, nutrition and other modalities to address the root causes of health issues instead of just symptoms. This approach can lead to improved long-term health outcomes, reducing the burden on the healthcare system by preventing chronic diseases that are costly to treat.
Chronic diseases are a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and they are a major driver of the nation’s healthcare costs.*
Registered NDs are lifestyle medicine experts and are perfectly suited for treating preventable, chronic diseases.
*CDC
NDs often work closely with diverse communities and incorporate cultural, spiritual, and traditional health practices into their treatment approaches. This adaptability can be especially helpful in multicultural societies, where healthcare tailored to diverse backgrounds may improve access, trust, and outcomes.
Many NDs integrate mind-body approaches, such as counseling and mindfulness, into their practices. This holistic approach is beneficial in managing conditions like anxiety, depression, and stress-related illnesses, helping meet the rising demand for mental health support within the healthcare system.
What We Need
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Legislation to allow a Naturopathic Doctor to practice to the extent of their rigorous, four-year, post graduate education and training, which includes more than 80 hours of pharmacology; including education about interactions and contraindications between pharmaceuticals and plants and herbal supplements, which are taken by more than 80 percent of the U.S. population (according to WHO).
Learn what goes in to making a bill a law in Colorado
In 2022 the AMA spent more than $21 million on lobbying
Why is the American Medical Association (AMA) fighting against other health care providers being able, qualified, and willing to join in the fight for America’s health? That’s a good question. The AMA is one of the largest sources of lobbying expenditure in the United States. In 2022, the AMA spent over $21 million on federal lobbying, the seventh most of any organization in the U.S. Is it to improve access to healthcare? Or is it something else…?
Read this interesting article, written by Linn Wheeling, an employee of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, as she explores the effort by AMA to shut out other licensed, registered, qualified, and monitored healthcare workers from entering the healthcare arena in order to provide healthcare options to a deserving public.
Naturopathic Doctors (NDs): A Proven Track Record of Safe Practice
When evaluating healthcare providers, disciplinary actions are a critical measure of professional accountability and safety. Data from the 2023 Federation of Naturopathic Medicine Regulatory Authorities (FNMRA) and the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) shows that Naturopathic Doctors maintain an exemplary safety record when compared to their Medical Doctor counterparts.
More Than 8000 licensed Naturopathic Physicians (ND) practice safely across 26 US jurisdictions.
NDs gain extensive knowledge and expertise not only in natural approaches to healthcare, but also in the clinical and biomedical sciences (e.g., pharmacology, biochemistry, physiology and diagnostic skills). Accredited ND programs are a minimum of 4,100 hours in length, including 1200 clinical hours, two years of biomedical sciences and two years of clinical sciences.
