Naturopathic medicine first took form in the United States in 1901 when Benedict Lust opened the American School of Naturopathy.  This education centered around vis medicatrix naturae, the healing power of nature, and sought to bring the body to a state of health by promoting vitality in the patient. Unlike other modalities of medicine, naturopathy insisted that disease could be managed through changing habits such as poor diet, hygiene and lack of adequate exercise (among others).  Practitioners believed that in addition to healing the body, total health required mental and spiritual health as well.

In 1910, the framework of medical education changed due to a medical report commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation. This report, later referred to as the Flexner report was used as a means to improve, and standardize, the medical education in North America. Ultimately, those medical programs which ranked highest based on the report’s standards, including the new emphasis on pharmaceutical technology in the United States, then received substantial funding from the foundation. After this report, over half of the medical schools open in the US and Canada were either slowly phased out or forced to shut down, including all of the naturopathic medical schools.

This was all happening during a time of significant scientific medical advancements, such as pharmaceuticals, vaccinations, and sterile surgery techniques. This was the turning point where the United States medical schools stopped teaching about herbal medicine and switched away from a holistic, patient-centered approach.

A couple decades after the Flexner report, naturopathic medicine embraced the medical advances, including teaching about pharmaceuticals, and new naturopathic medical schools were formed that would include education corresponding to the scientific rigor now being taught in all medical programs.

Today, Naturopathic Doctors are considered primary care providers in many states including and continue to provide the important link between natural medicine and conventional knowledge. It is important to note that two types of naturopathic education exist; and there is a fundamental difference in the training between someone who refers to themselves as a Naturopath versus a Naturopathic Doctor. Naturopaths are not trained in medical schools like Naturopathic Doctors are.