President's Message: Changes at the AANP and in the Health Industry Landscape

By Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc
AANP President

It’s a busy time at the AANP (as always) and has been particularly busy for me with the leadership changes on the horizon. Many wheels are turning and progress is being made. Let me bring you up to date on a few key events and activities.


Executive Director Transition Planning

Last month I reported on the Executive Director Transition Team and our first steps. I’m happy to report we’ve made significant progress and are moving ahead at a steady pace. Most of the past month we’ve been involved in talking with experts, reviewing and discussing the future needs and goals of the association, and visualizing what personal and professional attributes are most important in our next ED. After reviewing multiple executive search firms and holding in-depth interviews with our top three contenders, I’m pleased to report that after Board approval and legal review, we have contracted with Association Strategies, Inc. (ASI), of Alexandria, Virginia, to work with us in our search.

ASI fits the needs of the AANP quite well. They have significant experience in both the non-profit world and health industry. ASI is a woman-owned and -managed organization with 25 years of service and hundreds of associations served. Their systematic approach includes an organizational assessment, a rigorous nationwide search and screening process, transition planning, and follow-through after the hire of our next ED. They have high satisfaction rate and good credibility in their industry. If you want to know more about them, here is their website: http://www.assnstrategies.com/

The AANP has selected Association Strategies, Inc., to aid in the search for the next Executive Director.

Now this process is going to speed up! It takes at least three months and more typically close to six months for a process like this to come to fruition. The latter time is more likely, given that the search will be in process over the holidays. Karen Howard has been as busy as ever, perhaps even more so recently, as she approaches the end of her tenure at the close of November. Terri Deerr will be stepping in as Interim ED December 1st. We hope to have identified and hired our new ED by the end of March.

We’ve received feedback from many of you and welcome your input. Please watch your e-mailboxes over the coming weeks as we will be surveying the AANP community to find out your wishes, vision and feedback. We’ll be talking with national and state leaders past and present, NDs across the country, teachers, staff and others intimately connected with the naturopathic community. If you have any ideas or feedback that you think would help us be most successful, please send it to me at Carl@SFnatmed.com. We will listen to all voices. If you want to apply for the position, you can contact me directly and I will connect you with ASI once our search is actively underway.

Trends Affecting Naturopathic Medicine

It has been interesting to observe some of the societal trends that have an impact on our profession recently. First, I’m certain most of you have observed some of the negative studies released in the past few weeks on vitamins and health, including the Iowa Health Study on middle-aged women, and another about associations between Vitamin E and prostate cancer risk. Since a majority of our doctors have in-office pharmacies and almost all recommend nutritional supplements as part of their treatment protocols, the public perceptions of health risks associated with vitamin use present us with challenges and opportunities. It is incumbent upon our profession to consider these studies carefully and respond intelligently and effectively. The AANP has issued a press release to this effect and I look forward to the analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of these studies in the coming weeks.

The American Medical Association (AMA) and its affiliates continue to attack and oppose expansion of practice scope and titles for a number of health professions, naturopathic physicians included. In recent weeks we have seen the news about the American Association of Family Physicians (AAFP) opposing "any expansion of naturopaths' scope of practice that is not strictly supported by their training, such as extending them liberal prescribing authority or permitting them to perform work/school physical exams or surgery." And in no case, said the delegates, should these individuals be granted "primary care physician" status. The AMA opposes use of the term "doctor" for any doctorate-level provider who is not a medical doctor (MD). I recently submitted a letter to the New York Times editor on this topic.

The AANP is working with others within our profession to craft thoughtful responses to the AAFP and AMA. With our partners such as the Coalition for Patient Rights, we are keeping an open dialogue and working to educate and inform these groups about our training, practice and professionalism. There are many misconceptions to correct, and this kind of "turf protection" argument doesn’t serve our professions or the public in this time of need for better health care. I for one believe that all health-care professions are first about doing good and working with people to improve their health. It’s a shame we can’t work together better, with good communication and mutual respect. We as NDs need to lead from the high road as we work to change this dynamic.

President's Message: Progress in State Licensure

By Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc
AANP President

Legislation to license NDs had passed the North Dakota Legislative Assembly
as work continues in other nearby states!

By now you’ve likely heard the good news that North Dakota will become the 16th state to license naturopathic doctors!

This is a great step forward for the profession and is largely the work of one person, Beth Allen, ND, who has the vision and foresight to take her inspiration and turn it into perspiration to accomplish this momentous task. It shows how the power of one dedicated person can change the world.

Hearing this news makes me think back to our licensing campaign in California nearly a decade ago, and ponder what’s in store in North Dakota. For the many of you reading this who have been involved in licensing campaigns, both successful and unsuccessful, I’m sure you share my observation of the depth of work and dedication it takes to pass a licensing bill. Creating educational pieces for legislators, dealing with misinformation campaigns around naturopathic education and safety, navigating the political landscape, and “touching” each legislator are all vital pieces to creating a successful outcome. It takes a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice to achieve this goal.

I am personally of the mind that state licensing is driven by those in the states seeking licensure. They know the local terrain and issues, have the personal connections with the legislature, and have the will and passion to see that they are able to practice openly and bring the choice of seeing a naturopathic doctor to all citizens of their state. The role of the AANP is to be actively supportive. By providing training, support for educating legislators and the public, knowledge of trends in other licensed states, support at legislative hearings, and a sounding board as issues arise, the AANP is there to help those NDs in states with legislative campaigns be as successful as possible. I can tell you that even though California NDs led the campaign for licensing, we would not have been able to accomplish that if it were not for the AANP being there with us every step of the way. Every state has different conditions and influences that affect what may fly in the legislature and what may not. They say “politics is the art of compromise,” and we certainly see that in the different bills that are submitted and pass or fail. Knowing what to compromise on and what not to is one of the arts of successful passage.

Now the real work begins in North Dakota. Rules and regulations need to be written, a board formed, and a million other details that take a passed bill into law on to regulatory oversight. The North Dakota Association of Naturopathic Doctors, I’m sure, will rise to meet these challenges with the leadership that Dr. Allen has already clearly demonstrated.

Meanwhile, there are active licensing campaigns ongoing in a number of other states and I believe that the passage of the law in North Dakota will inspire and encourage those hardworking people that this can be accomplished and we will see more states licensed in the near future.

Please join me in thanking Dr. Allen and all of those who worked to achieve this significant victory. This is a significant step forward in the history of the naturopathic profession and opens the door for many more people to benefit from naturopathic medicine.

Find Your Voice and Use It at the 2011 DC FLI

By Christine Girard, ND
2010 AANP Physician of the Year

The AANP will train you to become an advocate for naturopathic medicine.

This year, I’ve had the honor of testifying before the Arizona Senate Health Committee, regarding expanding the ND scope of practice, and the Iowa Senate State Government subcommittee on regarding ND licensure in that state. If you’re like me, speaking before legislators feels daunting - important, but daunting. It has taken me years to feel anything close to comfortable and I owe that to the DC FLI.

For those who aren’t familiar with the DC FLI, it is the Federal Legislative Initiative, that the AANP hosts in Washington, D.C., each May. The event is free for all members and serves as a great opportunity for students and physicians alike to connect with their legislators in Washington. If you’re new to the game, want to learn the ropes, and feel safer doing so with friends and colleagues, this is the way to go. The three-day event is well-organized and offers two days of interactive and comprehensive preparation for your day on the Hill.

In addition to the training, the AANP schedules your meeting with legislators and makes sure you are part of a small group so you don't feel out on a limb. Additionally, the will provide you with packets that include fact sheets about the issues, biographies of your legislators, and leave-behind materials. Your day on the Hill will culminate with a reception featuring organic food, wine and chocolate, an even that legislators and their staffers have come to know and love.

There’s an amazing energy about the FLI. Part of the it is generated by NDs coming together with purpose. The other part is the amazing experience of finding one’s voice – and using it!

Every year I attend the FLI, I am reminded of how important it is that we become or remain connected to our legislators. If we don’t state who we are as a profession or voice what is important to us, who will? No one or, worse yet, our opponents.

Join me this year. Raise your voice and feel the energy of purpose.

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

By Bill Benda, MD



Photo by dotjdotsmith via flickr under the Creative Commons License.

There is a lexicon war going on this year, have you noticed? The first shots were fired last February at the Institute of Medicine Summit on Integrative Medicine in Washington, DC, where non-MD practitioners (specifically nurses and social workers) lined up at the microphone during the public commentary sessions to insist on the substitution of “healthcare” for “medicine” in all future language. Then, over the summer, the American Medical Association launched the first wave of its Scope of Practice Partnership, intent upon preventing doctorate-level professions from calling themselves “doctors” and “practicing medicine” and defining exactly what a “physician” is. On the other hand, a few short weeks ago, the US Department of Labor confirmed the legislative validity, among other things, of the official titles “naturopathic physician” and “naturopathic doctor.” So in general it appears people are happy being called “doctor,” unless they don’t want to be, or aren’t legally qualified, or someone else doesn’t want them to be, and that “healthcare” is the politically correct phrase from now on, unless we are talking about naturopathic “medicine” or Traditional Chinese “medicine,” in which case “medicine” doesn’t mean MDs, unless we are talking about the AMA, in which case “medicine” or “doctor” can only mean MDs. Or DOs. Or dentists.

Sheesh. What ever happened to Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? Where has the egalitarian, its-about-the-patient-not-us, change-the-paradigm conversation gone? If we agree that we all want a new definition of healthcare, why are we arguing over old classifications of entitlement? Don’t get me wrong – classifications are essential in the bureaucratic world of reimbursement and such. But doesn’t this war of the words seem a bit childish when so much is at stake in both the national and global arena?

I am, by all traditional criteria, a doctor who practices medicine. And I actively discourage anyone knowing this particular fact before they first get to know me as a person, as I usually will encounter one of two reactions – either an undeserved deference or an equally undeserved dismissal as likely being a jerk (which, by the way, if true is unrelated to my medical degree). In fact I propose that anyone making a restaurant reservation using the title “Dr,” whether medical or naturopathic or veterinarian, should be immediately seated next to the bathroom and then ignored.

The fact is that none of us is actually a doctor, or a nurse, or a naturopath, or an acupuncturist. We are simply human beings who have chosen a particular profession in our desire to help other fellow human beings, which is by definition the antithesis of entitlement. And to fight over a title while denigrating the AMA for its aggressively jealous obsession with that particular idiom is not simply childish; it’s hypocrisy.

And anyone that confused needs to see a doctor.