PROGRAM REVIEW
The necessity for allopathic medicine has been proven over the course
of time. The allopathic treatment of traumatic injuries and infectious diseases
is quite effective. In those areas, the attempt to “reinvent of the wheel” is in
no way necessary, wise or cost effective. However, there are many areas of medicine
in which the allopathic therapies have not been effective. It is in these areas
that consumers of health care services have spoken out for change. They have come
to demand that we consider health care as an overall effect on health, and not just
the treatment of a disease process after it has become noticeable.
John Thomas College of Naturopathic Medicine is neither teaching exclusively
the allopathic therapies to doctors, nor is it teaching exclusively the alternative
therapies to them, it is teaching them a naturopathic approach to therapies. This
program is designed to make doctors aware of both forms of therapy, allopathic and
alternative, and encourage them to utilize the integration of those therapies for
the best interest of the patient. Thus, each module taught in this program is taught
in an integrative format, the very essence of the beliefs of Dr. Benedict Lust,
the founder of Naturopathic Medicine. Each and every module will address the allopathic
therapies and the alternative therapies from pharmaceutical, vitamin, mineral, botanical,
homeopathic, oriental medical and physical medical approaches. This format will
allow for the practitioner to choose those therapies that will be of most benefit
to his or her patients. This program also integrates multiple therapeutic disciplines
that are fused together in such a fashion as to create the best program of health
care for persons in all phases of life. The goal in this program is to equip graduates
with the tools necessary to bring the best healthcare programs together for the
greatest benefit of the patient.
Further, this program has been designed for graduates to practice cost
containment and offer “one-stop-shopping” to their patients. This is possible because
John Thomas College of Naturopathic Medicine is dedicated to producing practitioners
who are fully versed in all phases of health care including alternative, allopathic
and traditional practices. It is unrealistic to think that someone who does not
understand any subject would either be willing or able to direct another person
in its use or usefulness. Likewise, our graduates are not going to be able to understand
either side of the dichotomy of present day health care without being totally versed
in the therapeutics of each side of the issue. Until such practitioners are trained
and available to the public, there will always be prejudice and misunderstanding
on both sides. At John Thomas College of Naturopathic Medicine, it is our intention
that all or our graduates will serve the needs of their patients without regard
for the type of therapy used, but with an eye towards the effectiveness of that
therapy in the life of their patients.
Furthermore, those who have demanded this form of health care will
not be able to take full advantage of the benefits they seek for the very reason
that the misunderstandings permeate current models of care.
The N.M.D. program at John Thomas College is designed for the individual
who possesses the prerequisite undergraduate and graduate education (with a professional
degree as an M.D., D.C., of D.O.) that has culminated in license eligibility and/or
statutory licensure. This program is designed to meet the needs of the full-time
practitioner who desires to earn an N.M.D. degree. The future of our program includes
a primary four year in residence degree program for students having completed their
undergraduate studies. It is being developed at this time and we hope to unveil
it in the near future.
Students enrolled in the N.M.D. program take one course, also known
as a module, at a time. Each module is set-up as a one-month intensive unit of instruction.
Students are required to commit extensive hours each month in course preparation
to successfully complete each module. The clinical education of the student will
be undertaken by a program of clinical study with actual patient contact and other
educational opportunities by means of video-conferencing. There will follow a system
designed to take the student doctor through the diagnosis process with access to
diagnostic imaging, laboratory studies, and necessary special diagnostic studies.
This will result in
a clinical diagnosis.
After achieving a clinical diagnosis, the student will formulate a therapeutic regimen
under the direct supervision of licensed physicians and he or she will be forced
to defend the diagnostic choices they have made. The advantages of this system are
that the student doctor will be allowed to see the diagnostic and therapeutic choices
made by the other doctors and student doctors immediately upon completing and turning
in the assignments by means of the College learning system. The lynchpin of this
model will be clinical competency testing performed under the supervision of the
clinical teaching staff. The understanding of the concepts and procedures necessary
for the clinical practice of naturopathy must be demonstrated for the successful
completion of the clinical program. Upon completion of all twenty-seven (27) required
classroom modules, twenty-four (24) clinical modules and associated examinations,
and all other program requirements, the student is conferred the degree of Doctor
of Naturopathic Medicine- N.M.D.
An exciting part of the future of John Thomas College will be the
presentation of a clinical research certificate program to allow the doctor desiring
to participate in research to formally address the issues associated with research
in a clinical or scholarly setting.