Naturopathic Physicians
Diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases using a system of practice that is based on the natural healing capacity of individuals. May use physiological, psychological or mechanical methods. May also use natural medicines, prescription or legend drugs, foods, herbs, or other natural remedies.
Also Known As:
Doctor (Dr)
Naturopathic Doctor
Naturopathic Endocrinologist
Naturopathic Medicine Doctor
Naturopathic Oncologist
Naturopathic Oncology Provider
Physician
Wages
Annual wages for Naturopathic Physicians in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
42,200
2% Change From 2024
Explore Naturopathic Physicians video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Interview patients to document symptoms and health histories.
- Educate patients about health care management.
- Conduct physical examinations and physiological function tests for diagnostic purposes.
- Order diagnostic imaging procedures such as radiographs (x-rays), ultrasounds, mammograms, and bone densitometry tests, or refer patients to other health professionals for these procedures.
- Consult with other health professionals to provide optimal patient care, referring patients to traditional health care professionals as necessary.
- Perform mobilizations and high-velocity adjustments to joints or soft tissues, using principles of massage, stretching, or resistance.
- Monitor updates from public health agencies to keep abreast of health trends.
- Obtain medical records from previous physicians or other health care providers for the purpose of patient evaluation.
- Prescribe synthetic drugs under the supervision of medical doctors or within the allowances of regulatory bodies.
- Perform venipuncture or skin pricking to collect blood samples.
- Consult with other health professionals to provide optimal patient care, referring patients to traditional health care professionals as necessary.
- Order diagnostic imaging procedures such as radiographs (x-rays), ultrasounds, mammograms, and bone densitometry tests, or refer patients to other health professionals for these procedures.
- Report patterns of patients' health conditions, such as disease status and births, to public health agencies.
- Treat minor cuts, abrasions, or contusions.
- Diagnose health conditions, based on patients' symptoms and health histories, laboratory and diagnostic radiology test results, or other physiological measurements, such as electrocardiograms and electroencephalographs.
- Advise patients about therapeutic exercise and nutritional medicine regimens.
- Administer, dispense, or prescribe natural medicines, such as food or botanical extracts, herbs, dietary supplements, vitamins, nutraceuticals, and amino acids.
- Document patients' histories, including identifying data, chief complaints, illnesses, previous medical or family histories, or psychosocial characteristics.
- Diagnose health conditions, based on patients' symptoms and health histories, laboratory and diagnostic radiology test results, or other physiological measurements, such as electrocardiograms and electroencephalographs.
- Administer treatments or therapies, such as homeopathy, hydrotherapy, Oriental or Ayurvedic medicine, electrotherapy, and diathermy, using physical agents including air, heat, cold, water, sound, or ultraviolet light to catalyze the body to heal itself.
- Maintain professional development through activities such as postgraduate education, continuing education, preceptorships, and residency programs.
- Perform minor surgical procedures, such as removing warts, moles, or cysts, sampling tissues for skin cancer or lipomas, and applying or removing sutures.
- Administer, dispense, or prescribe natural medicines, such as food or botanical extracts, herbs, dietary supplements, vitamins, nutraceuticals, and amino acids.
- Conduct periodic public health maintenance activities such as immunizations and screenings for diseases and disease risk factors.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")