Naturopathic medicine (or naturopathy) is a school of medical philosophy and practice that seeks to improve health and treat disease chiefly by assisting the body's innate capacity to recover from illness and injury.

Naturopathic practice may include a broad array of different modalities, including manual therapy, hydrotherapy, herbalism, acupuncture, counselling, environmental medicine, aromatherapy, wholefoods, and so on. Practitioners tend to emphasize a holistic approach to patient care.

Naturopathy has its origins in the United States, but is today practiced in many countries around the world.

Naturopathic practitioners prefer not to use invasive surgery, or most synthetic drugs, preferring "natural" remedies, i.e. relatively unprocessed or whole medications, such as herbs and foods.

Licensed physicians from accredited schools are trained to use diagnostic tests such as imaging and blood tests before deciding upon the full course of treatment. Naturopathic Practitioners also employ the use of prescription medications and surgery when necessary and refer out to other medical practitioners.

The mainstream scientific community claims that it has found little evidence for the effectiveness of most naturopathic modalities, and the concept of holistic medicine itself is widely disputed. Alternative medicine is often treated warily. When a treatment is proven to be effective, it is usually integrated into mainstream medicine. A current example of this is Chinese acupuncture, which has now gained credibility amongst mainstream health professionals.

Licensed States & Licensing Authorities
Currently, 13 states, the District of Columbia, and the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have licensing laws for naturopathic doctors. In these states, naturopathic doctors are required to graduate from an accredited four-year naturopathic medical school and pass extensive postdoctoral board examination (NPLEX) in order to receive a license.

Licensed naturopathic physicians must fulfill state-mandated continuing education requirements annually (20 hours per year for Washington State), and will have a specific scope of practice defined by their state’s law. The states that currently have licensing laws for naturopathic physicians are:

Alaska
Arizona
California
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Kansas
Maine
Montana
New Hampshire
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Washington
US Territories: Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands