Consortium Supports Naturopathic Residency Opportunities
The Naturopathic Education and Research Consortium (NERC) is a small nonprofit organization making a big impact on the future of naturopathic medicine. Dedicated to increasing postgraduate residency and training opportunities for naturopathic doctors, NERC work has been with clinics across the country to provide official residencies for naturopathic physicians since 2005. Founded by Tori Hudson, ND, and Margaret Beeson, ND, NERC partners with clinics from Maine to Hawaii to create one- and two-year residency opportunities for new naturopathic doctors (NDs).
While students of naturopathic medicine are required to complete as many as 1,500 hours of clinical training in medical school,1 few formal opportunities exist after graduation to help new NDs continue to learn and grow professionally. In the mid-1990s, both Hudson and Beeson enjoyed the benefits of hosting residents in their clinics and saw a clear need for official and approved residency opportunities.
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Before the founding of NERC, two schools—the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) and Bastyr University—provided no more than eight positions for resident NDs, and those positions existed in only two or three locations. NERC’s collaboration with practitioners, clinics, schools, sponsors, and residents has created nine off-campus sites nationwide in which residents continue to train under professional supervision in conjunction with residency programs approved by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME).2 In 2011, NERC will facilitate 12 off-campus residencies.
“Residencies are crucial to the advancement of our profession in terms of insurance reimbursement and loan repayment,at the very least. More importantly, graduates need paid opportunities to hone their skills in a supervised setting with seasoned naturopaths who can support and educate beyond medical school,” Beeson explains. “These types of relationships are the foundation for passing on the wisdom of medicine as both art and science.”
Besides the clinical competencies they bestow, residencies also foster community connections for clinics, doctors, and patients. Because CNME-approved residencies emphasize integrative medicine, NERC clinics bring together practitioners and clients seeking conventional and complementary health solutions. For evidence of the roles residents play in their practices and communities—and community appreciation for those roles—consider a recent resident experience at Seattle’s Institute of Complementary Medicine (ICM). Eileen Stretch, ND, of ICM reflects on a very positive integrative residency experience:
With support from NERC, we were able to employ JanciKarp, ND, LAc, as a resident for two years. During that time, Karp provided both naturopathic and acupuncture services to our patients, educated the community with a variety of talks and workshops, and built a successful practice of her own within our office. While a resident she rotated through a variety of medical practices, which benefited her education and also benefited the practitioners with whom she worked by being exposed to naturopathic medicine.