Institute for Natural Medicine

Naturopathic Medicine professional development: in strengthening the profession of naturopathic Medicine by supporting the development of clinical skills (through a residency program) and practice opportunities (through a conventional clinic outreach program), inm is working to increase public access to quality naturopathic Medicine.

Professional community support: inm sometimes provides small or medium-sized grants to state associations, specialty societies, individuals and other organizations within naturopathic Medicine to directly support specific programs or projects. This is done when the program or project goals are very closely aligned with inm's mission, but the recipient organization holds the relationships or other resources essential to the success of the program or project.

Education & outreach: this program includes efforts to educate and engage the public en masse about Natural Medicine in general and naturopathic Medicine in particular. The program includes: the campaign for naturopathic Medicine, a collaboration with the american association of naturopathic physicians (aanp); our md-do advisory board, which entails the mobilization of allied professionals to respond to public relations challenges and bolster the reputation of naturopathic Medicine; and the inm consumer website, the direct infrastructure needed to host an online presence for education and engagement content; and a "find a Natural doctor" web hosted service to easily connect prospective patients with licensed doctors.

Naturopathic Medicine profession community building: this program primarily focuses on inm's work housing the naturopathic Medicine collaborative, a cooperative group of 76+ stakeholder organizations from the naturopathic Medicine profession working together through shared communication, facilitated conversations, mutual fundraising and value-added skills support for nds and allies facing the public. With a stronger, more cohesive profession, we can more effectively work together to educate the public and increase access to naturopathic Medicine.

Research: inm's research program aims to prove the efficacy of naturopathic Medicine in the treatment of chronic disease. Chronic disease is responsible for the majority of the health care costs in america. A 12-week interventional research study in 2023 focused on food and education to increase the participants' health literacy. The research is testing the theory that with the food as Medicine approach, participants can turn the tide away from chronic disease and learn strategies to employ beyond the study timeframe that will continue to accrue health benefits to help them become their own "health ceo."