Vaccines are obviously a controversial subject. Many health conscious  people feel conflicted about them. There is much information available from those who question vaccine safety, and others who promote it as the foundation of disease of prevention. It can be overwhelming to go over yourself.

For people in this situation talking to a naturopathic doctor about it may seem like a good decision.

As experts in natural health, we are here to give people an alternative to conventional medicine. People come to use because they do not want to take medications. They wish to avoid side effects and want to heal instead of just masking symptoms. Patients come to us specifically because we are outside of the conventional health care system.

However, in many ways we are also part of that conventional system. We have extensive training in conventional labs test and diagnosis. We understand the need for medications in some situations and not anti-drug. In many states NDs are licensed physicians, take insurance and have certain prescription rights.

In some ways naturopathy is an alternative to conventional medicine, but in other ways we are part of that conventional system.

So it may seem that NDs are the perfect people to talk to about vaccines. After all, since we are here to give patients an alternative to pharmaceuticals, shouldn’t we be happy to tell them a vaccine isn’t needed? But, we also are trained in the need for medications at times, so if vaccines truly are best, we would recommend them.

Why you may not want to bother talking to a naturopathic doctor about vaccines

Naturopathic doctors do not have formal training in vaccines

I should put the following disclaimer at the stop of this section. I attended the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine form 2005-09. My naturopathic vaccine education is based on that experience. I am in no way currently associated with any naturopathic school, so can not speak from direct experience about what is happening in naturopathic schools at the moment.

In naturopathic school there are two kinds of courses, those that teach conventional medical topics just the same as they would be covered in medical schools, and those which teach natural treatments. The following does not cover the entire naturopathic curriculum, but is just an overview of my education.

Course that teach conventional medicine

• Basic sciences: anatomy, physiology, pathology, organic chemistry, microbiology
• Physical exam
• Clinical and lab diagnosis
• Public health and research methodology

Courses that teach natural treatments

• Herbal medicine
• Homeopathy
• Various classes that cover physical medicine
• Various classes for different systems: cardiology, dermatology, digestion, which teach natural treatments
• Pediatrics

So where in this education will naturopathic doctors learn about vaccines?

Under the conventional medicine category it may come up under two classes, microbiology and public health. Microbiology is typically taught by a microbiology professor (not a ND) and likewise public health would be taught by someone with a degree in that. For my education, both my public health and research methodology classes were taught by ND’s who also had a MA in public health.

As a naturopathic student the total time that these classes dedicated to vaccines was less than five minutes. I was not taught anything about vaccines, except they are great and work and we have eradicated smallpox and polio because of them.

Some thing that were not covered:

• How vaccines research is done. For example, I was not taught that in trials they only compare vaccines to other vaccines and not inert placebo.

• The National Childhood Vaccine Injury ACT (NCVIA) of 1986. This is the law that regulates vaccines in the United States. It granted vaccine manufacturers full liability protection against vaccines. It was passed because vaccine makers were being sued too much and threatened the government that they would stop making vaccines without liability. It also set up the special vaccine court, so families of injured people can only sue the government, and not the vaccine makers. This was never talked about in naturopathic school and I only learned about it after I graduated.

• The Vaccine adverse Event Report systems (VAERS). This is the systems used to track vaccine injury. They never mentioned it in my naturopathic education. And remember, in many states NDs are licensed physicians. Imagine that, licensed physicians not even told that a vaccine report system exists.

• The long list of vaccine ingredients and lack of safety established for them.

• Lack of long term studies of vaccinated, versus unvaccinated population.

I could write a longer list of what I was not taught, but basically, it’s almost everything about vaccines.

So what about the other classes that cover natural health modalities? Perhaps a few minutes of discussion in homeopathy attacking vaccines (all classical homeopaths are against vaccine).

In my pediatrics class, I was taught that it’s the job of NDs to help parents make the best informed decision, rather than to tell them to vaccinate their children or not. There was no detailed discussion on the pros and cons of vaccines, just my job was to inform parents on the risks and benefits of vaccines. I’m not sure how students were expected to do that, without being taught anything on vaccines in which to inform parents with.

It is my opinion, that teachers did not wish to discuss vaccines, out of fear. Vaccines are the sacred cow of conventional medicine. It is one of the few topics in health where rational discussion and asking questions is not allowed. This attitude of fear extends into our teaching institutions.

ND vesus MD vaccine education

If you ask a MD about their vaccine education, they will tell you it’s very little. They are told vaccines are “safe and effective.” Just like naturopathic doctors, they do not train medical doctors about vaccine laws, safety trials or risks.

From what medical doctors say, their schooling is about indoctrinating them into believing in vaccines. In contrast naturopathic education is about avoiding the subject as much as possible.

Therefore, neither MDs or NDs are adequately trained in vaccines to inform the public about it.

Are naturopathic doctors against vaccines?

Since they do not teach NDs about vaccines in school, we have to look elsewhere to know what to believe.

The natural health field has a long history people who are anti-vaccine. So most students are exposed to information that contradicts conventional vaccine dogma. What happens is some NDs very much question the safety of vaccines and others totally embrace it.

There is absolutely no naturopathic consensus on vaccines among naturopathic doctors. Therefore, any opinion you get from an ND about vaccines is based upon their personal beliefs and research. They do not base it upon naturopathic education, or current thought in the naturopathic field at all.

With vaccinations being such a taboo topic, you will not find many NDs being vocal in opposition to vaccines. No one wants to be the center of controversy, or make the profession look bad when we are busy trying to lobby state governments for licensure or expanded scope.

I know several NDs who are totally against vaccinations and have not vaccinated their own children. None of whom are about to put a website together full of posts that question vaccine safety. It is not a good career move for them or the field.

In contrast, those NDs who do support vaccinations, like to be very vocal about it. They will make websites dedicated to the matter such as this one:

NDsforvaccines.com

These NDs are echoing the opinion of the FDA, CDC and I imagine are trying to make the naturopathic field look good and “scientific” to other people, including politicians. They have no reason to hide their opinion.

So, who should you listen to?

In conclusion if you go to an ND asking for advice on vaccines, know you are getting someone’s opinion based on their own research and bias. It is disingenuous for any ND to give you the naturopathic opinion on vaccines, since no such consensus exists.

Since those NDs who support vaccines feel more at liberty to be vocal about it and even market vaccine consultations, if you go out seeking an ND to consult with on vaccinations, you may easily find a pro-vaccine ND.

From what they write on websites (such as what I linked to above) Pro-vaccine NDs are also may use their position to coax patients who are more skeptical of conventional doctors into accepting vaccines.

I wish the naturopathic field which I am part of, had one clear message. To be honest, there is no clear message.

Naturopathy is in many ways a divided field. Vitalism vs reductionism. Empiricism vs “evidence based medicine.” Traditional methods vs the new and cutting edge.

As a naturopathic doctor I support my field and think it has a lot to offer the public. A unified opinion on vaccines is not one of those things.

Naturopathic doctors have no special education wish makes their opinion on vaccines more valuable then  anyone else.

Do not believe a NDs opinion on vaccines just because of their degree. Appeals to authority don’t lead to truth. Substituting the authority of a medical doctor, with that of a naturopathic doctor doesn’t work. If a client asks me for my opinion, I’ll tell them. But I am also honest that this is my opinion, based upon my own research. I do not claim to speak for science or naturopathy.

When it comes to vaccines, do your own research.