SAN RAFAEL, CALIF. -- In 2000, Sally LaMont had a decision to make. She was a licensed San Francisco acupuncturist with a thriving business, vice president of the California Association of Naturopathic Physicians and, no small thing, mother of a 1-year-old. Something had to give in her busy schedule.

LaMont took an unconventional path. She quit her acupuncture practice to become the first and only full-time employee of the naturopathic physicians association.

"I realized that somebody needed to do it," said LaMont, who moderated a couple of "ecological medicine" panels at the 15th annual Bioneers conference in this northern California town earlier this month. The Bioneers gathering, 3,500 strong, focuses on how nature can solve the world's ills, global and personal.

Trained as a naturopathic physician, LaMont could not legally perform a Pap smear, prescribe the occasional antibiotic or carry out other medical doctor's duties. That's why she turned to acupuncture, completing the necessary courses and practice time to become licensed.

Here in Washington, naturopathic doctors (or N.D.s) are licensed to practice and carry out medical duties. N.D.s, on the whole, offer the unique quality of knowing more about plant medicine for patients than any set of health practitioners. Oregon has a similar N.D. law, but California has been a notable West Coast exception.

Passing the bill in California, which became law this year, doubles the number of Americans with access to naturopathic physicians. Fourteen states now license N.D.s, while another 14 have some legislative activity in process.

An important point here: Naturopathic physicians are distinguished from "naturopaths" in these state laws. Naturopath is shorthand among patients for N.D.s, but naturopathic physicians themselves are quick to define the difference.

"In California, we had to leave the term 'naturopath' in the public domain," explained LaMont, who has stepped down as executive director and is contemplating her next full-time professional move. "There are people who call themselves naturopaths but haven't attended the (five) accredited naturopathic medicine schools.

"For example, after one of my talks (at Bioneers), a man approached me about getting his N.D. license, but it turned out he had a divinity degree. He didn't have the years of training required for the license."

Bastyr is one of four accredited U.S. schools for naturopathic medicine; another one is in Canada.

The California N.D. license also requires passing a written exam. The license allows practitioners to call themselves N.D.s, doctors of naturopathy, doctors of naturopathic medicine and licensed naturopathic doctors. Any practitioner not licensed using these titles will be breaking the law.

Some 150 naturopathic physicians in California are grateful for LaMont's decision to forgo her acupuncture practice and immerse herself in opposition to Big Medicine lobbyists. She played an integral role in the successful enactment of the bill, which was signed into law by former Gov. Gray Davis. His replacement, Arnold Schwarzenegger, recently named the first five members to a nine-person state advisory council, including Carl Hangee-Bauer, N.D. and Bastyr University alum. The law was several years in the making.

"I felt confident when the bill made it through the first committee in the state assembly," said LaMont. "I knew then we would make it law. The bill was eventually passed with 90 percent votes for it on the general floor."

LaMont credited Kenmore-based Bastyr officials with supporting the cause, including the hosting of a visit from members of the California Medical Association representing medical doctors or M.D.s. By all accounts, the visit was a success.

"One of the huge challenges for naturopathic physicians is that the typical M.D. opinion of us is about 50 years out of date," said Joe Pizzorno, N.D., and Bastyr president emeritus. "The members of the California Medical Association that visited us arrived with polite skepticism -- and they were polite -- but they came away impressed with the quality of our facilities and faculty. They were equally impressed with the depth of our subject matter and academic rigor."

While those M.D.s were hesitant to completely flip on the licensure issue, Pizzorno said "they went from hard opposition to soft opposition."

"It is actually pretty rare for someone in the conventional medicine field to visit us at Bastyr and not be impressed," said Pizzorno, who was closely involved in lobbying efforts on behalf of naturopathic physicians in California.

What's more, Bastyr offered the expertise and man-hours of its senior counsel, Sandi Cutler, a longtime Bastyr official who previously managed political campaigns (about 80) in northern California. Both Cutler and David Matteson, Bastyr director of governmental relations, received 2003 President's Awards from the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians for their efforts.

Plus, the Seattle natural medical school contributed some funds to the cause. "It is a huge sacrifice for N.D.s to take time away from their practices," said Pizzorno. "We wanted to support that."

For its part, Bastyr is exploring partnership in integrative medicine clinics in both northern and southern California. Pizzorno said the idea is to build a patient flow before the subsequent step of starting a naturopathic medicine school or campus in California. Bastyr is in talks with several mainstream big-name medical schools to partner on the academic front. The academic concept is to provide N.D. degrees and continuing professional education for health practitioners.

"I would definitely attend classes if Bastyr has a campus in northern California," said Prashanti de Jager, a San Anselmo-based practitioner of ayurvedic medicine and founder of an organic, socially responsible medicinal herb company in India that has allowed hundreds of farmers to stop using chemicals on their lands. In kind with its fascinating and cutting-edge subject matter, it is not surprising that de Jager was another presenter at the Bioneers conference (check out www.bioneers.org).

"There are lots of people in California excited about licensing for N.D.s," said LaMont, who will teach a course in naturopathic medicine at San Francisco State's Institute for Holistic Studies in the spring. "It certainly drew big cheers at my two sessions."

　　From Healthy.net