National University of Health Sciences

[PearsonOTHMQualifi7654]

DPT is pretty expensive too, but as I understand not nearly as expensive, and they earn a decent income.

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In the United States, about 18 RA schools offer Doctor of Chiropractic programs. About 7 RA schools offer Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine programs. All of them are crazy expensive.

Crazy - here in Germany we have one school, which is a "religious" college by the anthroposophic society, where you can studyesoteric stuff like "eurythmy". And we had a scandal when some medical school offered courses in "homeopathic medicine" - which is really just hocus pocus - and giving credits for that.

I know of one school where you can "study" ostheopathics in Spani, but it is a private school.

I know that school,   I thought Manual Osteopathy was common in Europe? I guess it's not if that one school in Spain sticks out to you like so.  In the US, Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) goes to a full medical school and learns everything a Medical Doctor does, and can perform surgery.  I understand in Germany a Medical Doctor isn't taken quite seriously, unless they also hold a PhD

Indeed - Osteopathics isn't taken serious and the national Helthinsurancesystem in Germany won't pay since there is no scientific evidence of positive effects. We do have manual Therapy but you have to be licensed as a Physical Therapist. 
DO may work as “Heilpraktiker" – a state-licensed alternative health practitioner in Germany, providing complementary and holistic treatments outside conventional medicine. For that you need to proof that your therapie isn't a danger to your patient, that is all. No training required. So DO is on the same level as Aura-Healing, Reiki or TCM - and most people would consider it expensive Mumbo jambo.
And yes, the Dr. med. is considered the only professionel doctorate here and not equvalent to the PhD. :-)
But even "inside" the scientific doctors there is a "ranking. So a Dr. theol. would consider himself superior to a Dr. phil. in Theology.

Academics is strange...

BTT: Could you use a degree from a "holistic" college to get employed at a clinic or such in the States?

Just to clarify, DO in the United States is totally different from being an osteopathic practitioner in any other country. The field evolved differently than in other countries, with U.S. osteopathic schools incorporating a full medical curriculum as early as the 1910s.

That didn't happen in other countries, where osteopathic practitioners do not receive a medical education and might be compared to chiropractors or craniosacral therapists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopathi...ted_States

Canadian osteopathy, as an example of non-US osteopathy:
https://nationalacademyofosteopathy.com/...y-history/

A degree in naturopathy etc is not a medical degree in the U.S., and generally useless if you want to work in the medical system. The only common exception I can think of are chiropractors, who are sometimes treated like physical therapists. Some hospitals might also have acupuncturists or massage therapists on staff, but they are used for pain management, not for treating disease.

That said, anyone can open a business and call it a "clinic." So you can be a doctor of naturopathy and open a naturopathy clinic. You're not recognized as a medical practitioner by the state, though (again, in general -- the state where I live does allow doctors of naturopathy from certain programs to prescribe some classes drugs, for example; I think this is a terrible idea, and thankfully, it's an edge case).

Licensed NDs and NMDs are recognized as medical practitioners in 26 US Jurisdictions. In those 23 States, 2 U.S. territories, and in D.C., they do recognize NDs as medical practitoners. Not all jusrisdictions allow prescriptive rights; some states don't allow any prescriptions, such as Connecticut. Being Licensed means they can "diagnose and treat".  It sounds like minutiae, but it literally means a licensed person can tell another human being what "ailment" the patient is suffering from. Treat means to tell that person what they need to do. 

If living in a state that does not have any laws in place to recognize Naturopathic Doctors, the NDs generally have licensure in a different state but work in the unlicensed state.  In that case they can't diagnose and treat, they would have to "educate and inform".  In practice, it is nearly the same to the patient/client, but there is a big difference in legality. 

For Medical doctors, "Treat" refers to prescriptive rights, drugs, injections, and surgeries.  99% of all prescription drugs contain petrochemicals, and are a bad idea to begin with.  For example, statin drugs were introduced in 1987, yet heart disease rates have increased, as well as alzheimers. Statins disrupt the ability to produce and absorb CoQ10, and thus cause Sarcopenia (Muscle loss) and memory loss. The average run-of-the-mill medical doctor doesn't know that, however. Nor do they understand cholesterol and its role in the human body, and the 13 different subtypes of cholesterol. Cholesterol tests for LDL, HDL, and VLDL are based on a 1960 standard.  

Regardless, a true doctor of naturopathy would not use any chemicals/drugs, as it is fundamentally against the concept of naturopathy.  Unfortunately the Licensed Naturopathic Doctor curriculum, training, and schools are not true to the origins of Naturopathy as its founder, Dr. Benedict Lust started in 1901.  The current system of 6-7 schools is a far cry from the original movement. The Licensed NDs are semi-naturopaths and semi-medical professionals. 

A nurse practitioner or physician's assistant arguably has more prescriptive rights and recognition as medical professionals, as they can be licensed all throughout the US.  Not that prescriptions actually help heal the body. They do quite the opposite.