More definitions; Practitioners with the letters MD after their names have been trained in allopathic schools. They have been graduated from college or university usually, and then attended four years of medical school. This is followed by residency, the first year of which is called internship. Residency can be three years, for internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics, on up to eight years for neurosurgery. Some residencies are then followed by fellowships in specialty training, like gastroenterology, endocrinology, cardiology, plastic surgery, etc. (Yes, these people are in their thirties by the time they get a "real job" by the time they are Board Certified, an important credentially.)
If the degree is "DO", that is for people trained in Osteopathy. At this point in time, DO and MD training is the same in the first two years in basic science education. In the second two years, osteopathic schools give additional training in osteopathic manipulation, a hands on manipulation that can be a very effective adjunct in certain conditions. (Some DOs do not focus on this in their training and do not include OMT, osteopathic manipulative therapy, in their practices.) The residency and fellowship structure follows the same hierarchy as the allopathic system.
Homeopathy is a specific training in which the underlying principle is that "like treats like". The practice utilizes dilutions of herbs and minerals singly or in combination to treat anything form illnesses to mood disorders. It is profound yet subtle treatment. Homeopathy was the leading discpline in medicine in this country a hundred years ago and is still widely practiced in Europe where there are entire hospitals that use only Homeopathic medicines. Hahneman Medical School in Philadelphia was originally a school of homeopathy. (It has since been bought by a big hospital chain and had its name changed.) You can buy certain homeopathic remedies in your local health food store, but there are practitioners who specialize in this area and can create individually designed remedies for a specific patient.
Naturopathy is a field of medical care which utilizes foods and supplements as medicine. The degree of ND is conferred in a school of naturopathy of which there are several in this country, mostly in Washington and Oregon. This discipline recognizes the efficacy of using the intestinal tract in a very basic and important way of dealing with any medical issue.
Courtesy:Dr Fater
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