At ANCB, It’s Anything But Winter Hibernation

Much of the nation has been faced with extreme cold and snow this winter, and here in Missoula, Montana, it’s no different.  As our temperatures dip below zero yet again, with bitter winds driving wind chills down to 20 or 30 below zero, it would be easy to curl up by the fire and wait for spring.  Just last week, an avalanche roared off a steep slope on the edge of town, crushing a house and burying its residents. It’s a stark reminder of the dangers of winter weather.

Here at ANCB, we’ve taken the opportunity to do some internal work, looking at our certification exams, our educational offerings, and our outreach schedule for the coming year.  We believe that — in order to stay on the cutting edge of the natural health movement — we must continually review, revise, and raise our Certification standards and exams, develop new educational programs for our members, and keep abreast of the deliberations of State Legislatures across the country, some of which are attempting to impose harsh restrictions on natural health providers and services.

Certification Exam Revision

Our certification exams have always been regarded as the toughest and most comprehensive exams offered in the natural health field. We believe that in order to instill public trust and keep restrictive state laws at bay, it’s important to hold our own movement to high standards and demonstrate our commitment to ethics and professionalism.  Recognizing that many natural modalities are evolving, we set out last year to update and revise our examination in Traditional Naturopathy.  We are now nearing completion of this important task, and will soon enter a “psychometric testing” period to determine appropriate cut scores for the exam. We believe that our exam represents the highest standards and is comparable to the NPLEX exam required by State licensing laws. The only significant difference between the two exams is that the NPLEX exam covers practices and techniques that we feel are inappropriate for natural health practitioners to engage in, such as surgery, ob/gyn, ordering imaging studies, prescribing pharmaceuticals, etc.

CEU Webinars

As I write this, we’re building our 2014 program of Continuing Education Webinars, which will be offered to our members beginning in April or May.  These informative and engaging programs are one hour each, and suitable for meeting our CEU requirement of 10 hours per year.  They are affordable and convenient, and attracted many participants last year.  For more information or to register for our Webinars, please click here.

Legislative Action

Most state governments are just beginning their work for the new calendar year.  Still, there are already bills introduced in a few states (Colorado, New Jersey) that could impact our practitioners, as well as the public’s ability to access natural health services. We’ll be tracking these and working with other organizations to ensure that we can prevent new restrictions, while supporting bills that serve to increase consumer access to natural health. Check our legislative alerts page to read the latest news and find out how you can help.

New Memberships

One of the most gratifying developments over the past few years has been witnessing an explosion in the popularity of natural healing methods.  Consumers are searching for alternatives to the allopathic model and its tendency to treat symptoms rather than underlying causes of illness and disease. Likewise, natural health education and practice is enjoying a boost, as new students seek out information and techniques that will enable them to help their families — or to become providers of natural health services.  As a result, we have expanded our membership categories to invite students, the general public, and corporate partners to be a part of this exciting trend.  We are regularly asked to review curriculum and programs details for new colleges in natural health, and view this as an indication of growth in our field.

In closing, I’d like to thank you for participating in this exciting movement in whatever capacity you find yourself – as either a provider or a consumer of natural health services. We know that the benefits of natural healing are as real as the snow falling outside, if perhaps a bit more comforting!

Dan Funsch

Director