Naturopathy

Naturopaths are experts in whole health and wellbeing, and provide evidence based natural health care that is effective, safe and meaningful to their clients. Through an in-depth understanding of human bioscience, emotional and social factors, and as prescribers of natural medicine, Naturopaths are able to help prevent disease, provide optimal health and wellbeing and relief of symptoms by treating the whole person and the root causes of disease.

Employment prospects for complementary health professionals grew very strongly over the past 5 years and is expected to continue growing with 8,000 jobs predicted by 2023 (Federal Government Job Outlook, 2018)

As a Clinical Naturopath some of your responsibilities may include:

• Consult with patients on an individual basis to assessment of their overall health and get a detailed case history from them
• Recommend and analyse laboratory tests, which give indications of illness, nutritional imbalances, functioning of organs such as the liver and the digestive system
• Explain the physiological impact of complex biochemical imbalances and nutritional deficiencies to educate your patient
• Develop personalised healthcare plan, which may include dietary recommendations, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, herbalism, counselling, nutritional supplements and environmental medicine.
• Conduct follow-up consult to monitor and evaluate patient progress and answer any questions they may have
• Refer patient to other health practitioners such as a GP, acupuncturist etc., as appropriate
• Keep comprehensive notes and records for each patient
• Carry out administrative tasks and business promotion

As most Naturopaths are self-employed, your income will depend on factors such as the price you charge per hour; the number of hours you work; the number of patients you attract as well as your running costs and overheads.

In Australia the average Naturopath:

• Works 3.2 days per week.
• Charges $100.87 per hour
• Consults with 13.4 patients per week

Source: Steel et al., (2018). The Australian Complementary Medicine Workforce: A Profile of 1,306 Practitioners from the PRACI Study.

To become a successful Naturopath, you'll need:

• Confident communication and interpersonal skills, in order to explain treatment procedures and build a positive rapport with diverse range of patients
• Active listening skills and the ability to empathise without becoming emotionally involved
• A confident and professional approach to work
• Time management skills
• Problem-solving and analytical skills
• Self-motivation and the ability to work on your own and develop new skills
• Competent marketing, financial and organisational skills, in order to set up and run a successful business

Many Naturopaths work independently in private practice, setting their own hours and developing and managing their own businesses. However there are also a diverse range of job opportunities outside of clinical practice. The naturopathy industry continues to grow, with the general population becoming increasingly aware of the importance of overall wellness and health prevention. With Endeavour College of Natural Health’s degree you’ll be qualified to provide both specific and general advice to clients in a range of practitioner and non-practitioner settings.

Clinical Practitioner

• Independent – in private practice
• Online – using digital technology to provide consultations to clients around the country
• Multimodality – work in a clinic alongside other natural health clinicians
• Mobile – hosting patient consults in their place of work or at home

Clinical Practitioner niches

Women’s health, infertility, complex chronic diseases, cancer support, children’s health, autoimmune diseases, environmental medicine, men’s medicine, autism spectrum disorder, allergies or digestive disorders.

Content Creator

Using your flair for visual and written communication you can create naturopath-specific content to be used by yourself or companies employing you for:

• Social media
• Websites
• Newsletters
• Blogs
• Magazines
• eBooks
• Industry publications
• Product reviews
• Marketing collateral

Researcher

Contribute to the body of knowledge on herbal medicine by becoming a researcher. The first step to pursuing a career in research is completing further education with Endeavour College of Natural Health’s Honours program.

Laboratory, clinical and public health areas of research including investigations of plants, effectiveness and safety of naturopathy and the impact of naturopathy on public health are popular areas of interest.

Within natural health companies

Using a naturopathy qualification graduates can work in companies like Metagenics, Integria and BioCeuticals in areas such as:

• Product development
• Product training and education
• Marketing, Public Relations and Sales
• Customer support

Clinic Owner, Director, Manager, Coordinator or Assistant

Work at any level of clinic management.

Practitioner Educator

Teach and nurture the next generation of Clinical Naturopaths by:

• Lecturing
• Clinic supervision
• Webinar or online lecturer and workshop presentation

Naturopathic Presenter

Using public speaking skills coupled with a naturopathic qualification you can present and speak at events such as conferences and webinars on naturopathic topics.

Community Educator or Facilitator

Work with different groups of people, whether it’s with individuals, families, corporates, or communities to educate them about herbalism, food preparation, grocery shopping and more. Hold workshops and masterclasses to further educate.