Does ccems recognize home-study schools or external-degree programs?
Many correspondence schools offer N.D. or N.M.D degrees or diplomas. Some are exempt from state regulations because they claim a religious purpose or they do not recruit students from their home states. Not all correspondence programs prepare students for practice as licensed naturopathic physicians, not all programs are eligible for affiliation with our agency. It is not illegal for those who obtain N.D. or N.M.D. degrees from correspondence schools to use the initials after their names; they may not, however, legally represent themselves as physicians or engage in the practice of medicine unless they are otherwise licensed as medical practitioners. Although correspondence courses can be effective in many disciplines, naturopathic licensing agencies believe they are only partly effective in many disciplines of Naturopathy for preparing students as physicians. The Naturopathic Medicine Council of Canada (NMCC) and the Alternative Medicine Examiners Council of Canada (AMECC) consider th
