Some NDs hold themselves out to be \'primary care physicians\'. A role for which they\'re not necessarily properly trained. Some schools don\'t offer adequate clinical experience to learn to properly diagnose patients. That\'s why it\'s important to make sure that your ND also holds another medical degree. So, that she or he can distinguish between a patient who requires medical attention and the \"worried well\" who may benefit from say elimination diets or flower remedies

Also, some states allow NDs to prescribe drugs and perform minor surgery. Except in AZ, (where NDs can prescribe almost any drug) which requires 40 hours of post-grad pharmacology classes, many NDs have only half the pharmacology training of Doctors and little or no supervised prescribing experience.

Southwest College has a much more integrative program and provides somewhat more suitable clinical training. But still, most grads have no further formal education (internship, residency) after graduation.

Jay