Page 37 - Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine

Purpose and Conventions
Why create a timeline?
This timeline documents the international history of naturopathic medicine and the evolution of this global medical profession.
It represents a collation of data that records the profession’s philosophy, principles and practices, beginning with its ancient and diverse roots, and emphasizing its contemporary formation as a profession. As a product of collective knowledge, this timeline catalogs and disseminates information that is relevant to: 1) members and associates of the naturopathic medical profession; 2) persons interested in the history of medicine generally; and 3) anyone seeking insight into the process of professional formation.
What purpose does it serve?
This timeline chronicles the evolution of the naturopathic profession. The compiled data represent more than a static list
of events -- they form their own patterns, illustrate connection and flow, and deliver their own messages to the diverse readers mentioned above. Use this timeline, therefore, as an instrument to examine the history and sociocultural contexts that have influenced the profession’s evolution, and to consider some of the specific points listed here.
Use the timeline to examine and understand:
/ THE PROFESSION’S PLURALIST ROOTS: ITS STORIES OF INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES AND EMERGENCE.
This timeline illustrates growth and development throughout time and across cultures. Its data demonstrate a model that enables us to expand our knowledge and
to more clearly see the overall growth, progress and patterns as the profession has evolved. This pluralist evolution has been heralded both by visionary leaders and by communities from diverse lineages, medical systems, clinical practices and therapeutic doctrines. The timeline illustrates coherent patterns that reveal unified principles encompassing discrete particulars, as reflective of the evolutionary phases of the profession’s history.
/ ITS EVOLUTION INTO A PROFESSION.
The timeline’s entries are categorized into twelve “professional formation pathways and benchmarks” — the ‘streams’ of historical people, events, institutions
and influence are developmental indices that mark naturopathy’s emergence from a “community of practice” into the “profession” of naturopathic medicine. The color- coded benchmarks self-organize and illuminate clusters,
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