ARTICLE 3. Licensure [3630 - 3637]
( Article 3 added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 485, Sec. 5. )
An applicant for a license as a naturopathic doctor shall file an application with the board on a form provided by the board that shows, to the board’s satisfaction, compliance with all of the following requirements:
(a) The applicant has not committed an act or crime that constitutes grounds for denial of a license under Section 480 and has complied with the requirements of Section 144.
(b) The applicant has received a degree in naturopathic medicine from an approved naturopathic medical school where the degree substantially meets the educational requirements in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section
3623.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 497, Sec. 30. (SB 1526) Effective January 1, 2025. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
(a) An applicant for licensure shall pass the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examination (NPLEX) or an equivalent examination approved by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners.
(b) In the absence of an examination approved by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners, the board may administer a substantially equivalent examination.
(c) The board may additionally require an applicant to pass any NPLEX elective examinations relevant to a licensee’s scope of practice in California.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 414, Sec. 6. (AB 2685) Effective January 1, 2023. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
The board may grant a license to an applicant who is licensed and in good standing as a naturopathic doctor in another state, jurisdiction, or territory in the United States, if the applicant has met the requirements of Sections 3630 and 3631.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 497, Sec. 31. (SB 1526) Effective January 1, 2025. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
The board may grant a license to an applicant who meets the requirements of Section 3630, but who graduated before 1986, before the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examinations, or NPLEX, and passed a state or Canadian Province naturopathic licensing examination. Applications under this section shall be received no later than December 31, 2007.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 497, Sec. 32. (SB 1526) Effective January 1, 2025. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
A license issued under this chapter shall be subject to renewal biennially, as prescribed by the board, and shall expire unless renewed in that manner. The board may provide by regulation for the late renewal of a license.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 497, Sec. 33. (SB 1526) Effective January 1, 2025. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
(a) In addition to any other qualifications and requirements for licensure renewal, the board shall require the satisfactory completion of 60 hours of approved continuing education biennially. This requirement is waived for the initial license renewal. The continuing education shall meet the following requirements:
(1) At least 20 hours shall be in pharmacotherapeutics.
(2) No more than 15 hours may be in naturopathic medical journals or osteopathic or allopathic medical journals, or audio or
videotaped presentations, slides, programmed instruction, or computer-assisted instruction or preceptorships.
(3) No more than 20 hours may be in any single topic.
(4) No more than 15 hours of the continuing education requirements for the specialty certificate in naturopathic childbirth attendance shall apply to the 60 hours of continuing education requirement.
(5) Course content shall pertain to the practice of naturopathic, osteopathic, or allopathic medicine.
(b) The continuing education requirements of this section may be met through continuing education courses approved by the
board, the California Naturopathic Doctors Association, the North American Naturopathic Continuing Education Accreditation Council, the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, the California State Board of Pharmacy, or the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, or other courses that meet the standards for continuing education for licensed physicians and surgeons in California. All continuing education providers shall comply with Section 3635.2. Continuing education providers shall submit an annual declaration to the board that their educational activities satisfy the requirements described in Section 3635.2 and the board shall maintain a list of these providers on its internet website.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 414, Sec. 7. (AB 2685) Effective January 1, 2023. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
(a) A licensee shall retain certificates of continuing education course completion for six years.
(b) The committee may audit licensees’ continuing education records to ensure that continuing education requirements are met.
(c) It shall be unprofessional conduct for a licensee to furnish false or misleading information to the committee regarding continuing education.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 600, Sec. 7. (SB 796) Effective January 1, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
In addition to complying with subdivision (b) of Section 3635, the following shall apply to providers of continuing education:
(a) The content of continuing education courses and related materials shall provide balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor. All patient care recommendations from continuing education courses involving clinical medicine shall be based on evidence accepted by naturopathic doctors. All scientific research used to support patient care recommendations shall conform to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.
(b) A conflict of interest is
created when an individual in a position to control the content of a continuing education course, or his or her spouse or partner, has a relevant personal financial relationship within the past 12 months with a commercial entity that produces, markets, resells, or distributes health care goods or services consumed by, or used on patients that benefits the individual in any financial amount and therefore, may bias his or her opinions and teachings with respect to the content of continuing education courses. This may include receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest such as stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds, or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are generally associated with roles such as employment, a management position, or an independent contractor position, including
contracted research and clinical trials, consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities for which remuneration is received or expected.
(c) Prior to a course being presented, continuing education providers shall identify, disclose, and resolve all conflicts of interest. Individuals who fail or refuse to disclose relevant financial relationships shall not be approved as a provider of continuing education as described in subdivision (b) of Section 3635.
(d) Conflicts of interests shall be resolved by one of the following mechanisms:
(1) Altering financial relationships. Individuals may change their relationships with commercial interests, such as discontinuance
of contracted services, thereby eliminating any conflict of interest related to the continuing education content.
(2) Altering control over content. An individual’s control of continuing education content may be altered in several ways to remove the opportunity to affect content related to the products and services of a commercial interest. These include the following:
(A) Choose someone else to control that part of the content. If a proposed presenter or planner has a conflict of interest related to the content, someone else who does not have a relationship to the commercial interests related to the content may present or plan that part of the content.
(B) Change the focus of the continuing education activity so that the
content is not about products or services of the commercial interest that is the basis of the conflict of interest.
(C) Change the content of the individual’s assignment so that it is no longer about products or services of the commercial interest. For example, an individual with a conflict of interest regarding products for treatment of a condition could address the pathophysiology or diagnosis of the condition, rather than therapeutics.
(D) Limit the content to a report without recommendations. If an individual has been funded by a commercial entity to perform research, the individual’s presentation may be limited to the data and results of the research. Someone else may be assigned to address broader implications and recommendations.
(E) Limit the sources for recommendations. Rather than having a person with a conflict of interest present personal recommendations or personally select the evidence to be presented, limit the role of the person to reporting recommendations based on formal structured reviews of the literature with the inclusion and exclusion criteria stated “evidence-based.”
(3) Conflict of interest may be resolved if the continuing education material is peer reviewed and both of the following are met:
(A) All the recommendations involving clinical medicine are based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of naturopathic medicine as adequate justification for indications and contraindications in the care of patients.
(B) All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in the continuing education activity in support or justification of patient care recommendations conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 600, Sec. 8. (SB 796) Effective January 1, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
(a) Upon a written request, the board may grant inactive status to a naturopathic doctor who is in good standing and who meets the requirements of Section 462.
(b) A person whose license is in inactive status may not engage in any activity for which a license is required under this chapter.
(c) A person whose license is in inactive status shall be exempt from continuing education requirements while their license is in that status.
(d) To restore a license to active status, a person whose license is in inactive status shall fulfill continuing education requirements for
the two-year period before reactivation and be current with all licensing fees as determined by the board.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 497, Sec. 34. (SB 1526) Effective January 1, 2025. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)
Only an individual may be licensed under this chapter.
(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 485, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2004. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 3686.)