Naturopathic Physicians

Diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases using a system of practice that is based on the natural healing capacity of individuals. May use physiological, psychological or mechanical methods. May also use natural medicines, prescription or legend drugs, foods, herbs, or other natural remedies.

The occupation of Naturopathic Physicians has an automation risk of 34.4%, slightly lower than the base risk of 35.0% for similar healthcare roles. This moderate risk reflects the nature of tasks performed by naturopathic doctors, many of which involve routine documentation, patient education, and providing wellness advice—activities increasingly susceptible to automation through advanced electronic health records (EHR) and AI-driven educational tools. For example, automating the documentation of patients' histories and identifying psychosocial characteristics is increasingly common with natural language processing software that can transcribe and organize patient data efficiently. Similarly, AI-powered apps and platforms can deliver standardized health care management education and generate customized exercise and nutritional advice based on patient data inputs. However, a significant portion of the naturopathic physician’s role remains resistant to automation, resulting in a lower overall risk score. Tasks like performing minor surgical procedures (e.g., removing warts, cysts, or sutures) require manual dexterity, real-time patient feedback, and nuanced decision-making that current technologies cannot reliably replicate. Treating minor injuries such as cuts and abrasions necessitates a physical presence and a personalized touch, while reporting disease trends to public health agencies often involves interpreting subtle clinical and contextual cues beyond the scope of simple data recording. These hands-on and judgment-based responsibilities anchor naturopathic medicine firmly in the realm of human-led practice, limiting how much the job can be automated in the foreseeable future. Key bottleneck skills further reinforce the occupation’s partial resistance to automation. The skill of Originality, measured in this context at 3.3% and 3.9% importance, underscores the value placed on developing personalized, inventive approaches to patient care—something machines find challenging to emulate. Originality allows naturopathic physicians to customize treatments and interactions, adapting to each patient's unique needs and circumstances, which is often outside the capabilities of even sophisticated AI systems. As long as the field values creative, individualized methodologies and manual intervention, full automation will be limited, keeping Naturopathic Physicians at moderate automation risk rather than high.