[Naturopathy--definition, importance in the education of physicians and pharmacists].

Recent legislation on licenses for physicians and pharmacists prescribes the teaching of naturopathic methods. This requires a clear definition of the subject, which is given in different ways, all definitions leading to the same result. The essential effect of naturopathic methods is to activate sick persons, i.e. it is--in the strict sense of these words--rehabilitating and preventive. Patients who were instructed by their physician and other therapists can subsequently apply these methods autonomously. To teach naturopathy and its methods is likely to be a good means to help students to develop a better understanding of causality in medicine which, as a result of recent physical knowledge and theses, has become very complex and difficult to comprehend.