African naturopathic education: Ghana’s model using competency-based curriculum

Abstract

Despite the over 62 years of Naturopathy’s existence in the Ghanaian jurisdiction, no single tertiary program in Naturopathy or Complementary and Alternative Medicine is taught. The practice has not been streamlined and properly structured. Those who engage in the Naturopathic trade mostly receive their education through correspondence from unrecognized and unaccredited foreign schools that teach a limited aspect of naturopathy. : Following the development and approval of two Naturopathic programs; The Higher National Diploma (HND) for training Naturopaths and Bachelor of Technology in Naturopathy and Holistic Medicine, a 5-year program for Naturopathic Physicians, this paper provides a critical evaluation of the curricula approved by the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) in Ghana. This paper employs a sequential two-stage qualitative process. In phase one, the two curricula were submitted to the World Naturopathic Federation (WNF) Canada, for evaluation. Phase two involved a document analysis using the curriculum recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Naturopathic Federation (WNF), and the South African Naturopathic curriculum. An in-depth evaluation and comparison with the Ghanaian program were conducted, together with abstracted WNF responses which were then analyzed thematically. After the necessary recommendations by WNF were adopted. The two Ghanaian curricula met the international standard. The recommendations also strengthened the mandatory general area of competence in Naturopathic training. The Ghanaian Bachelor’s in Naturopathy has total clock hours of 5,979, which surpasses the South African degree in Naturopathy(5,950) clock hours. The Ghanaian naturopathic mandatory and elective subjects in the curricula meet the international standards. Issues raised by World Naturopathic Federations (WNF) were all addressed to strengthen the program.