Heilpraktiker

Heilpraktiker ("healing practitioner(s)") is a naturopathic state-approved and state-regulated profession in German-speaking countries. In its ideal form, it's a "lite" version of physicians, diagnosing and treating ailments, but while the profession is more regulated than naturopathic professions in other countries, Heilpraktiker tend to specialise on CAM treatments.
==Germany==
In January 2006, the magazine Ökotest tested 20 Heilpraktiker.Ökotest 2006 Test: Heilpraktiker With "very good" as the best result, 4 were "good", 5 would be warned against. The remaining filled out the range in between, with all kinds of misdiagnosis and useless treatments. In 2008, Stiftung Warentest's most important magazine Test tested 40 Heilpraktiker and concentrated on homeopathy and Traditional Chinese Medicine.Test 28.02.2008 Heilpraktiker The service was rated positively, medical competency was rated as fragmentary. When it came to standards for classical homeopathy and TCM, the ratings were higher.
In August 2017, an interdisciplinary group of experts, Münsteraner Kreis, wrote Münsteraner Memorandum Heilpraktiker.Münsteraner Kreis: Münsteraner Memorandum Heilpraktiker. 2017-08-21. This publication notes a gap of standard of quality in the medical sector when comparing the CAM-riddled Heilpraktiker and regular medical care. In its conclusion, it calls for either dissolving the profession or for a radical reform on the basis of competency. This caused various reactions in mediaSüddeutsche Zeitung: Heilpraktiker: Ein unzulässiger Beruf?Motherboard: Gegen den "Irrsinn": Wissenschaftler fordern Abschaffung des HeilpraktikerberufsSüddeutsche: Erst Physiotherapeut, dann HeilpraktikerDeutschlandfunk: "Unhaltbare Krankheitskonzepte" Eine Expertenkommission empfiehlt eine grundlegende Reform des Heilpraktikerberufs, die Ausbildung sei unangemessen, die Krankheitskonzepte unhaltbar. Interview mit der Vorsitzenden der Kommission, Prof. Bettina Schöne-SeifertPharmazeutische Zeitung: Medizin-Experten wollen Heilpraktikerberuf abschaffenRP Online: Medizin-Experten fordern Reform von Heilpraktiker-GesetzHumanischer Pressedienst: Wenn der "Reinkarnationstherapeut" gegen Aufklärung wettert, in journals and from the medical communityDeutsches Netzwerk Evidenzbasierte Medizin: Stellungnahme zum Münsteraner Memorandum Heilpraktiker, 24.10.2017ÄrzteZeitung: Weg mit dem Heilpraktikerberuf!ÄrzteZeitung: Ruf nach konsequentem PatientenschutzÄrztekammer Westfalen-Lippe: Windhorst kritisiert Heilpraktiker: „Können Gefahr für die Patientenversorgung sein - Keine Leitlinien und keine wissenschaftliche Standards: Kammer will Berufseinschränkung und RegulierungDeutsche Apotheker Zeitung: Experten fordern Abschaffung oder Reform des Heilpraktikerberufs and — of course — from Heilpraktiker associations.Bund Deutscher Heilpraktiker e.V.: BDH weist Kritik an Heilpraktiker-Beruf in Deutschland zurückDeutsche Welle: Heilpraktiker: "Das Münsteraner Memorandum wimmelt von Fehlern"Pharmazeutische Zeitung: Heilpraktiker weisen «undifferenzierte Generalkritik» zurückSüddeutsche Zeitung: Sollten Heilpraktiker zuerst eine Ausbildung in einem Gesundheitsberuf absolvieren?ScienceBlogs: Heilpraktiker Psychotherapie – abschaffen oder aufwerten?, anchored to a comment by head of Deutsche Heilpraktikerschule Konstanz
===Requirements===
If you want to become Heilpraktiker: 
* You need to be 25 years old, have a minimal level of education and be generally fit to act as Heilpraktiker.
*You can't work in another profession while practicing.Heilpraktikergesetz §2, German citizenship is no longer required
* You need to pass a written exam about anatomy, medicine and law (usually multiple choice, and you need 75%) and pass a 30-45 minutes oral exam,Richtlinie zur Durchführung des Verfahrens zur Erteilung einer Erlaubnis nach dem Heilpraktikergesetz in which you need to convince two physicians, two Heilpraktiker and one person who's neither,Heilpraktikergesetz §4 that you have sufficient knowledge and you don't pose a threat to public health.
Based on the requirements you have to pass an exam at health office to practice as a 'Heilpraktiker' in Germany.Official guideline and further Details of exam
Furthermore, in addition to the fully authorized 'Heilpraktiker', there are also so-called sectoral 'Heilpraktiker' who are restricted in their allowed job profile.Job profiles 'Heilpraktiker' (full & sectoral)
Congrats, the German state now allows you to practice in a medical context, including physiotherapy and psychotherapy — as long as you know what you're doing, people can still sue you and you need to obey all of the other laws as well. Among other things, you're not allowed to prescribe drugs, function as a dentist, function as a midwife, function as a coroner, apply radiotherapy or do anything about notifiable diseases or STDs.This means that you can be one of the 10% not having any training before starting as a Heilpraktiker.Legal Status of Traditional Medicine and Complementary/Alternative Medicine: A Worldwide Review: Europe: Germany, "10% of Heilpraktikers did not have any form of training"
Too much work? If you're OK with working on animals instead of humans, just call yourself Tierheilpraktiker and start right away!Bundesgerichtshof Urt. v. 22.04.1999, Az.: I ZR 108/97 „Tierheilpraktiker“
==Switzerland==
While nomenclature for German Heilpraktiker tries to at least pretend there's a focus on a medical standard, the Swiss version specifically has four pseudomedical branches for the profession:Berufsbild Naturheilpraktiker/in (HFP)Berufsverzeichnis Naturheilpraktiker/in mit eidg. Diplom The officially recommended English translation is naturopathic practitioner with Advanced Federal Diploma of Professional Education and Training in disciplinePrüfungsordnung über die Höhere Fachprüfung für Naturheilpraktikerin und Naturheilpraktiker
*Ayurveda Medicine
*Homeopathy
*Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM
*Traditional European Naturopathy''
===Requirements===
The Swiss version has its most significant differences in the following:
*2 or 3 years of experience in the profession
*a graduation in modules covering ethics and medicine, basics in medicine, the chosen branch, therapy, business studies, practical working and a mentored internship.
*The exams are evaluated by at least two experts (the candidate's teachers, relatives, business partners, current and previous superiors and coworkers).
As such, the official requirements lean more heavily on a vocational training than in Germany.
==Austria==
Heilpraktiker is not a legal profession in Austria — in fact, trainingAusbildungsvorbehaltsgesetz §1 limits vocational training to the approved institutions, in the jurisdictions of physicians, dentists, midwives, patient care, various other medical services, psychology, psychotherapy, veterinarians, cardiology, paramedics, medical massage and medical assistants. Trying to do so is a criminal act. Advertising for such counts as trying and is a criminal act. or practicing as Helipraktiker is illegal. The only ones allowed to do medicine without supervision by a physician are (wait for it) physicians.Ärztegesetz 1998 §2 defines a physician's jurisdictionÄrztegesetz 1998 §3 (4), §3 (3) defines the conditions for relatively unsupervised work. When contested by a market-leadingDeutsche Paracelsus Schulen für Naturheilverfahren GmbH by their own account Heilpraktiker corporation, the European Court of Justice upheld Austrian law to be compatible with EU law in this regard.Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 11 July 2002. Case C-294/00. Advertising for training outside Austria is allowed if the ad mentions that the profession may not be exercised in Austria.
==References==
Category:Germany
Category:Alternative medicine