Medical licensing for providers of medical alternatives and public memberships for patients seeking for health optimization and wellness

INDIGENOUS MEDICAL BOARD LICENSES
ALTERNATIVE HEALTH PRACTITIONERS

First Nation Medical Board (“FNMB”) licenses practitioners of indigenous medicine (“IM”), which includes the practices of alternative, complementary, and integrative medicine. For some IM practitioners (e.g., MDs, DOs, etc.) FNMB provides dual licensure. For other IM practitioners (e.g., NDs, OMDs, etc.) FHMB provides a home for single licensure where no Board exists for IM regulation in their state. This is because IM practitioners need supervision by a Board that specializes in the optimal health and wellness approach to the treatment of patients as opposed to the conventional disease management model. Currently, dual licensure for IM practitioners is only available for those who practice homeopathy in NV and/or AZ.  Conversely, this means that IM practitioners do not have dual licensure in 48 states. Such dual licensure is needed to protect, preserve, and promote the practice of IM medicine. In addition, FNMB also offers IM practitioners the opportunity to share IM protocols by participating in clinical studies with the FNMB’s Indigenous Medicine Institutional Review Board (“IMIRB”). Thus, FNMB provides not only protection but opportunity for IM practitioners in all 50 states to participate in the understanding and advancement of IM with its IMIRB.

INDIGENOUS MEDICINE FOCUSES ON
OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS

FNMB was established to create a network of IM providers for patients who become members of the Turtle Healing Band (“THB”). THB is an exclusive private membership organization of patients who are seeking optimal health and wellness from IM practitioners that prescribe natural products and treatments. The IM approach to the treatment of patients is the antithesis of conventional medicine’s disease management model upon which insurance is based for a sick population. However, increasingly more companies now recognize the value of IM by reimbursing patients for medical services that improve their well-being and longevity, such as those who are members of the Self-Insurance Institute of America. In short, FNMB’s alignment with the Indigenous peoples of this country affords certain protections designed to enhance the practice of IM and thereby allow IM practitioners to freely practice the natural healing arts in a drug-free environment. For example, while FNMB understands drug science has made great strides over the past 200 years, FNMB also recognizes that diet, exercise, and mental health are just as important–and often a safer as well as more effective alternative–than merely offering a pill for symptomatic relief. Further, FNMB believes that only by addressing the source of disease can optimal health and wellness be achieved.

FNMB SUPPORTS IM AND NATURAL HEALING ARTS

The mission of the First Nation Medical Board (“FNMB”) is to provide certification for medical providers and traditional healers who practice indigenous medicine (“IM”). IM  practitioners use natural products and natural treatments with the goal of helping patients achieve optimal health and well-being. Such practitioners can help advance medical science by submitting standardized protocols to the FNMB’s Indigenous Medicine Institutional Review Board (“IMIRB”) for clinical studies that can be used to document the effectiveness of indigenous medicine products and treatments. In short, FNMB is an alternative to state medical board licensing agencies where healers who utilize natural medical alternatives can be supported for putting patients first.

HEALTY CITIZENS ARE OUR GREATEST ASSET IN U.S.A.

“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have,” Winston Churchill FNMB provides medical practitioners certain protections that enhance their practice as healers by aligning the indigenous peoples of this land with the citizens of this land who seek optimal health and well-being. For example, FNMB also understands that such things as diet, exercise, emotions, and lifestyle may be just as important, if not more important, than offering a pill for symptomatic treatment rather than addressing the underlining problems. Consequently, by increasing the number of FNMB licenses, patients have greater access to natural substances, devices, and therapies used in the practice of indigenous medicine than would otherwise be unavailable to them from practitioners of conventional medicine. Therefore, FNMB establishes a network of indigenous medicine providers for the benefit of patients seeking optimal health and well- being. This, in turn, can help America reinvest in its greatest asset: health!

FNMB BELIEVES IN NATIVE AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY

FNMB believes that the indigenous peoples of North America and around the world have a sovereign right to receive, preserve, and further the advancement of natural healing traditions. This is because the sovereignty of the Native Americans pre-exists the United States. While such sovereignty may have been diminished it has not been terminated. In fact, tribal sovereignty is recognized and protected by the United States Constitution, legal precedent, and treaties as well as applicable principles of human rights.

Now, after centuries of turmoil, oppression, and economic deprivation, the Indian nations have slowly reclaimed their sovereign rights. Tribal identities and political systems have been rebuilt. Problems of poverty and social disarray that once seemed insurmountable, have been overcome. The foundation of this resurgence has been the exercise of self- government by the more than 560 federally-recognized tribes in the United States. Such “self-rule” or sovereignty has been supported by every standing President of the United State over the last five decades.

In fact, according to a white paper from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy’s School of Business, “a combination of federal court rulings and congressional policies, tribal self- rule–sovereignty–has proven to be the only policy that has shown concrete success in breaking debilitating economic dependence on federal spending programs and replenishing the social and cultural fabric that can support vibrant and healthy communities and families.” (see “Myths and Realities of Tribal Sovereignty: The Law and Economics of Indian Self-Rule,” RWP04-016 March 2004).