Donald Patrick Albert

Distribution, Concentration, and Health Care Implications of Naturopathic Physicians in the United States

Naturopathic physicians receive rigorous instruction through an accredited naturopathic school. Studies examining naturopaths from a geographic perspective are rare; therefore, it is important to acquire, process, and analyze data on the availability of and accessibility to naturopathic physicians (NDs) in the United States. What factors influence the locations of naturopaths? Multiple regression techniques indicated that population density and distance from naturopathic school explained more than 69% of the distribution. These same factors are also known to describe the locations of medical doctors (MDs). The implication is that the current distribution of NDs does not dramatically improve patients’ access to primary health care providers.

Diffusion of Naturopathic State Licensing in the United States and Canada

State licensing of naturopathic medicine is currently in the middle of the early majority stage of diffusion. This research found that licensing is occurring in a contagious manner; therefore, spatial proximity is an important determinant in predicting new adopters. Using the proportion of licensed neighbors to al neighbors as a measure for spatial proximity and the S-shaped curve, the remaining early majority and the first half of the late majority states and provinces were predicted. Lobbyists and recruiters might use this information to allocate resources to early majority states first.

New York and Colorado as Critical States in the Diffusion of State Licensing of Naturopathic Physicians

Purpose: Since 2003, 4 more states have joined the ranks of now 15 states licensing naturopathic physicians (NDs). Qualified NDs residing in unlicensed jurisdictions sometimes obtain licenses from other states licensing NDs. The purpose of this study is to implement a methodology based on number of out-of-state licenses to gauge the demand for licensing among NDs in unlicensed states and to identify likely candidates for successful legislative efforts regarding licensure. Methods: Counts of out-of-state ND licenses issued through Arizona, Connecticut, Oregon, and Washington, the four states with naturopathic medical schools, were used as a surrogate for interest in licensing among states not offering licensing of NDs. Results: In 2005, a total of 457 U.S. NDs obtained out-of-state licenses from the states of Washington (159), Oregon (159), Arizona (79), and Connecticut (60), with 59% of these out-of-state NDs applying from nonlicensed states. States with low (1—13) or moderate (18—27) numbers of out-of-state licensures constituted 69% of the NDs, while the remaining 31% of NDs who fell into the high (43—58) out-of-state licensure category were from only three states: California, Colorado, and New York. Discussion: Of the three states with high out-of-state licensure, California has recently passed licensure legislation. Previous studies have indicated that New York and Colorado scored high on legislative innovativeness. Should licensing of NDs be passed in these two states, the possibility exists that legislation would spread to adjacent and other proximal states.

Did or Could Seabirds “Halo” Pitcairn Island for Fletcher Christian?

How did Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny on the Bounty, find Pitcairn Island when the supposed location was 342 km west of its actual location? This study in applied historical geography explores whether seabirds were the potential navigational beacons pointing to the whereabouts of Pitcairn. Flight distances are drawn from seabird foraging range studies that employed Global Positioning System (GPS) with tracking devices. These data are used to construct foraging range buffers around Pitcairn and the other three islands of the Pitcairn Islands (Oneo, Henderson, and Ducie). The results indicate that seabirds effectively extend island sighting distance and perhaps guided Christian to Pitcairn Island.

A Contemporary Citation Analysis of Geography Education Journals: 2009–2015

ABSTRACT This study examined the flow of citations from 713 documents emanating from ten geography education journals from 2009 to 2011. The citations generated from these articles were tracked within and between this set of journals from 2009 through 2015. Our searches found 1,067 citations, or an average of 1.5 citations per article. After excluding self-citations, the remaining citations (33.6 percent) filtered out into other geography education journals and were classified into three groups: splash, wave, and ripple. Although the Journal of Geography in Higher Education generated the largest in-degree count, it shared the lead with the International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education with seven undirected links. Three journals had six edges each, but only the Journal of Geography operated at the splash level of citation activity. The greatest volume of citation exchange occurred between the Journal of Geography in Higher Education and Journal of Geography, with the former sending thirty more citations than it received. The results herein provide active scholars with insight into research trends and thoughtful journal selection with the caveat that such knowledge might increase the acceptance of submissions and after publication generate more rapid dissemination, higher impact, and greater visibility.

Potholes and (In) Geography: Studying State Shapes in the Neighborhood.

Recently I was walking out of a donut shop headed through a pothole-infested parking lot when I instructed my daughter to snap a picture of a broken, cracked, and waterfilled indentation, and seconds later, another one. Of course she was perplexed by such an unusual, and quite frankly, odd request. Nevertheless she complied (Figure 1), thinking perhaps her father was losing touch with reality. In my mental map of the world, the left image immediately registered as Australia, and the right, while I was not too certain, I thought resembled South America. Later, however, after comparing the image with an atlas I decided at least a portion of the pothole’s shape matched the outline of Bangladesh. On sharing the left image (Figure 1) with two members of the faculty here, one immediately exclaimed “Australia,” and the other thought perhaps it was a remotely sensed image, which, technically is correct. It dawned on me that potholes might offer a convenient “hook” to discuss state shapes, and segue into mental maps, map reading, and place name geography.