A Year of Academics, Scholarship and Community Outreach
Each and every year, the field of naturopathic medical education advances significantly. We are proud to recap the advances our seven accredited naturopathic medical schools made in academics, scholarship and community outreach during 2018. Looking ahead, there is a lot to be excited for as well!
Click the tabs above to read messages from each of the schools.
A Year of Celebration and Change
Bastyr University
San Diego, California & Seattle, Washington
Now in our 40th year, Bastyr is proud of our historical legacy and of the growth we have witnessed in the naturopathic profession. Our campus leaders and students continue to make great strides in our local communities.
In Seattle, we have forged a new Center for Integrative Medicine in partnership with Virginia Mason. With nine clinics and one hospital location, this Seattle-area health system has sought out the natural medicine experts at Bastyr Center for Natural Health to expand their continuum of care in a way that answers their rising patient demand for effective, holistic approaches to common health concerns, opening up attractive career opportunities for our graduates.
In San Diego, clinical training opportunities continues to expand for our naturopathic medical students through the addition of integrative oncology care at Bastyr University Clinic. Beyond our own campus community, San Diego County officials have designated Bastyr a Live Well San Diego partner; we now join over 300 organizations to support the vision of a region “Building Better Health, Living Safely and Thriving.”
With innovative advancements in clinical training initiatives soon underway in 2019, we look forward to a bright future for our graduates as they find their place as naturopathic physicians transforming the health care system!
To learn more about Bastyr, click here.
A Year of Promising New Initiatives
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine – Boucher Campus
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine – Boucher Campus would like to congratulate our students for their hard work and commitment to their studies and to the profession. Our students, once again, outperformed average NPLEX results by a healthy margin. An additional note of gratitude is extended to the hard-working faculty that are second to none in terms of preparing our students to become excellent, compassionate doctors. This year Boucher established collaborative relationships with other higher education institutions in the areas of research and recruitment. We are excited for the rich opportunities our students will gain as a result of these advances.
Our academic team will be expanding in order to support the school’s growth and new programs. Additionally, we have invested in developing new and exciting fundraising sources to benefit students and ensure that our tuition costs remain as steady as possible over the longer term.
New programs are being built to ensure continued graduate success and employment opportunities. The core of our program will continue to teach our students the benefits of practicing collaborative medicine. Boucher graduates are grounded in the roots of the naturopathic medicine and its supporting science, because it represents the soundest form of sustainable medicine. We look forward to what will be an exciting 2019.
To learn more about CCNM – Boucher Campus, click here.
A Historic Anniversary Year
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CCNM celebrated its 40th anniversary and launched several new initiatives this year. We’ve made terrific strides with our curriculum review project, Curriculum Visioning 40 (CV40). Starting with a consultation document sent to over 2,000 stakeholders, we subsequently surveyed alumni to identify which conditions new graduates should treat, and the knowledge and skills they require. In August, a group of NDs, including faculty, met to distill and refine the 952 conditions identified. We’re quickly discovering how today’s students learn best. We don’t know how our curriculum will evolve, but we’re committed to making the next 40 years even stronger than the first. Applicants have responded to our vitality – September enrollment was over 25% higher than in 2017.
The CCNM Integrative Cancer Centre (CCNM ICC) opened in May where NDs and other practitioners provide naturopathic and complementary treatments to cancer patients. We also opened three new community health-care clinics (CHC) in Toronto. Innovation has also come in the form of electronic health records (EHR), which ensures our patients can transfer their records between providers. With more advancements in our academic and clinical program on the horizon, 2019 promises to bring even more celebration.
To learn more about CCNM, click here.
A Year of Accolades and Outreach
National University of Health Sciences
Chicago, Illinois
2018 marked another successful year for National University’s outreach events and student organizations. In March, both health care professionals and the local community attended the first-of-its-kind Nutrition Conference featuring renowned medical experts. National University also welcomed local families on campus during the second-annual Healthy Kids event, which allows clinic interns to interact with a more diverse patient population. Throughout the year, Naturopathic Medical Student Association (NMSA) awarded the NMSA Chicago Chapter comprised of NUHS students multiple honors. The chapter nabbed the Golden Avocado Award, which is awarded to students that do the best job of recognizing Naturopathic Medicine Week through the creation of events and activities. National University’s students also won first place in the NMSA Trivia Cup, a competition between naturopathic colleges that tests student knowledge of naturopathic medicine.
In 2019, NUHS will expand opportunities for its naturopathic medicine (ND) interns. While internship opportunities currently exist for ND students in the NUHS Lombard Whole Health and (Chicago) Salvation Army clinics, the NUHS Aurora site will soon join the list. Just as at its sister locations, Aurora interns will work with their chiropractic medicine colleagues to serve the health care needs of the local community.
To learn more about NUHS, click here.
A Year of Scholarship and Advancement
National University of Natural Medicine
Portland, Oregon
In 2018, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) agreed to provide up to $250,000 in tuition scholarships from 2018 through 2020 for naturopathic medicine students. In exchange, once they graduate, students commit to providing healthcare services in rural and under-served communities for several years. This is yet another step forward in recognizing the naturopathic profession, and an incredible opportunity for eligible ND students to reduce their tuition debt through service by addressing healthcare disparity in Oregon.
With two clinics recognized as Tier 4 Patient-Centered Primary Care Homes―a top-level certification granted by OHA―our students are learning within exemplary models for how primary care should be organized and delivered. And with a high volume of Medicaid patients and uninsured patients, students are seeing greater complexity and higher levels of pathology while bringing naturopathic medicine to diverse patient populations.
In 2019, we look forward to continued curriculum innovation. This is the fourth (and final) year implementing our competency-based, clinically integrated systems-block design. Our courses are not siloed and meaningful application of knowledge is prioritized over memorization of facts. NUNM’s faculty challenge students to think critically, develop their individual strengths as healers, and to educate and motivate patients on how to live with less pain, burden and suffering.
To learn more about NUNM, click here.
A Banner Year and New Era Of Pain and Chronic Disease Treatment
Sonoran University of Health Sciences
Phoenix, Arizona
This fall, Sonoran University began accepting current students into three distinct honors tracks in Community Medicine, Pediatrics, and Regenerative Medicine. These focused areas of clinical education will be included in the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree program. They will allow students to identify areas of interest and better position themselves for competitive post-graduate opportunities and residencies. More honors tracks are scheduled to be announced in 2019.
Additionally, Sonoran University introduced the Neil Riordan Center for Regenerative Medicine on campus. For two generations the name Riordan has been synonymous with medical advances harnessing the body’s innate healing ability. The Neil Riordan Center for Regenerative Medicine will build on this legacy, turning the tide from symptom suppression to regeneration and healing. Replacing the Pain Relief Center, the Neil Riordan Center for Regenerative Medicine is in a 6,200-square foot space on the Sonoran University campus. Through patient care, research and medical education, the Neil Riordan Center for Regenerative Medicine will help usher in a new era in the treatment of pain and chronic disease and provide students with numerous educational opportunities in pain management. For more information on either opportunity, visit www.sonoran.edu.
To learn more about Sonoran University, click here.
A Year of New Leadership and Change
University of Bridgeport School of Naturopathic Medicine
Bridgeport, Connecticut
2018 has been an exciting year at University of Bridgeport! UB welcomed Dr. Laura Skandera Trombley as our new President, and the first female President! President Trombley is an experienced administrator, and a renowned scholar and author. She began her administration with a major reorganization of the University, consolidating fourteen colleges, institutes, and programs into three new colleges: Arts and Sciences; Health Sciences; and Engineering, Business, and Education. The College of Health Sciences includes programs in several disciplines: naturopathic medicine, chiropractic, nutrition, acupuncture, dental hygiene, nursing, physician’s assistant, health sciences, and medical lab technology.
UBSNM is proud to share that our accreditation review by the CNME in September led to re-accreditation for the next seven years, recognizing the quality of the program and the hard work of administrators, faculty, and staff.
In 2019, we are looking forward the 4th Annual Plunge, honoring World Wetlands Day with a dash into our very own waterfront – Long Island Sound. Our annual Philosophy Day is a celebration of the naturopathic principles and our elders. Guest speakers, garden sales and walks, and the Garlic Fest make this a well-loved event at UBSNM. UB faculty and students will present their research in an all-day event featuring poster presentations and keynote speakers. Last year several UBSNM students presented posters based on their thesis work and on the multi-center clinical trial led by Dr. Kim Sanders.
To learn more about UBSNM, click here.
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