> Holistic Healing > Naturopathy

At the campus in New Westminster, BC, they paid their tuition, bought textbooks and attended classes - all without a guarantee that they’d be able to practise once graduating from the program.

But that risk paid off last December when they received notice that BINM had been accepted as a candidate for accreditation by the Council on Naturopathic Medicine Education, the international body that regulates naturopathic education programs. In simple terms, this means BINM graduates can now write the licencing board exams, a requirement in regions where the discipline is regulated, such as BC, Alberta, and Ontario.

Fourth-year student Alison Vandekerkhove was in the school clinic treating patients when she first heard the good news. “The whole class was excited, but not really surprised,” she recalls. “Everything had gone well during the application process. It feels pretty good.”

Vandekerkhove grew up in a family where visits to the naturopath were common. “I guess I saw the potential power naturopathic medicine had,” she says - a trend echoed among the general public. Surveys and polls show the number of Canadians using complementary medicine has risen from 23 to 42 per cent in the past five years.

The Vancouver-area native originally picked BINM so she wouldn’t have to move away. “The challenges [of attending a new school] have made me a stronger person,” she admits. After passing her board exams this August, she plans to open a family practice in Langley, BC, with two classmates.

Vandekerkhove says a major advantage of her education at BINM has been small classes and more one-on-one time with teachers. Many schools have upwards of 100 students per class; at maximum capacity, Boucher will top out at 35 to 40.

A new Canadian naturopathic college also enhances the profile of the whole profession. Canada’s only other naturopathic college, the fully accredited Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, is in Toronto.

“[Naturopathic physicians] are becoming far more visible and numerous,” says Dr. Heathir Naesgaard, former chair of the Boucher Institute Board of Governors. “I’d expect the western provinces to see naturopathic physicians assuming more active and essential roles in the health care of Canadians in rural and urban areas.”

Dr. Naesgaard first became involved with BINM because she wanted to support a BC initiative. She notes the enormous effort the college board put into supporting the candidacy for accreditation process&an effort that has paid off for students and staff alike.

“Up until four years ago, students who wished to study naturopathy had to move to the United States or Toronto. It is more practical, humane, and cost-effective for Western Canada to have a facility in its own backyard,” says Dr. Naesgaard.

Resources: The Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, #200 - 668 Carnarvon St., New Westminster, BC, V3M 5Y6. Phone: 604-777-9981. Website:binm.org.

Source: alive #258, April 2004