Collaboration = Change!

By Sarah Giardenelli

Students at the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM), in Portland, Oregon, have historically been advocates for their respective professions, Chinese Medicine and naturopathic medicine. The National College of Natural Medicine was founded in 1956 as the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, and recently underwent a name change to be inclusive of our Chinese Medicine program. The Chinese Medicine program was founded by Heiner Fruehauf in 1992, with a vision to educate students in the practice of Oriental medicine as illustrated by the classics and to share the holistic spirit of Oriental medicine. NCNM’s Chinese Medicine Program is one of the few Oriental medicine programs to offer a degree in Classical Chinese Medicine. NCNM recently celebrated its 50 year anniversary, a huge milestone, and with such institutional stability students are more ready than ever to be advocates for natural medicine.

Students are highly motivated, forward thinking individuals who have become increasingly involved with the advancement of the OM. Students are not only learning how to practice the medicine, but also how to advocate for the profession. As college attending, loan borrowing, future practitioners, students are uniquely positioned to be heard. At NCNM the Naturopathic Doctorate program has been in existence for over 50 years, and the naturopathic students have therefore had time to become organized. The 2006-2007 academic year was a landmark year for NCNM naturopathic medical student involvement in public awareness efforts. Students took part in coordinating and fundraising to send students to both state and national lobby days with missions to: educate the public about naturopathic medicine, to advocate for licensure of naturopathic doctors in New York State, and ask congress for the inclusion of naturopathic doctors on all types of loan repayment programs. The above activities highlight only a fraction of what NCNM students helped to accomplish in public awareness in the 2006-2007 academic year. Students made many important contacts locally with legislators. In addition, several other public awareness events both were coordinated and attended.

Our Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) students have also begun to take charge and become empowered. Over the last several years, they advocated for integrated basic science courses and now the curriculum has been changed to have basic science classes geared towards and integrated with Chinese anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. Through their activism CCM students constitute the driving force behind the Doctorate in Classical Chinese Medicine that will soon be offered at NCNM. This program will contribute to NCNM being one of the few schools of Chinese Medicine that focuses on the Classics. Also, NCNM CCM students have recently formed a college chapter of the AAAOM-SO, which will provide structure and organization towards future student activism.

In addition to the above advocacy, last year, several NCNM student leaders recognized the need to both: increase public awareness of natural medicine and support the growth of student leaders in both programs at NCNM. With this awareness NCNM students worked together to form the NCNM Student Awareness and Leadership Team (SALT), with a mission “to promote natural medicine through local, state and federal public awareness efforts.” This club will serve as a place for collaborative public awareness efforts for both the Chinese and naturopathic medicine programs at NCNM. Collaborative efforts planned for the year include fundraising efforts, such as half nights at local restaurants and a cook-off contest. Funds raised will support student leadership programs, a health fair at Portland’s City Hall, and sending students to various national conventions and lobby events. With this new collaboration there is much to look forward to in the advancement of natural medicine. NCNM students look forward to future collaborations not only within our institution, but with like-minded organizations such as the AAAOM. As indicative of the progress made at NCNM, collaboration equals change!

Sarah Giardenelli is a 4th Year Naturopathic Medical Student and a 2nd Year Chinese Medicine Student at NCNM. For more information about NCNM go to www.ncnm.edu. For more information on the NCNM Student Awareness and Leadership Team (SALT), go to http://ncnmsalt.blogspot.com/.