As of June 18th, I was offered a seat to be a part of the Fall 2018 cohort of Naturopathic Students at Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in Vancouver! I’ve never been so excited, so many yaaays & high vibes here ✨✨.
Here are some bits of advice for you, or anyone you may know, who is interested in applying to Naturopathic Medical School.
Research up ’em schools
This may give you a clearer picture as to which one you are more inclined to study in. I grew up in Vancouver, and after having studied away for 5 years from home in Calgary, I was ready to come home. This was my major driver for Boucher. Also, Boucher has a great teaching clinic and a small program that fosters community. Search up on class sizes and the location of the school to see what may be your vibe. PS. I only applied to Vancouver’s school because I knew this was my #1. It may be smart to do apply to a few schools if you don’t have an absolute school choice.
Reach out to anyone you may know in the program
Big thanks to Jordan for being my tour-guide and advice buddy in this process – you the #realmvp . By reaching out to anyone in a Naturopathic Medical Program, not only can they tell you about their own application journey (…. and some interview questions #bless), they can help you become aware of if this is the right career path for you. Jordan, after having been in the NM program for about 1/2 year, had encouraged me that my passions aligned with this program. She was so right. It was great hearing that from someone in the program. I found it not only helpful connecting with her, but encouraging, reassuring, and exciting, and you may too. I highly suggest you reach out and use this method as well.
Essay Tips
When I was writing my essay I first started with listing out the 4 questions Boucher asked. I then wrote bullet points under these questions – below you can see a snapshot. 
I first wrote this skeleton of talk points. Lots of my points came from a place of how my experiences have changed my awareness and perspectives on medicine and healing – having a vision for an integrative healthcare system. My biggest advice for you in writing this is bring your personal experiences into it. I spoke about my post nasal drip and chronically inflamed sinuses. I highlighted how I did not receive a longterm solution from my conventional medical doctor but drugs to treat the symptoms. How instead of using corticosteroids or even going on a course of antibiotics before being referred to a specialist was not going to flow by me. This is just one example I used. So what I’m trying to say is that it’s great to use personal experiences here. It makes it more personable. Engages your readers more. Below is a snapshot of the start of my essay.
Ask for references stat… don’t wait till the last minute like I did (whoops)
Something I wish I had done earlier. I was so last minute. Definitely probably rushed some of my referees. This is precisely why you DONT want to ask for references last minute. You want to give your referees time to write you a good reference, not a rushed one. Luckily mine still pulled through but I lucked out. So thankful for them. When it comes to references too, theres more to it then just a simple “Can you please write me a reference?” question. What I did was first… asked google. I asked google how to ask for a reference letter. Here is a great resource I found – Harvard Business Review . This came in very handy as I actually did end up providing a template for one of my referees, as this article had suggested. For 2/3 references, I did not provide a template. Obviously, it depends here on your relationship to the referee.
Prep a word document
I had done this as I like to over prepare instead of under prepare for any big meeting/event. By creating a word document, I outlined my PRE-video chat prep (i.e., headset, voice check, etc) and most importantly answers to probable questions they may ask. Here is a snapshot.
Search Pinterest and Youtube
On Pinterest, found Bastyr University had some great infographics – great for visual humans like myself. I also had been following Marilyn Merola on Youtube who JUST graduated from NM school from Baster (I believe it was). She has documented so much of her journey of being a NM student, and is a great resource. I would definitely recommend checking her out. Also, you can check out my youtube video to see em recorded on screen – Naturopathic Medical School Interview .
** Boucher gets you to complete a budget worksheet
I don’t know about other schools, but Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in Vancouver gets you to fill out a budget sheet. For this I created an excel sheet at first…. so that Intro to CPSC class actually came in handy after all. Haha. I would recommend an excel sheet if you may have fluctuations in numbers as you can use functions to allow you to easily change numbers (of say rent or transit tickets per month) and see immediate changes in final costs (for four years). Here is mine below… YES its expensive… but it Medical School nevertheless an investment. Check out the youtube video I created linked above to see the filled out final sheet I had emailed to Boucher.
Now…… the INTERVIEW.
For more in depth explanations check out that youtube vid I posted. For the purposes of this blog post here is a brief description of what the Interview was like.
First of all, there were 2 groups, so two stages of people. The first two individuals asked NM school related questions like: why you want to be an ND, have you been a patient before, ethics q, challenges that may come with different health practitioners, some on course load management, are you an individual or group studier, etc. The second group of people asked more classic interview related questions that required you to answer based on your work or school experience. So for example, one question they asked me was along the lines of… “We all make mistakes. What is one mistake you made in the past that you wish you could take back, and how would you go at that situation differently.” Man that stumped me. But yes, questions like this. And that was about it! It wasn’t as scary as I had anticipated, especially as mine was over Skype… I was like… not impressed with not being able to do it in person.. because I think physical presence is so important. But it went okay. My advice would be to do in person if you can as it WILL strengthen your application.
Hope this was helpful! And good luck if you’re applying! Feel free to reach out to me as well if you have any other questions. I can be your Jordan ;).
In health,
Sarah // CSEP Certified Personal Trainer // Kinesiologist
@fitnessfoodiehealthy
@FitnessFoodieHealthy 