Introduction
Bastyr University, located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, approximately 15 miles from the city of Seattle, Washington, with an additional location in San Diego, California, is a progressive, accredited, nonprofit university, internationally recognized as a pioneer in natural health arts and sciences education and research. Since its inception, the University has based its educational, clinical and research programs on the following key principles:
- Treatment of the whole person
- Prevention of disease
- Teaching patients how to take responsibility for their own health
- Enhancing each individual’s inherent healing ability, using natural, nontoxic therapies
Over the years the University has broadened its mission to integrate Western scientific standards with traditional natural healing methods from around the world. The University has expanded and strengthened the academic and clinical education of naturopathic medicine practitioners. It has developed unique academic degree programs in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, ayurvedic sciences, nutrition, exercise science and wellness, herbal sciences, culinary arts, midwifery, public health, integrated human biology, and counseling and health psychology, as well as specialized non-degree programs that reflect its founding philosophy.
The education of graduate natural health practitioners and highly qualified undergraduate students at Bastyr University emphasizes development of the scientific understanding of the structure and function of the human body and the disease process, balanced with a profound appreciation for, and ability to activate, the unique self-healing ability inherent in every human being. The University’s educational approach is an integrated one, offering traditional didactic instruction combined with innovative and interdisciplinary problem-based learning in rigorous academic and clinical environments. The learning experience emphasizes academic excellence, the development of individual talents and mastery of critical competencies.
Students learn under the guidance of outstanding faculty. More than 90 percent of the University’s health sciences core faculty members have earned terminal degrees, and many are successful private practitioners who contribute a wealth of practical experience to classroom and clinical instruction. Laboratory experiments, demonstrations, clinical experience and case-oriented instruction help students develop practical, patient-oriented skills and understanding. Student clinicians are also trained to recognize when other modes of treatment are in the best interests of the patient and to make appropriate referrals to colleagues in other health care professions.
Bastyr University is dedicated to educating individuals to meet the health and well-being needs of the 21st-century. Through practice and research, Bastyr graduates will further develop ways to integrate scientific and traditional healing methods in support of the innate healing power of the individual as part of the greater human community.