Naturopathic School Interview

Wow! It's been so long since I posted anything on this blog. I miss it, but I've also been so incredibly busy. Last week I flew to Vancouver, BC to visit BINM for an interview. I also got to sit in on a class in the morning.
I know that prior to my day at BINM, I did a lot of online research to try prepare myself. Honestly, there's very few posts about what the interview is like at any naturopathic medicine school, so I decided to post about my experience.

View from the Skytrain - beautiful mountains!
But no, BINM students do not get a transit discount.

In the morning I got to sit in on a bio-medicine 1st year class that goes from 9am-12pm (with a break or two). I learned that this class usually has about 2 quizzes a week, so you have to keep on top of the material. What I love about how BINM teaches, is that they teach all of the bio-medical sciences in one integrated course!
Students then have a 1 hour lunch break. There's plenty of fridges, freezers, and microwaves to use - almost everyone brings their lunch from home. Although every Thursday students get 10% off at the Subway across the street.
The next class is from 1-4 pm. I didn't sit in on this class, as my interview started at 1pm. The schedule for BINM students is always this regular - 2 classes a day, school from 9-4pm. I like the fact that you will always start and end school at a regular time. I'm told that CCNM schedules look more like undergrad schedules - class times differ depending on the day.

The interview consists of 3 panels, whom you talk to for about 20 minutes each. They each have slightly different types of questions, which I outline below. Keep in mind, this is not a complete list of the questions they asked me.

Classic interview-style questions:
What frustrates you?
How do you manage conflict?
How would you like us to remember you after this interview?
Why Naturopathic medicine? Ie. what got you interested in this field?
Why did you apply to BINM? What do you expect from BINM?

Personal questions:
Tell us about yourself.
How do you work in a group? How do you deal with conflicting personalities in a group setting?
Tell us about a failure and how you managed it.
How do you propose to take care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally?
Describe yourself using only 5 words.
Have you applied to any other schools? If so, why Boucher? Pros/Cons

Situation questions:
Ethical question: explain your decision process given an ethical dilemma.
What do you do to counsel someone?
You are working in the clinic as an intern, and your supervisor corrects your mistake in front of your patient. You are embarrassed. What do you do?
You see a friend cheating on an exam. What do you do?
Imagine you're a ND: what do you think will be your least favorite aspect of your career?


I think my interview went pretty well! I will be hearing back from them within 2 weeks to see if I got in or not!

I hope this post will help some of you prepare for your interviews & get a better idea of the school :) Remember to relax & be yourself! It also helps if you have some questions to ask them... it shows your interest.


Update: I got into both BINM & CCNM! I will be attending CCNM in Fall 2016