As a new initiative to provide more clinical experiences for the first and second year students, BINM has started a shadowing clinic shift for the first and second year students. Starting this term students are required to have a 4-hour clinic shadowing shifts at the teaching clinic each term. My first clinic experience was a humbling experience. I was there when the third and fourth year students consulted with the supervisor. It was good to see the student clinicians were able to develop and ultimately implement and monitor a treatment plan for each individual patient under the guidance and suggestions from their supervisor. It was nice to see and experience some of the front line actions. I was reminded why Naturopathic doctors go to school for so long and how much more I have yet to learn.  
 
In addition to the new shadowing experience for the first and second year students, 1,115 hours will be spent on the clinical components, with an additional 300 hours in the categories of outreach, assistant and clinical preceptorship. Boucher students are required to accumulate 380 clinic hours in their third year, 735 clinic hours in their fourth year, 100 outreach hours, 75 assistant hours in addition to 50 hours of preceptor with different Naturopathic Doctors and 75 hours with non-Naturopathic Doctors which adds up to a total of 1,425 hours for the clinical component of the education at Boucher.  
 
As most of you know the naturopathic program is not for the faint of heart and I look forward to being able to start the clinical component of the education although for me it won’t be for another 18 months. In the meantime, I look forward to my next shadowing experience at the teaching clinic.