Bastyr University California Opens

By Michael Cronin, ND
AANP President

I had the pleasure of representing the AANP at the Bastyr University California celebration and grand opening on Friday, September 14.  It was a sunny day with over 400 guests, 51 very enthusiastic students and an equally inspired team of faculty, staff and administration.  The campus is located in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego. The opening of this campus is the 8th in North America with 6 in the US and 2 in Canada.  The California campus occupies a two story building designed and built out for the needs of the college. Click here for a photo album.

The onset and timing of the Bastyr move to California was instigated by a recruitment effort by the California Naturopathic Doctors Association (CNDA) officers. The CNDA wanted an in-state college to support the continued growth and evolution of naturopathic medicine in California.

The 3 living founders of Bastyr, Shelia Quinn and Drs. Joe Pizzorno and Les Griffin, cut the ribbon to open the campus. Daniel K. Church, PhD, President of Bastyr, greeted the crowd with great enthusiasm. He acknowledged that the move was undertaken with an awareness of the risks and excitement about the opportunities that growth brings. Dr. Church described the appointment of an advisory board from area NDs, integrative MDs and interested public members. He described this campus as having the opportunity to partner with local institutions including Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine and the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Church was pleased to announce that the Washington campus has an incoming class of 105 students. 

Moira Fitzpatrick, PhD, ND, FICPP, CHT, was appointed vice president of the San Diego campus not long ago. Dr. Fitzpatrick was on the Bastyr Board of Trustees and was asked by Dr. Church, to lead the program. She described one focus of this new campus was to become active in evolving Naturopathic medicine in global health. Tabatha Parker, ND, of Naturopathic Doctors International, has been hired as faculty and to support the growth of naturopathic medicine in global health.

From a personal perspective, the opening evoked a strong sense of pride in our community and in our colleges. Bright, wholesome and inspired people are brought together by these institutions to affect real and lasting change in how we care for our fellow humans. It is an affirmation that this is a good thing we do.

P.S. During the celebration, news that SB 1446 passed was released. SB 1446 clarifies that nutritional IM and IV therapy is within the scope of practice for NDs. Congratulations to CNDA!