Arts and Sciences Merge at Bastyr University

“Health is not a commodity that you buy from your doctor; it’s a responsibility that every mature human being accepts, embraces, and promises to live out,” says Bastyr University President Daniel K. Church. Changing our understanding of wellness and what it means to be healthy is one of this university’s primary ambitions.
Located north of Seattle in Kenmore, Wash., Bastyr is the largest university for natural health arts and sciences in the United States. The 32-year-old accredited institution is internation¬ally recognized as a pioneer in natural medicine, melding science and art in a multidisciplinary curriculum with leading-edge research and clinical training. A nonprofit, private univer¬sity, Bastyr promotes a curriculum founded in science-based natural medicine.
Providing degrees in a variety of curricula, Bastyr offers a range of graduate and under¬graduate programs, including naturopathic medicine, acupuncture and Oriental medicine, midwifery, nutrition, health psychology, exercise science, and herbal sciences. With an emphasis on the intrinsic relationship between mind, body, spirit, and nature, Bastyr’s mission is to educate future influencers in the natural health arts and sciences using a model that integrates education, research, and clinical service. “Our people should be leaders when they graduate—not just technically competent professionals, but people who have the ancillary skills necessary to provide leadership in their fields,” Church says.
In addition to educating future practitioners, Bastyr envisions itself as the world’s preeminent academic center for advancing and integrating knowledge in the natural health arts and sciences, in order to transform the health and well-being of the human community. Church highlights the idea of transformation, noting, “We’re not looking for incremental change, for people to be slightly less sick than they used to be. We’re looking for a major transforma¬tion, not just a change in health status, but a change in the appreciation of what health really is.”
Clinic Director and Clinic Medical Director at Bastyr, Jamey Wallace, ND, echoes Church’s vision of health transfor¬mation. Wallace points out that currently one of the biggest health challenges in the United States is the management of chronic disease. Evaluating lifestyle, diet, stress, and other contributing factors of chronic disease is key to not only treating but also preventing chronic disease. “Imagine a system where we have people coming in on a regular basis to stay healthy and then when something bad happens they can take advantage of the technology. We wouldn’t be spending thousands of dollars a month on some kind of new pill or tens of thousands on surgical procedures; we’d be spending hundreds of dollars on maintaining wellness,” suggests Wallace.