This blog is dedicated to my dad, who loves Harry Potter even more than I do. We started making some comparisons last week and since then my mind has continued in this vein. I must get this out in a blog so my brain has room for more important things… like anatomy.

Sometimes (OK, often) I feel like I am Harry Potter and I am going to “magic school”. Seriously, there are so many parallels here that it can’t just be coincidence, can it?

FYI, all quotes are from the Wikipedia entry about Hogwarts.

“there are about 1000 students at Hogwarts … [J.K. Rowling] later suggested around six hundred.”.

There are about 500 students at my school (Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine), a number that continues to increase! Amazing to see that even within the last decade, some graduating classes had only 10-15 students.

“There are a few other schools of magic mentioned by name in the Harry Potter novels: one, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, is located in France, while the Durmstrang Institute for Magical Study is probably based in the far north of Central or Eastern Europe.”.

There are also a few other schools of naturopathic medicine: Boucher, Bastyr, Southwest College, National College, University of Bridgeport. And that is just the ones I know of in North America…

“The school is enchanted to repel Muggles (non-magical people), to whom Hogwarts appears to be ‘a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE’. Electronic devices go haywire and do not work around Hogwarts because there is too much magic in the air.”

While my school is not so unfriendly to non-naturopathic folk, there are signs on the doors warning of the FRAGRANCE FREE ENVIRONMENT (to help out those people with MCS – multiple chemical sensitivities), which could surprise/turn off some people I guess… Also, electronic devices (wireless internet, cell phones) do not work in all parts of campus!

“First and second year students all learn the same subjects.”

First and second years at my school also learn many of the same subjects. In third year there is more practical education and students begin to spend more time in the clinic and fourth year students work primarily as interns in the clinic, under a supervising ND.

Many of my classes parallel the magical studies of Hogwarts students…

Herbology: “how to properly care for magical plants.” I am taking Botanical Medicine, although I still call it Herbology in my head… We even have a herb garden, from which we harvest herbs for tinctures, salves, tea, etc.

Potions: “making potions with magical effects.” Homeopathy is the parallel to this – potions with sometimes magical effects, and my current favourite subject.

Defence Against the Dark Arts: “how to properly defend themselves against the Dark Arts, including Dark wizards and creatures.” My version of this is Ethics and Jurisprudence – how to defend myself against lawyers…

History of Magic: “about historical events in the wizarding world.” Naturopathic History and Philosophy.

Arithmancy: “about the magical properties of numbers.” I’m going to compare this to Biochemistry, Physiology, and Immunology which are about the magical properties of enzymes, hormones, immune cells, etc.

Muggle Studies: “about the way of life of Muggles”. I’m stretching a bit here, but I’m going to say Public Health – the way of life of the public (ie: non-naturopathic folks).

Divination: “how to predict (or, some would say, attempt to predict) future events”. Also a stretch - Health Psychology, how to read and understand patients easier, faster, more accurately (some mind reading involved).

Hogwarts students also take Astronomy: “about stars, planets, etc. and their application in magic”, Care of Magical Creatures: “about magical creatures”, Ancient Runes: “about runic scripts and presumably dead magical languages”, Transfiguration: “changing the properties of objects”, Charms: “wide variety of spells such as making objects float”.

My other classes this year: Anatomy, Embryology, Massage, Hydrotherapy, Asian Medicine, Research, Histopathology, Clinical Nutrition, and Art and Practice. Anyone who can match these ones up somehow has my admiration...

“The day begins at Hogwarts with breakfast in the Great Hall. Students sit at their own House table and can eat, socialise, and finish homework at the last minute. At the High Table, at the far end of the hall, the headmaster eats with the professors.”

The equivalent location at my school is the cafeteria, where many students and professors gather before class for breakfast or in between classes for a quick lunch and last minute studying and homework.

“The food served at Hogwarts is, according to the students, very good. The house-elves at Hogwarts are skilled chefs, and cook a wide variety of dishes for every meal. The food served at the school is fresh and grown locally; the school has vegetable patches by the greenhouses.”

While opinions vary on the food served at our cafeteria, I have to admit it is definitely held to a higher standard than your average student eatery. Nearly every bakery item is made with spelt (wheat is minimized). Allergenic foods are minimized and there is a rule that dishes prepared on the same day will each not contain the same allergenic food (eg: if someone is allergic to eggs, there will be some hot meals that do not contain eggs). Lots of tofu is used. Brown rice instead of white. There are many fresh juices and smoothies available and you can buy pieces of fresh fruit.

“To qualify as a registered practitioner of magic, students must take the compulsory Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) examinations in their fifth year, and may proceed to the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (N.E.W.T.) level, a more advanced exam regimen covering fewer subjects but in more depth, in the seventh year.”

Naturopathic students are also required to take two sets of licensing exams, called NPLEX (Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examinations). The first set, Basic Sciences, is usually written after second year and the second set, Clinical Sciences, are written after 4th year.

So there you have it - both places are extremely challenging, but also extremely rewarding! I definitely feel like I am in a magical place everyday…

Everytime I try to start a new blog lately, I just can’t gather my thoughts cohesively enough to make sense, so please bear with me.

First, I wanted to say that I am still alive!

I started school full-time on September 5th and life has been non-stop since then. We had one day of class (9am to 7pm!), then left the next day on a class retreat where we pretended that we were 10 year olds at camp for 3 days – fun! Unfortunately over that time I managed to catch a cold and didn’t have enough down time over the weekend to mount a good immune response. So, I spent all of last week hacking and sniffing my way through classes until Friday night, when I ducked out of all plans to just nurse myself at home. Thankfully that seemed to be enough because I am now nearly completely well.

My classes are all amazing and I love what I am learning so far, but the workload is extreme. Long, long days followed by evenings trying to keep up with reading and learning.

Foodwise, I am fine. Probably too much fruit and Ezekiel buns (my growing brain is burning through calories like crazy!), but also getting lots of veggies and protein. Sleepwise, I am also (surprisingly) doing fine – 7 to 8 hours per night! I hope I can keep that up… Exercise is the weak area right now, but not entirely due to choice. I somehow hurt my back/pelvis earlier in the summer and have finally accepted that this is not something that is just going to heal itself – something is out of balance/out of place and needs manipulation. Until that is properly dealt with, most exercise exacerbates it, so I’m trying to be patient and lay off for awhile. Maybe a bike ride tomorrow morning, though…

Last week I got myself set up with an intern at the clinic and had my first (1.5 hours) appointment. So cool to spend that much time with someone who writes literally pages of notes… I’m excited to start working on my back issue and on the rest of my list of “complaints”, most of which are relatively minor, thankfully. My next appointment is this week, then another the following week and on a regular basis from then on. Oh, and did I mention that I don’t have to pay anything to go to the clinic at school? First visit is free for students, subsequent visits are very cheap, but also covered by my insurance!

Anyway, I’ll try to find some time to write a real blog sometime soon, so hang in there!