Western College of Homeopathic Medicine: The New Kid on the Block

The Western College of Homeopathic Medicine http://www.wchm.ca was founded in 2009, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by Homeopath Linda Miller and Naturopath Dr. Tevna Tayler.  Our goal has been to improve standards of training in Canada, to send more full-fledged, effective homeopaths into the world. Our modular three-four year course combines online study with intensive live clinical practicum.

Medical sciences, under Dr. Tayler, NMD, covers anatomy, physiology, pathology and disease including diagnosis. At this time homeopathic professionals do not offer diagnosis in Canada, but we teach it to our students regardless, so they may understand diagnoses and associated diagnostic tests. We deliberately throw students into the deep end of the pool with case-taking. 100 initial consultations and associated follow ups, most of which are live, some on video, and a few on paper, highlight all four years of study. This makes practical case-taking, case analysis and management the focus of academic study. We teach the Organon thoroughly as well as Kent, Roberts and Vithoulkas and the 156 remedies on the CCH exams

, alongside Rajan Sankaran’s Sensation Method, Jan Scholten’s Periodic Table and Plant System, and the Repertory, book and computer. Experienced homeopath, and creator of Homeopathy First Magazine http://homeopathyfirstmagazine.com, Donna Powers, teaches student clinic and supervises cases, bringing well-rounded skill in case-taking and mentoring to the programme.

During my four years of training with the former Vancouver Homeopathy Academy, I supplemented the excellent teaching of Murray Feldman, Susan Gimbel, Laurie Dack and Lianne South with over 200 acute and chronic cases seen in our family’s health food store. With additional training and inspiration from Julie Lee’s rigorous veterinary homeopathic practice, I plunged myself as a student into case-taking early. While I didn’t always get it right the first time, I did not harm anyone.  My learning was accelerated and I graduated to a near full-time practice. Under the ownership of my daughter, Erin Bosch, creator of Mozi-Q, http://www.mozi-q.com we revamped our business into a homeopathic clinic. Eleven of my early clients attended the first class of the Western College of Homeopathic Medicine, graduated in 2014, and are now homeopaths in the Calgary area.  They have formed an association to support and further the status of homeopathy in the province of Alberta:

Each year, students participate in at least one trituration under the guidance of Dr. Roland Guenther . This has proven invaluable for deepening skills of perception and experiential materia medica study. We have also proven Lac Bisonis and Ultrasound.

John Melnychuk as guest lecturer brought us his extensive knowledge and dynamic approach to autism. His comment, “you’ve taught them how to think,” came as an appreciated vote of confidence as I entered into the fourth year teaching my first class.

In January of 2014 our class made a trip to Pune, India for study with Sunil Anand and his team of homeopaths at the Prana Centre. This classroom experience gave us insight into Indian culture and access to many complex and interesting cases using Sensation Method.

In June of 2016, I visited Sherr’s Tanzanian Centre, spending 6 hours in one of their outreach clinics. I sat with homeopath Jane Davy, observing her treatment of 22 patients during that session. We repertorized quickly, hearing the case through a translator. I found myself using kingdom discernment from Sensation Method along with memorized keynotes and confirmatories while paying close attention to when the patient would repeat or emphasize, observing their appearance, clothing and demeanour, hearing information a family member offered, noticing the sound of a cough that preceded them and numerous other audible/visible clues…in short…using most of the tools I present to my students for solving cases. Some we only saw for 10 minutes, so speed and efficiency was critical. I am pleased that several of my students will attend a two-week internship at http://homeopathyforhealthinafrica.org in the fall of 2016.

Here are the qualities we foster and believe make an effective homeopath today:

1. The ability to perceive in an unbiased manner many details and put them together in the context of a whole pattern
2. The ability to perceive what is strange and characteristic in a case even when it is illogical
3. The ability to know when a case is not progressing to cure in spite of a hopeful patient’s positive report
4. The ability to perceive obstacles to cure and address them or accept that the patient will progress minimally if they are not removed
5. Compassion for the human condition and respect for the human spirit
6. The desire and flexibility to continue to learn
7. The courage to allow the study of homeopathy to change you, deepen your sensitivities, to transform the student’s desire to help into becoming an effective agent for healing
8. The courage to live outside the box as a self-employed professional who generates his/her own business and whose ideas may be harshly criticized from time to time

My part in creating this program has stimulated tremendous growth in me as a homeopath and as a person, meeting challenges unique to my position. I have been humbled, angered, frustrated, overjoyed and bursting with pride to name only a few of my states along the way. I am heartened by the good work being done by my students as they meet the challenges of new practices and businesses in an increasingly complex world of medicine and disease.