Best Naturopathy school in Melbourne?

August 18, 2006 8:36 PM

My wife wants to study Naturopathy in Melbourne, Australia and she needs some guidance as to which school she should sign up for: a) Australian College of Natural Medicine or b) The Southern School of Natural Therapy...... Both are the same cost.
posted by lemong to education (6 comments total)

I'm a Melbournite and while I have no knowledge of Naturopathy at all I've actually heard of the Australian College of Natural Medicine so them being more well-known might help with her career "reputation" later on.

It's also in the middle of the city so it's pretty accessible. I have no idea where the other one is, though.
posted by liquorice at 9:07 PM on August 18, 2006

I'm a (displaced) Melburnian and I've actually heard of the Southern School. I believe it has quite a good name amongst people who are disposed to thinking of such things in a positive light.

It's also in the middle of the city but just outside the central business in Fitzroy.
posted by Jenga at 3:16 AM on August 19, 2006

I have no direct knowledge on this but if it was my wife or sister I think from a first blush look at the websites of each I would recommend the Southern one.

Why?

Although the Australian College has accreditation with the National Training Information Service (I get errors for some reason searching for the other one), I suppose I would harbour credibility doubts about an organisation associated with the College of Natural Beauty. That's just a personal reaction thing.

Also, it appears that the Southern group run Bachelor programs which suggests to me that they would likely have a better reputation. As you saw from the Info. service, Australian College is accredited for Diplomas.

These are just my reactions - I'm not saying I've characterized these institutions carefully or properly: it's simply my gut response from having a cursory look.

What I would really recommend to my sister or wife would be to write to both institutions and ask them why each should be picked over the other. I would probably also recommend contacting one or more of the places linked on this page to see how each is regarded/listed/described (and particularly VTAC I think).
posted by peacay at 4:20 AM on August 19, 2006

Here I go again - try asking your question on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree branch for Australasia.

The Thorn Tree is a terrific resource for all kinds of information on all kinds of places.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:58 AM on August 19, 2006

I'm a massage therapist from Melbourne and have looked at studying Naturopathy at both the Southern School and the ACNM.

My personal preference is the Southern School - I dreamt of going there back in the late 80s when I first became interested in Naturopathy. It has a fantastic reputation and is very well known and respected in the industry.

I have done some of the course modules, but I ended up going to ACNM, purely for convenience as they offer part time, evening and external options.
posted by goshling at 5:36 AM on August 19, 2006

A friend in Melbourne studied acupuncture and massage at ACNM. She was pretty positive about the school, her program and (most of) her teachers. She did a lot of hands-on clinics as well as theory, and she participated in a student clinic regularly, and now has a successful practice of her own.

I have to fess up though… I thought her course was pretty shoddy. I can't stress enough that this is my personal opinion, based on a data point of exactly one, but they didn't seem terribly rigorous with assessment. And she regularly told me about classmates who were bleeding idiots in the clinics – abrasive and unsympathetic. She took her studies very seriously and was (is!), I think, a very good acupuncturist. But I did wonder about the others. Why wasn't the school picking up their abrasiveness / uselessness in student clinics? They could well have I suppose – that just wasn't part of the story.

My only experience with the Southern School was a couple of visits to their student clinic. It was great. The students really knew their stuff, were super-nice and fixed the problem I'd come in with.
posted by t0astie at 6:39 PM on August 20, 2006