National University of Natural Medicine Has a New Home

The National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) is the oldest accredited Naturopathic Medical school in North America.  Founded in 1956 in Portland, Oregon, the university was established to advance the study and practice of naturopathic medicine.

I remember the buildings the college has inhabited since its time in Portland, Oregon.  I attended the building on the upper floors of what was called the Postal Building, in downtown Portland starting in 1980.   Located on SW third street, think old historic architecture for a commercial office building, with a pawn shop and less than stellar retail surroundings.  But it was home to us.  Then called the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) – a place of special people, great learning, and at the heart of the natural medicine movement.

We moved to the suburbs on SE 102^nd and Market, I think in 1982, taking over an old one story grade school, 1950s style.  We had some acreage with an old cinder track, bathrooms with fixtures for children, and a gym.  The college moved in manufactured buildings for a clinic and a trailer for the anatomy lab.  It was progress.  And again, it was home full of  faculty and students and administration committed to naturopathic medicine and natural methods of healing.  In 1996, the college relocated its main academic campus to the Ross Island / Lair Hill location (the former Josiah Failing Elementary School building).

At that time, clinical education was housed in two clinics (Natural Health Center and the Pettygrove Clinic) several minutes from the main campus. In 2009, these clinics were consolidated into one location on campus at the Ross Island location and named NUNM Health Centers.

Now in the late spring of 2026, NUNM has a brand new home in the downtown core of Portland.  Its new home address is 1621 SW 1^st avenue.  A large, 6 floor former office building full of light, space, room to grow and a welcoming access to an outdoor courtyard and walkway along with its impressive atrium entrance.  The clinic will be moved to this same location in the near future but for now, the college continues to evolve with not only its Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine flagship degree, but doctorate and master’s degrees also offered in classical Chinese medicine and acupuncture with undergraduate and master’s degrees in integrative health science, nutrition , clinical research, and global health.

Under the leadership of its president, Dr. Melanie Henriksen and her able, devoted, and hardworking team, the college has navigated the complicated and challenging new world of higher education, real estate transactions, new learning models, and evolving needs in the health care system, to bring together this amazing group of people who have accomplished the next to impossible, ready to educate and serve.

NUNM teaching clinics continue to serve the local and surrounding communities with whole person natural and integrative health care.  NUNM continues to educate doctors, clinicians, and scientists who offer a much needed approach to health and medicine.

If you want a doctor who can take the time to listen, provide in depth thinking about you and your case and is an expert in natural therapies with the potential for needed conventional medicine therapies then a naturopathic physician trained at the National University of Natural Medicine is the doctor for you.  If you want to be a patient, contact www.nunmhealthcenters.com

If you want to become this kind of physician, then the National University of Natural Medicine is for you.  For more information, contact www.NUNM.edu

It’s a fabulous and deeply rewarding career and an even more fabulous and purposeful life.