Dear Philippe Druelle,

Over the past number of days, you have received personal letters from students of the Halifax campus with regards to our instructors. There has been an ever-dwindling number of senior teachers coming to Halifax the past few years, and we have been made aware of the intention to suspend the practice of sending instructors from elsewhere to our campus in favour of hiring local instructors, which we find extremely concerning, not only for ourselves as students and future practitioners, but also for the reputation of the school.

It has been become clear to us throughout our program that the information and education provided between the local and senior teachers denotes a stark contrast. The local teachers to date, typically have not yet had enough clinical experience to provide the class with a deeper understanding of the topics taught beyond what has been provided on the fiche. In contrast, every time we have had a senior teacher instruct us, the understanding and palpation of the entire class flourishes. The clinical experience, examples, and additional information that these teachers provide is unparalleled, and pushes our class to work harder, be more curious, and strive toward the excellence demonstrated to us by these teachers. In essence, the senior teachers have provided us with the living embodiment of osteopathy and the ambition of what we can become, which is something we believe is worth nurturing.

The college’s standard is that an instructor must have assisted a senior instructor twice on a specific course before being able to teach it themselves. In Halifax, that standard seems to be disregarded. There are many great osteopathic practitioners in Halifax, but the practice is still young here and many of them do not have much teaching experience. With more opportunities to work alongside your veteran instructors, no doubt some of them will someday become great instructors themselves. However, we implore you to assure us that we will receive the high level of instruction delivered by senior teachers by continuing to send them here, while you strive to develop local talent for the future of the campus.

As the only osteopathic college on the East Coast, we want to continue to tell people of our college and the talented and competent osteopaths that it produces. Please help us in our endeavor to maintain the high standards of the CEO and continue to provide us with the exemplary education that the senior teachers have thus far equipped us with so we can continue to be proud and supportive of this wonderful institution,

Kind Regards,

Students of the Halifax Campus