Frequently Asked Questions

While Healing Mountain does have a specific line of study materials designed for student, we also offer a number of materials that are of value to clinicians and educators. Please see our Catalog page for more information.

Definitely. Please use the Contact Us section and we will review your suggestion.

They are located in the Download Center of the Resources Section.

When Healing Mountain Publishing moved to providing free shipping and handling, providing these services to Canada was logistically more involved and more expensive. These costs are subsumed under the new price structure.

Typically the bookstores will stock the manuals after the Healing Mountain annual order sale finishes sometime in March.

All study materials are full retail price in the bookstores. In addition, the bookstore may elect to mark up the materials in line with their own internal financial policies. We discount our manuals to the bookstores, so any markup is not coming from Healing Mountain.

We used to do bulk orders at one time, which was a logistical disaster. Why? First, no one wanted to take financial responsibility for the hundreds of dollars worth of products being shipped. In one case, we lost a moderately sized order. This was a major contributor to ending bulk orders.

Second, it was time-consuming and stressful for the representatives to deal with the demanding behavior of their peers. We had to pay them more and even then some just quit - once right in the middle of the order process.

Third, the students complained about every aspect of this program: that they couldn't use credit cards, that they couldn't get the books immediately, that the pickup times were inconvenient, etc.

Fourth, none of the students wanted to pay for shipping costs and in addition expected large discounts because, "we are ordering in bulk!"

Almost universally, students like the new web-based system better. Because our overhead is lower we can do free shipping, students can use a variety of payment methods, order fulfillment is faster, and access to the products is conveniently 24/7.

The new study materials typically come out in February. Prior to this, we close the option to buy the previous year's materials so that students do not inadvertently buy the old products.

The content of the study materials change as the content of the NPLEX blueprints change and as we do internal updates to the material. For example, when the board examinations went to a case-based format, the materials were updated extensively. Healing Mountain has no control over the content or changes to the NPLEX blueprint and therefore we cannot predict from year to year how much change will occur within any particular manual or flashcard set.

Once a year, prior to the large annual order in February.

Yes, they are.

All of the study materials we currently provide are geared to the NPLEX / NABNE examinations for naturopathic physicians in training. We offer a Basic Science study guide for the NPLEX Part I - Basic Science Examinations and a Clinical Science study guide for the NPLEX Part II – Clinical Science Examinations. We offer flashcard decks and review study question manuals for both Part I and Part II examinations, as well as a separate practice exam manual for the Clinical Science Examination. Finally, we offer an acupuncture study manual for the add-on to the Clinical Science Examination that is required in some jurisdictions.

The Annual Order sale is the period of time that Healing Mountain Publishing provides our study materials to the student body at a discounted price. The timing and length of time we offer this opportunity changes from year to year but it is always in late winter/early spring.

Since students are often curious how the annual order is set, historically it was scheduled to provide study materials around the time of Spring Break for Bastyr students, since that was the first school where our study manuals were sold. However, as the number of schools we supply have grown, there is unfortunately no common time when students take Spring Break. What is a beneficial time at one school is less so at another. Therefore, providing study materials in time for Spring Break at all schools is not possible, as much as we would like to be able to do this.

The study manuals are also updated annually with the assistance of student editors. Given the demands of this process, and the realities of student life, the updating process does not complete itself until late January or early February. It then takes a minimum of 4 weeks for the study materials to be printed. This affects the date of the annual order, since we try to set that date in a way that allows for the study materials to reach each student as rapidly as possible.

The short answer is: no. The longer answer is that no reputable publisher would claim that they can provide everything necessary to address a major board examination. As with all board examination agencies, NPLEX/NABNE is continually upgrading and evaluating the naturopathic board examinations. For this reason, there is no way for us to anticipate what will be on the examinations during any given year. As to offering a guarantee, we have elected not to go this route since it would increase the cost of the materials very substantially.

Unfortunately, Healing Mountain has had trouble in the past with people pirating our materials. Because of this, and because electronic publication makes such theft much easier, we have reluctantly abandoned any attempt to make the study guides available in electronic format. We will continue to study emerging technology and hope someday to be able to offer this option to our customers.

NPLEX / NABNE does not sanction "official" study materials, nor are they in anyway involved in the process of creating or editing our products. For more information about NPLEX / NABNE or the examination process, please visit their website at http://www.nabne.org/

The NPLEX/NABNE blueprint is a listing of all possible topics that can be on the NPLEX/NABNE board examinations. Healing Mountain study materials "flesh out" the blueprint by providing information about these possible topics. Please note that Healing Mountain does not guarantee that every question/topic on the board examinations will be in the study materials. We make an educated guess based on historical evidence and the current blueprint, but sometimes non-obvious materials are added to the boards that we could not have anticipated.

The study materials can be obtained from this website and from naturopathic colleges that have bookstores. We no longer make our products available from our student representatives.

Any major publication of the size represented by our study manuals can be anticipated to have a small number of errors. Unfortunately, in addition to the realities of publishing not being widely known, rumors tend to be magnified within certain groups, particularly around events such as board examinations, which create a great deal of anxiety. As in assessing any rumor, it is important to get to the source of the information before making a purchasing choice.

Our manuals are reviewed and edited annually not only to keep the material up-to-date but also to seek out any potential errors. In addition, we have been very aggressive in tracking down rumors about "errors" in our materials. On occasion, we have found typographical and grammatical errors. More rarely, we have found factual errors. Most commonly, however, what has been called an "error" in the past has usually been a misunderstanding of what was written (either by HMP or by NPLEX) or a difference in opinion about a supposed "fact."

In addressing this issue, we certainly do not want to downplay the importance of accuracy in our products or our responsibility for providing quality products, which we take seriously. We also want to empower each of our customers to make an informed choice and to only buy products that they feel will meet their requirements and needs. Please feel free to Contact Us if you have any concerns in this area or if you would like to discuss this further.

While some students would like the flashcards to be smaller, others like the current size so they can write things on their flashcards. Also, changing the flashcards to a small card stock does not really change the cost of printing. The difficulty here, given that the price would essentially remain the same, is that students may find it undesirable to pay the same price for a smaller deck, which is not really a smart business decision for us to make.

They are located in the Author's Salon in the About HMP section.

Please use the Contact Us section and we will address this.

Please go to your Publish With Us page for submission guidelines.

Our textbooks are available for review on a 30 day examination basis. An invoice will be sent with the book. If you decide not to adopt the textbook, simply return it to us in saleable condition and the invoice will be cancelled. If you decide you would like to use the book for your class, please provide proof of adoption on your institution's letterhead and your invoice will be cancelled.

Please read our Medical Textbook Review Policy above, then copy, print, and fill out the Medical Textbook Review Request Form. We will review the form, contact you, and arrange for the textbook to be sent to you.

Please Contact Us and we will send one out to you promptly. If you already have an evaluation copy, your invoice will simply be cancelled.

If you are a student and have an issue that needs to be resolved, see if you can work it out locally with our representative there at your school. If not, you are always free to contact us by email or phone. Generally, no refunds are provided once the study materials have been purchased, unless the materials were damaged upon receipt. The reason for this has to due in part with the piracy issue discussed above.

Textbooks that are still in saleable condition can be returned up to 30 days from the date of invoice. If for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase from Healing Mountain Publishing, simply Contact Us so that we can authorize a return. We request this in an effort to save you money, since books that are no longer saleable will be returned at the customer's expense. The customer is responsible for all charges incurred in making returns unless the return is the result of an error on our part. Upon calling us, the address to return the book will be provided and we will ask for your preference - a replacement, an exchange, or a refund. We will address your request promptly and professionally.

We would refer you to the NPLEX/NABNE website for any information on board examination details: http://www.nabne.org/

Shipping cost is based on weight. Shipments to Hawaii or Alaska must be sent by airmail and thus are more expensive. For shipment outside the US, Contact Us for a price quote. All orders are shipped via FedEx. Orders usually take 4-7 business days for delivery unless the book is out of stock and needs to be ordered from the printer (in which case allow 3-4 weeks). If you are a bookseller or other wholesale outlet, please call us for more information.

Please Contact Us for current wholesale prices.