 Because of his father's family connections, such as his brother, Donald Bethune, the family moved to Toronto in 1840 where Norman was enrolled in Upper Canada College.From there he went for an arts degree at King's College and then to medical school in England where he graduated in 1848 as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.In 1849, Norman and four other doctors started a third medical school in Toronto called the Upper Canada School of Medicine.