We train for four years undertaking over 500 hours of clinical practice, under the supervision of qualified herbalists.
What we study across four years to achieve the diploma:
· Anatomy and physiology (where things are in the body and how they work)
· Pathology (how disease and illness presents and develops in the body)
· Pharmacology (what the body does to drugs and herbs and what drugs and herbs do to the body along with herb/drug interactions for safety)
· Basic chemistry and phytochemistry (the structure and behavior of compounds in relation to herbal medicine)
· Differential diagnosis (evaluating all presenting factors to determine the most probable diagnosis)
· Nutrition (understanding the role of food and supplements in wellbeing)
· Botany and plant ID (how we group plants together, name and identify them)
· Research skills – how to read academic papers, identifying good and bad research and how to use this in practice
· Final year research project (a dissertation)
· Clinical skills (using a patient centered approach, hands-on clinical exams of all the major body systems including blood pressure, identification of red flags and when to refer)
· History of herbal medicine, ethics and the law (understanding our place in the history of herbal medicine and the boundaries in place to protect herbalists and patients)
· Foraging, growing and making (identifying plants in the wild and understand the laws on collecting them – growing medicinal plants - making medicine from medical plants)