Online/Correspondance classes for herbal medicine??

[yourbadd]

I have been doing a little "soul searching" to figure out what direction I want/need to take my life. I kinda lost me for a while there amid the kids and hubby's activities. I need to rediscover things that make me happy and return passion to my life. I have always be interested in medicine and actually have a degree in Medical Assisting. I have however, become disenfranchised with modern medicine's "pop a pill" mentality. I am looking to expand my knowledge of herbal and natural remedies. Does anyone know of an online or self-study class that will teach me the basics?

I'm looking to learn what herbs will treat different aliments and how to choose which is best, preventive measures, how to make the various applications(tinctures, salves, etc..)

 

[Denim Deb]

I'd like something like that, too.

 

[homestead wanna be]

I've been looking for them too. The online classes range from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand. I'm not sure which one would be the best. I guess it all comes down to what you really want to do with them.

 

[Dawn419]

I got interested in herbal medicine years ago (before doc_gonzo's time) thanks to a friend (RIP) who was 7th generation Cherokee who shared many of his herbal tonics, salves and quite a bit of knowledge with me. I got away from it after he passed on.

A few years later, met another friend who was interested in herbal healing and he turned me on to Dr. John Christopher. So I got back into herbs again, only for my personal use.

Doc and I get together and he starts telling everyone he meets about his "little hillbilly witch doctor" ( ) which was sooooo not cool with me. Freaked me out to have total strangers walk up to me and start asking me questions about what to take for this, that and the other. Gave doc the "what for" about running his mouth like that and how it could get me in trouble as I wasn't licensed and got away from it again!

As a peace offering, he bought me Dr. Christophers book and got excited all over again. I'd love to sign up for the school one day.

The School of Natural Healing

 

[taoist]

Hi, I am new here but saw your post and thought I would put my 2 cents in....

I grew up learning all the "old ways"...herbal remedies, etc that I learned directly from my great grandparents and grandparents, most of whom were of Cherokee, Crow, Cree and Blackfoot descent. I thought this was how everyone learned and how the rest of the world worked when it came to healthcare. But, in high school, I became intrigued with modern "western" healthcare and so I went off to college and got my education and certifications in medicine where I worked for the last 35 years. I quickly came to think of all that I learned growing up...the natural/herbal ways...as heathen, stupid, voodoo-ish nonsense. But, then I came to the realization that a lot of modern medicine does more harm than good and about 9 years ago decided to re-educate myself on natural medicine. Sadly my great grandparents and grandparents have long since been dead and I had to start the search on my own.

I looked at a lot of "alternative", "natural", "herbal" schools out there and many of them seemed very impressive. I eventually ended up going to school to get my Master's degree in Chinese Medicine. For the past 8 years, I've studied acupuncture and herbal medicine. I've learned a great deal from these schools. I also have attended aromatherapy school, sound healing school, reiki school...the list goes on. However, the biggest thing that I've learned about any of these schools is that they are primarily a big rip off.

You can educate yourself through books and online sources with just a little bit of research/time and you can become very proficient in knowledge doing this instead of taking courses and getting a "degree" or "certification" from some school. There is not a single school in the US that is truly "accredited"...in other words, classes that you take at these schools are not transferable to another school in the US...such as Harvard, Yale or XXX State University or even your local community college. They may have done the necessary paperwork to acquire federal funding but that is it. Most of these schools fluff up their programs to require you to take classes that are way out of the scope of the information that you truly need simply to make a lot of money off of their students. Some people will argue that these schools and classes are necessary to ensure that the "practitioners" are qualified and the treatments are standardized...but it is really a load of crap. It's all about the money.

Sorry to be so long winded on my first post here but I just want to caution others who might be looking at taking a similar route to me on their alternative medicine education....you don't want to end up with a piece of paper that is kinda worthless and a $100K student loan debt (yes, many are at this level).

 

[Bettacreek]

http://www.ed2go.com/cpi/SearchResu...ort=RELEVANCE&PrevSort=RELEVANCE&SortAsc=True

I'm not sure if anything is strictly herbal, but I am taking the nursing program with that school, and we focus a lot on alternative healing. Even in our hospital when you document any pain, you have to document that you've done some type of alternative pain relieving measure (cold/heat, repositioning, massage, etc) before you can just pop a pill. Plus, under a certain main rating, we can't give pain killers, so you only have your alternative healing. I've been thinking about taking one of those courses, because I want to know more about it, mostly the herbal, but not sure how in depth that is. I'll have to talk to my administration.
Oh, our drug books have herbs in them... Pretty neat to read up on them actually. Davis's Drug Guide (with Nursing implications or for nurses, forget what it's called) is what we use.


Two books to get you started:
Herbal Notes: Complementary & Alternative Medicines Pocket Guide
Davis's Pocket Guide to Herbs and Supplements

 

[Dawn419]

Taoist,

First off, hello and welcome to the forum!

Secondly, Thank You for sharing your knowledge of this subject with us. I truly appreciate it!

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

welcome taoist! Don' be shy, jump on in...we won't bite...unless you want us to..

 

[2dream]

Vintage Remedys might be a good place to check out.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I have become more interested in herbals because for the first time in my life...49 years, I can actually grow herbs. I never bothered before, because either we weren't there long enuff, or the property was unable to grow stuff. Or, the past ten years, being single...I have had to rent. And been way too poor to spend money on herbs.
Now, I have comfrey, sage,, mints, and the summer plants....basil, and the others I have forgot at the moment.

I will be watching this post.