Study with the School of Herbal Medicine

Advanced Diploma in Herbal Medicine

We are offering an Advanced Diploma in Herbal Medicine over 6 years, which is currently progressing through the accreditation programme from the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. We are now offering a new Science Foundation Year course for students with no science background. (see below)

Why does our course take so long?

Our course is not a 3-year course stretched over 6 years!

We have 6 full years packed with fresh content where each year we cover new ground. Year on year we develop the student’s practical capacity as well as theoretical medical knowledge.

Most 3 year courses offer 24 days of face-to-face contact; 72 days in total. Whereas we provide 25 days of face-to-face contact over 6 years, 150 days in total.

This makes our course the most rigorous and the best value for money.

Our course will enable the successful student to practise as a Medical Herbalist, join a professional association and be insured. The school is actively working towards course accreditation.

By the end of the course, successful students will be competent to conduct professional consultations with patients, to prescribe effective herbal treatment and offer suitable dietary and lifestyle advice. Furthermore, they will be able to recognise and wildcraft the plants they need, and to grow and harvest their own herbs, using their pharmacy skills to prepare them for use by their patients. Qualifying herbalists will, in addition, possess the necessary tools to further their clinical, botanical and practical studies in order to enhance their own knowledge and to develop themselves within this vocation.

The School aims to produce competent, knowledgeable and confident herbal practitioners and will especially suit students who have work and family commitments. Our course is based on NIMH core curriculum guidelines. Attendance for taught sessions is two days a month for 10 months of the year and a five-day school at Easter with exams in July. Students will also need to complete 500 hours of clinical training in their final 4 years. In addition, students will be required to follow our extensive study guides and also writing assignments.

At the end of their training, the students will take a Final Clinical Exam [FCE], which is a practical exam with a real patient, involving taking a patient case history, completing a relevant physical examination, a differential and working diagnosis, and finally creating a prescription. There will be a short viva at the end of the consultation and will involve questions on disease processes and herb actions. All our students will be well prepared for this so they can enter the exam full of confidence.

The course is built around the blended learning model whereby students receive comprehensive study guides for each module that they are taking. Attendance at all taught sessions is compulsory.

The cost of the course is ï¿¡510/module, so a full year of 6 modules would be ï¿¡3,060 which can be paid by monthly instalments. This includes all course materials, seminar fees, clinic hours, exam fees and a hot lunch each day. There are no hidden costs with our course and it would be difficult to beat our price of ï¿¡18,360 for a full 6-year course. However, B&B costs are not included and we will help students find suitable reasonably priced accommodation when needed.

Modules include; Anatomy & Physiology, Pharmacognosy, Botany, Clinical Medicine, Herbal Therapeutics, Pharmacy, Materia Medica, Immunology & Microbiology, Clinical Practice, History of Herbal Medicine, Clinical Skills, Public Health & Hygiene and the Therapeutic Relationship.

For a full breakdown of all the modules please email us for a prospectus. (admissions@schoolofherbalmedicine.co.uk)

Science Foundation Year

We have included a good deal of science in our Advanced Diploma, and we are aware that not all prospective students have a background in science subjects. There are many students that would make very good clinical herbalists who have not got A levels or equivalent in Chemistry or Biology, and we felt it was unfair to bar them from access to the diploma, and this is why we did not make that a prerequisite of admission. We included the basic science knowledge necessary within our specifically written module guides, taking the topics and concepts that we felt were necessary to understand the subject matter as a whole.

However, for students who feel that they would like, or need, basic science education before applying to our course we are running a one-year science foundation course starting from Autumn 2021.

The fees for the year will be around ï¿¡1,000 and include module guides and four weekends of seminars for the year where you will receive face-to-face instruction [COVID permitting].