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Re: medical herbalism degree

February 21 2012 at 12:27 AM		  
from IP address 94.169.52.67


Response to medical herbalism degree
 
Hi Kevin

(rant alert)

I think it's a combination of both. The number of newly qualified herbalists who actually make a living from their chosen degree is something less than 10%, if my memory serves me correctly. The rapid increase of medical herbalism degree courses over the last 10-15 years could have been seen by some viewers as universities trying to get "bums on seats" and therefore increase their incomes rather than them having a real feel for the need/market tolerance of qualified herbalists.

I do think the whole public squabble about "only qualified herbalists being able to dispense European approved medication/herbs" did medical herbalism no favours. People who were eager to learn suddenly got cold feet and the whole student loan and subsequent debt situation meant the numbers applying for the courses dried up. No applications meant no bums on seats, so universities closed courses. Economics is a harsh taskmaster.

We shall be reaping the harvest of this current situation for many years to come and maybe the general public will suffer from lack of choice in seeking consultations with qualified herbalists.

But there again, is the general public best served by herbalists who are trained in the current scientific climate? Herbalists who can recite chemical constituents of herbs until the cows come home but have never made a tincture in their life? Herbalists who know every plant by their latin nomenclature, but couldn't find an elder tree in winter if you paid them?

Now I know there are lots and lots of wonderful, experienced medical herbalists out there whose life is their craft. I have no wish to denigrate their achievements. All I'm saying is that maybe this is a time of opportunity. Ordinary people can't buy a lot of tinctures they used to, but maybe this will make them think about making their own or maybe using another medium of extraction or way of taking their herbs they hadn't considered before. Maybe it will encourage them to open their eyes and their ears and learn more about the herbs around them and have the confidence to use them in an ethically sound and sensible way.

Maybe I'm living in cloud cuckoo land, but all I can do is what I do in the hope it may help.

Best wishes

Sarah

 
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