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3 - Year Clinical Herbalist training program

VCIH offers beginning herbal students a comprehensive 3-year Clinical Herbalist training program that prepares them for work in the community clinic and with their own personal clients. The first year of classes offers a thorough introduction to the herbal arts and sciences, and can be taken by itself as our Family Herbalist course. Those interested in developing clinical skills can then continue through Years 2 & 3.

Curriculum Outline - click here for a full reading / materials list

Click here for a course catalog.

Year 1 ~ This year is a combination of hands-on apprenticeship and didactic time in the classroom, providing both direct experience with the plants and medicine-making and foundational knowledge in holistic physiology, energetic systems, and materia medica.

Course List:

Holistic Physiology
Exploring the Medicinal Landscape/Field Trip
Observation, Intuition & Intention: Many Ways to Learn from Plants
Experiential Apprenticeship which includes: cultivation; ethical wild-harvesting; stewardship of native botanical populations; harvesting, drying and processing herbs; herbal preparations: teas, tinctures, salves, massage oils, lotions, hydrosols; introductory botany and plant identification; bioregional ecology and economics; sustainable living
Energetic Systems includes: Four-element theory (Air, Fire, Water, Earth); Humoral theory (Sanguine, Choleric, Phelgmatic, Melancholic);magic and the Quintessence, or Vital Force
Materia Medica (40 plants)
Food as Medicine
Introduction to Plant Chemistry and Herbal Actions
First Aid

Year 1 Total: 302 hours

Year 2 ~ This year will focus on understanding system dysfunctions (both energetically and physiologically), developing critical thinking and clinical strategies, and grounding in the skills of a practitioner.

Course List:

Pathophysiology
Herbal Therapeutics/Considerations for Special Populations
Herbal Preparations II
Pharmacology & Formulation
Applied Energetics II/Traditional Constitutional Assessments
Practitioner Skills/Rapport
Materia Medica II (40 plants)
Herbal Safety
Research Skills
Nutritional Supplementation
Intro to Clinic/Observation & Roundtable
Field Experience

Year 2 Total: 590 hours

Year 3 ~ This year brings the learning from the first two years to the clinical relationship. Primarily, the student will see clients under supervision in the community clinic, while also developing a business plan for their future work as an herbalist, and practice sharing their knowledge with the community.

Course List:

Supervised Clinical Practicum
Clinical Roundtable / Specific therapeutics
Business Development
Skills for Complementary Professionals in Western Medical Paradigm which includes lab reading, communication skills

Materia Medica III (50 plants)
Community Teaching Practicum

Year 3 Total: 401 hours

Tuition

Year 1: $2950
Year 2: $5700
Year 3: $4500

Courses in Year 1 may be taken separately. To calculate cost, multiply the number of hours in the course by 12. Years 2 and 3 are to be taken as a whole. We welcome students with prior training or self-study. You may submit documentation of prior learning for review in order to enter into Year 2 or 3 without completion of previous courses with VCIH. Monthly payment plans are available. VSAC grants are available for Vermont residents and will cover much of the tuition cost for each year. Please contact VCIH for more information about either of these options.

back to the VCIH Home Page; back to current classes

how to apply