Herbal Medicine Courses: Australia

Anatomy and Physiology

This subject covers a detailed level of knowledge of anatomy and physiology, required to confirm physical health status.

Chemistry and Biochemistry

This subject describes the skills and knowledge required to work with an understanding of chemistry and biochemistry in clinical practice. It will allow the student to understand biochemical pathways giving greater depth of knowledge providing a foundation for future units that deal with application of nutritional and herbal interventions.

Apply first aid

This subject covers skills and knowledge required to provide first aid response, life support, management of casualty(s), the incident and other first aiders, until the arrival of medical or other assistance.

Workplace Health and Safety

As a health professional there are health and safety considerations which apply to both yourself and the patients who enter your practice. An understanding of the local and national WHS requirements helps ensure that you, your colleagues, and your patients are safe and comply with legal requirements

Effective Workplace Practices

Being a safe and capable natural therapies practitioner involves understanding the legal, regulatory and ethical frameworks underpinning practice. Effective communication strategies, self-evaluation strategies, and an ability to establish successful peer relationships is important in being a health care professional. Effective Workplace Practices provides this important groundwork in a way which makes it applicable to natural medicine

Basic Dietary Advice

This subject describes the skills and knowledge required to provide advice on dietary modification according to established herbal medicine principles and practice

Disease Manifestations

Disease Manifestations aims to provide the student with a solid understanding of pathophysiology of the various body systems, and the signs and symptoms of conditions affecting these body systems. It will build upon the knowledge gained in Anatomy & Physiology, and Chemistry & Biochemistry, and teach the student the basis of clinical reasoning, leading into later subjects which cover case taking, pathology testing, physical examination, and the art and science of diagnosis.

Counselling Skills

In this subject students will learn the essential strategies of effective communication with patients. You will learn how to identify and respond to the queries, fears, and special needs of patients, and how to use basic counselling skills to facilitate treatment with the context of natural therapies.

Herbal History and Philosophy

Herbal History & Philosophy is your introduction to the world of Western Herbal Medicine. In this subject you will discover the rich history and philosophy of the oldest form of medicine on the planet. The focus will be on the evolution of Western Herbal Medicine and the cultural and philosophical influences which have shaped this discipline over the last two thousand years. It will conclude with an overview of modern medical herbalism or phytotherapy, and introduce you to how herbalists work and interact with patients and colleagues in the modern context.

Herbal Materia Medica

In Herbal Materia Medica you will learn in detail the core herbal medicines and preparation forms (such as teas, liquids, tablets) which you will apply throughout your practice. You will also learn about the dispensing of herbal medicines and the Australian regulation of herbal products. In the second half of the trimester you will start your first clinical rotation and complete a total of 35 hours in student clinic.

Basic Microbiology & Infection Control

Basic Microbiology & Infection Control teaches the student how to avoid and deal with potential infectious hazards in the clinical environment. In this context students will also be introduced to the history of microbiology, the nature of different microbes in the environment, how microbial diseases are transmitted, how the human body reacts to microbial exposure, and some of the public health issues surround infectious diseases. Some common as well as some severe and less common infectious diseases will be used as examples.

Herbal Patient Assessment

This subject with cover the art and science of case taking and physical examination. The student will be taught the principles of taking a patient's case history as well as common physical examination procedures such as listening to a patient's heart and palpating their abdomen. Additionally the student will be taught the essentials of interpreting pathology reports. The result will be the ability to develop a probable diagnosis and prognosis to then allow treatment to proceed.

Herbal Therapeutics 1

Herbal Therapeutics 1 is the first part of your training in how to treat people and their health conditions with herbal medicines. Firstly you will learn review the principles of herbal prescribing and treatment strategy, then you will learn the herbal and nutritional management of conditions of a variety of body systems. Herbal medicines already learned will be reviewed, and additional medicines will be added to your materia medica knowledge. This subject also includes clinical rotations and clinical tutorials.

Pharmacognosy and Herbal Pharmacy

Pharmacognosy – from the Greek pharmaco – "of drugs", and gnosis – "knowledge" is a science dating back many centuries. It embraces the study of the herbal medicines themselves – their chemistry, how and where they grow, how to recognise them, when they should be harvested, how they are dried and prepared. In this subject you will learn about the fascinating world of plant chemistry and pharmacology, you will learn about the various botanical families and their features, and you will learn how to make herbal preparations such as tinctures and ointments and syrups. In addition you will learn about the regulation of herbal medicines in Australia, and briefly look into the world of Australian native medicines.

Herbal Therapeutics 2

Herbal Therapeutics 2 follows on from Herbal Therapeutics 1, covering the herbal and nutritional management of conditions affecting various body systems. Herbal medicines already learned will be reviewed, and additional medicines will be added to your materia medica knowledge. This subject also includes clinical rotations, clinical tutorials, and external clinical placement.

Health Business Skills

Successful practice involves more than just being a good clinician. This subject will introduce you to the skills of small business management – how to set up and grow your business, how to manage finances, develop and implement promotion strategies and work with colleagues in a shared business

Advanced Herbal Medicine

Advanced Herbal Medicine takes your knowledge of herbal therapeutics to a higher level, with two simultaneous streams of study. The first stream involves critiquing and integrating research into practice, herbal safety, and an introduction to the unique discipline of aromatic medicine. The second simultaneous stream covers advanced therapeutics in the areas of female and male reproductive medicine, paediatrics, geriatrics, cardiovascular and endocrine therapeutics, and mental health, HIV and cancer. Within this therapeutics stream advanced monographs on selected herbal medicines will be examined in detail.

Professional Development

Professional Development advances the skills and knowledge required to initiate and maintain continual development of professional skills and knowledge in Complementary Healthcare. This subject contributes to the knowledge base of specific healthcare practice.

Referrals in Health Care

Recent research shows that approximately half of the Australian population has consulted with a complementary medicine practitioner. This is a clear sign that natural medicine practitioners are an important part of the total health care system, and do not exist in isolation. Thus communication, referral and collaboration with other health care practitioners is an important part of ensuring patients receive effective total health care. This subject will provide you with the skills and tools to determine when referral is appropriate, determine what type of health professional is required, and establish a line of communication, which includes referral methods.