PROGRAM
AND CURRICULUM
Living Earth School of Herbalism
offers general interest, industry-related and professional courses and
programs. These represent a balanced synthesis of traditional and scientific
knowledge and experience. All Living Earth courses and programs are recognized
by the Ontario Herbalists Association.
General Interest Courses
General interest courses can be attended by anyone as
long as they have taken the appropriate prerequisites (when required).
General interest students are not required to enroll in a certificate
or diploma program. They are also not required to complete assignments
or write exams for any course. However, it is highly recommended that
they do so as it will enhance their learning experience.
General Interest students who wish to enroll in any certificate or diploma
program may do so at any time as long as they have met the academic
requirements of the program in which they would like to enroll.
Courses
include:
Holistic
Herbal Studies Certificate Program
This is a 1-year,
300-hour program that provides participants with a general knowledge
of holistic healing with a special emphasis on herbalism. In addition
to the herb-related content, this program includes an introduction to
human anatomy and physiology and a number of related healing disciplines
including nutrition, aromatherapy, homeopathy and Bach Flower therapy.
The Holistic Herbal Studies program is recommended for anyone who would
like a general introduction to the field and to be able to use this
knowledge for the benefit of themselves and their family and friends.
It is also beneficial for anyone who wishes to complement another field
of study or who works with natural health products and requires sound
knowledge of their properties and application, such as employees of
natural food and supplements stores, or manufacturers or distributors
of herbs and other natural health products.
Students who do not wish to enroll in the entire program may take any
number of individual courses as general interest courses.
All of the courses in the Holistic Herbal Studies program are also part
of the Traditional Herbalist diploma program. Holistic Herbal Studies
students who wish to enroll in the Traditional Herbalist program may
do so at any time as long as they have met the academic requirements
of the Traditional Herbalist program.
Successful completion of this program is not a qualification for the
practice of herbalism or any other field of natural healing.
Courses
include:
Traditional Herbalist
This is a 3.5 or 5.5 year, 1,500 hour program for those
who wish to pursue a career as a clinical holistic herbalist. It includes
1,150 hours of classroom study, 250 hours of supervised clinic, 100
hours of clinical apprenticeship and a number of special projects.
Much of the science portion of the curriculum of the Traditional
Herbalist program is offered at George
Brown College. Alternatives to most of these courses are available in an online distance format from various colleges through Ontario Learn. Students
must enroll in these courses directly with George Brown College or through Ontario Learn. It
is the students' responsibility to make sure that they enroll in the
appropriate courses to meet the requirements of the Traditional Herbalist
program. They will also be required to provide transcripts indicating
their attendance at these courses and their final grades.
Students who live outside the Toronto area may apply to have courses
from other community colleges and universities accepted as a substitution
for any of the George Brown courses that are required for the Traditional
Herbalist program. In order to be accepted as a substitution, the course
must include a similar curriculum and be of a depth and length that
is at least that of the George Brown course. Acceptance of any courses as equivalents to courses in Level 1b or 2b of the Traditional Herbalist program requires the approval of the program director. It is not possible for
Living Earth to research all of the courses that might be acceptable
substitutions from the many educational institutions outside of the
Toronto area. It is the responsibility of the student to research courses
and provide the information to the School.
Level 1a (Living Earth Courses)
(*) In addition to the five Herbal Field Studies field workshops that must be attended in order to fulfill the requirements of this course, Traditional Herbalist students are required to attend an additional five field workshops in order to meet the academic requirements of the program (i.e. the academic requirements of the Traditional Herbalist program requires students to attend a total of ten Herbal Field Studies field workshops, even though only five field workshops need to be attended to meet the requirements of the course). This must include all seven of regularly scheduled Herbal Field Studies workshops and three additional repeats. Students are expected to attend all ten Herbal Field Studies workshops in the first two years that they are enrolled in the program.
Level
1b (George Brown or Ontario Learn Courses)
The following courses may be taken before, at the same time, or after
the completion of the Level 1a courses. However, they must be completed
as a prerequisite for enrolment in Level 2a of the Traditional Herbalist
program.
- CHEM 9004 Chemistry for Health Sciences (George Brown College)
This course is not currently offered by
George Brown College and there is no distance equivalent available from Ontario Learn. The following alternative is therefore recommended:
CHM198 Advanced Chemistry (Seneca College)
Prerequisite: Grade 11U Chemistry or CHM 091
- ANAT 1054 Anatomy and Physiology
I (George Brown College)
This course is not currently offered by George Brown College as part of their Continuing Education program. The following alternative is therefore recommended:
Anatomy and Physiology I for RPN (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
- ANAT 1056 Anatomy and Physiology
II (George Brown College)
This course is not currently offered by George Brown College as part of their Continuing Education program. The following alternative is therefore recommended:
Anatomy and Physiology II for RPN (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite:Anatomy and Physiology I for RPN
.
- GSCI 1002 Basic Botany (George Brown College or Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
- GSCI 1019 Health and Wellness (George Brown College)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
The following online distance learning course may be taken as an alternative:
Stress, Wellness and Nutrition (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
- GSCI 1120 Nutrition (George Brown College)
The following online distance learning course may be taken as an alternative:
Introduction to Nutrition (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
Level
2a (Living Earth Courses)
- Diet and Nutrition
Prerequisites: Herbal Therapeutics & Materia Medica, Health and Wellness, Nutrition.
- Pharmacology
Prerequisites: Herbal Therapeutics & Materia Medica,
Chemistry for Health Sciences.
- Advanced
Herbal Therapeutics & Materia Medica
Prerequisites: Herbal Materia Medica, Anatomy & Physiology II, Diet and Nutrition, Pharmacology.
- Bach Flower Therapy
Prerequisites: Complementary Herbal Therapies, The Spirit of Herbs.
- Advanced Herbal Field Studies
Prerequisites: Herbal Field Studies, Herbal Materia Medica, Basic Botany.
Level
2b (George Brown or Ontario Learn Courses)
The
following courses may be taken before, at the same time, or after the
completion of the Level 2a courses. However, they must be completed
as a prerequisite for enrolment in Level 3 of the Traditional Herbalist
program.
- PATH 1018 Pathology and Therapeutics
I (George Brown College)
This course is not currently offered by George Brown College as part of their Continuing Education program. The following alternative is therefore recommended:
Pathophysiology I for RPN (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Anatomy and Physiology II for RPN.
- PATH 1017 Pathology and Therapeutics
II (George Brown College)
This course is not currently offered by George Brown College as part of their Continuing Education program. The following alternative is therefore recommended:
Pathophysiology II for RPN (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Pathophysiology I for RPN.
- GSSC 1116 Interpersonal Psychology (George Brown College)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
The following online distance learning course may be taken as an alternative:
Dealing With Difficult People (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
- GSSC 1117 Life Span Development (George Brown College)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
The following online distance learning courses may be taken as an alternative:
Developmental Psychology (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
-or-
Personality Psychology (Ontario Learn)
Prerequisite: Grade 12 English.
Level
3 (Living Earth Courses)
- Herbal Practice Issues
Corequisite: Supervised Clinic.
- Case Studies
Prerequisite: Advanced Herbal Therapeutics & Materia Medica.
- Supervised Clinic
Prerequisites: In order to be eligible to begin Supervised Clinic in September, students must have completed and received a passing grade on all of the level 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b courses. Herbal Practice Issues and Case Studies are scheduled concurrently with first few months of Supervised Clinic. Students must complete and receive a passing grade for these two courses by the Christmas break of the fall in which they are scheduled in order to be eligible to continue Supervised Clinic in January after the break.
- Clinical Apprenticeship
Corequisite: Supervised Clinic.
In addition to the above courses
and clinic, Traditional Herbalist students must complete several major
projects outside normal classroom time. These include, but are not limited
to: two herbal monographs and wild-harvested fresh herb tincture preparation
for the school dispensary.
Upon completion of their curriculum and clinic requirements, Traditional
Herbalist students will be required to write and pass a written and
an oral final exam.
Graduates of the Traditional Herbalist program will be able to use the
Traditional Herbalist (T.H.). designation. In addition, the Traditional
Herbalist program is recognized by the Ontario Herbalists Association
(OHA). Graduates are eligible for professional membership in the
OHA and to use the Registered Herbalist (R.H.) designation as long as
they remain a member in good standing.
For individual descriptions of some of the courses offered as part of
this program, see the Course
Descriptions section.
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