new to the forum-- herbalist practice question

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone out there either practices primarily or solely as an

herbalist, or took training only in herbology and not acupuncture. I am

interested most in Chinese internal med-- herbs, and am wondering if it is

feasible to make a living without needling people...?

Thanks!

 

 

 

Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot

with the All-new Mail

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Melanie,

 

When I first attended TCM school, it was also the herbs that I was primarily

interested in. Over the course of study, however, I also fell in love with

acupuncture. Now I promote myself as practicing Traditional Oriental Medicine,

as

opposed to formerly advertising myself as an Acupuncturist. I made this change

for

a few reasons: first and foremost, people are afraid of needles,and when they

see

or hear the word " acupuncture " , needles is their first association and their

feet

start moving in the opposite direction. Second, I wanted to catch people's

attention and engage their curiosity enough to be able to have a conversation

about

the big picture of what I do, including herbal medicine. Third, I wanted to

attract people who might be interested in herbal medicine only.

 

What I have found is that there are surprisingly few people who are interested

in

herbal medicine only. This might be a function of the elderly, ranching

population

in the community I serve - they are often frightened of alternative medicine,

and

many are on multiple prescription meds, which often poses a conflict for adding

herbal formulas. With this population, acupuncture is a more feasible

alternative.

Too, I have found that doctors will often refer their patients for acupuncture,

but not ever for herbal medicine. In their perspective, herbal medicine is too

unregulated and too unrefined to have reliable effects, if any. However, I do

have

some patients who are also closely working with their MDs on certain health

issues,

and they are receiving benefits from their herbs that their prescription

medicines

couldn't offer, and so I am educating these doctors through our common patients.

While this is hopeful, it is a slow and lifelong process of change. I can do

this

because I have a license as an acupuncturist. If I were an herbalist only, I

wouldn't have passed any licensing exam for acupuncture, and wouldn't have the

licenses I currently hold. There are no licenses I know of in the U.S. for

herbal

medicine alone - if any readers know differently, please correct me.

 

There are additional factors to consider. For example, no insurance I know of

will

cover herbal formulas, and as people pay more and more for health insurance,

they

want to be able to use it, even if it means taking prescription meds with

undesireable side effects; money talks, loudly! I currently don't accept

insurance, and this is a choice you will have to make for yourself as well - as

an

acupuncturist, you will have this choice, but as an herbalist only, you will not

have this option. In addition, there are the ongoing attempts in the U.S. by

the

FDA and various states to regulate herbal medicines, which includes banning some

of

them, such as ephedra and other herbs which contain ephedrine alkaloids. This

makes the future of herbal medicines in the U.S. feel tentative to me, at times.

Lastly, the actual practice of herbal medicine in the U.S. is poorly regulated.

States that license the practice of Oriental Medicine, license only acupuncture,

even if they also test for herbal medicine, with the understanding that herbal

medicine is included in the scope of practice of " acupuncture " , but in most

states,

this is poorly delineated in their acupuncture codes. That means, for example,

there are people practicing and dispensing Chinese herbal medicine who have not

gone to a school which specializes in teaching TCM. A case in point, there is a

massage school near where I live that has begun offering a 6-month class in

Chinese

herbal medicine, and the owner believes that its graduates are qualified to

practice as much as I am qualified. I had a conversation with the owner about

this, told him why I think the training needs to be more comprehensive, (to

protect

the public, if not to also avoid blurrying the already unclear lines in the

public

eye about who is fully qualified to prescribe herbal medicines), and asked him

to

reconsider offering these classes at all. But, money is money, and people will

do

what they want if they think they can make money at it, never mind what is

ethical

and practical.

 

So as I think aloud about it here, you may find schools in which to study herbal

medicine alone, and there are some good teachers out there. But licensing may

be

difficult, and maybe not an option at all, without the training in acupuncture.

Licensing requirements do vary by state, however, and I am not familiar with any

that would license someone who has studied herbal medicine alone. What I hear

about mostly is folks who have been licensed as acupuncturists for years, who

later

decide to add herbal training to expand their scope of practice.

 

Lastly, I find that my knowledge and use of acupuncture and of herbal medicine

complement each other. There are a number of health concerns which may be

addressed well either herbally or with acupuncture alone. True too, there are

some

for which acupuncture is more appropriate, and some which respond best to herbs.

But most of all, I find the great majority respond best to simultaneous

treatment

with both mediums.

 

If you have further questions, you may contact me off list.

 

 

Traditional Oriental Medicine

753 N. Main Street, Suite C-1

Cottonwood, AZ 86326

(928) 274-1373

 

 

 

--- Melanie Baker <ecowiselife wrote:

 

> Hi,

> I am wondering if anyone out there either practices primarily or solely as an

> herbalist, or took training only in herbology and not acupuncture. I am

> interested most in Chinese internal med-- herbs, and am wondering if it is

> feasible to make a living without needling people...?

> Thanks!

>

>

>

> Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot

> with the All-new Mail

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Melanie,

 

It's not clear from your post what your training is, or your interest, but

you might consider trying to set up an herbal pharmacy, and see patients

some of the time. I agree with pretty much everything Andrea said, and I

think you'll have a hard time making a living just prescribing herbs for

those reasons (if you can set up legally at all). But here in Santa Cruz

there's a gentleman, Ben Zappin, who has set up an herbal pharmacy, where he

fills prescriptions from other acupuncturists who don't have the time or

space or turnover to have a full herb pharmacy in their practices. He also

does herbal consults with his own patients, and I don't think he does

acupuncture; and he teaches classes on east-west herbalism. I don't

actually know him and I don't know how his business is doing, but it sounded

like a good idea to me. Of course there have always been chinese herbalists

working out of pharmacies (I used to see one in S.F.; his family filled the

prescriptions as he sat at the counter doing consults)...as a business model

I wonder, though, because you have a lot of money in inventory, at least

some of which must turn over fairly quickly, and it needs a fair amount of

space, and you can't see too many people, and then there's the time it takes

to fill the herbs; I think you'd have to have a relatively high volume of

retail sales or enough patients who can pay you a decent amount for the

consultation, or something.

 

Good luck!

Nora Madden

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

>But here in Santa Cruz there's a gentleman, Ben Zappin, who has set up an

herbal

>pharmacy. He also does herbal consults with his own patients, and I don't think

he does

> acupuncture;

 

Just to set the record straight, Ben is a licensed acupuncture, and he does do

acupuncture.

I agree completely with Andrea's post. Having just finished by Master's degree

in TCM,

and having gone into the program with a primary interest in herbs, I am very

pleased that I

made the choice that I did.

 

, " Nora Madden " <noraneedles

wrote:

>

> Hi Melanie,

>

> It's not clear from your post what your training is, or your interest, but

> you might consider trying to set up an herbal pharmacy, and see patients

> some of the time. I agree with pretty much everything Andrea said, and I

> think you'll have a hard time making a living just prescribing herbs for

> those reasons (if you can set up legally at all). But here in Santa Cruz

> there's a gentleman, Ben Zappin, who has set up an herbal pharmacy, where he

> fills prescriptions from other acupuncturists who don't have the time or

> space or turnover to have a full herb pharmacy in their practices. He also

> does herbal consults with his own patients, and I don't think he does

> acupuncture; and he teaches classes on east-west herbalism. I don't

> actually know him and I don't know how his business is doing, but it sounded

> like a good idea to me. Of course there have always been chinese herbalists

> working out of pharmacies (I used to see one in S.F.; his family filled the

> prescriptions as he sat at the counter doing consults)...as a business model

> I wonder, though, because you have a lot of money in inventory, at least

> some of which must turn over fairly quickly, and it needs a fair amount of

> space, and you can't see too many people, and then there's the time it takes

> to fill the herbs; I think you'd have to have a relatively high volume of

> retail sales or enough patients who can pay you a decent amount for the

> consultation, or something.

>

> Good luck!

> Nora Madden

>

>

>