Women worldwide are seeking natural alternatives to pharmaceutical and surgical interventions for many women’s health concerns. There is a growing need for educators and professionals qualified to help women sort through their choices and find the optimal care options available to them. While there are many excellent western botanical medicine programs in the United States and Europe, no course focuses solely and extensively on the use of botanical medicines for women with this depth and scope.

Herbal Medicine for Women is a course for individuals and health care providers interested in learning how to effectively and safely use botanical medicines for women’s health. It synthesizes a unique blend of traditional herbal wisdom, clinical experience, and critically reviewed evidence. The tone of the course reflects a balance between traditional and scientific perspectives, honoring experiential knowing and women’s wisdom as well as formal research. Students receive high quality, professionally presented written instruction, assignments, and projects, as well as regularly scheduled phone appointments with Aviva Romm and other core faculty to review work and address individual questions. The Certified Women’s Herbal Educator receives preparation through this course to provide individualized herbal education as well as to teach herbal medicine classes. Participants can expect to complete the course in 18–24 months, however, there is no limit for completion, however, after 2 years an annual fee of $75 is charged for continued course services, newsletter membership, and phone conference access.

Who is Eligible for this Course?

There are no prerequisites for students wishing to take this course. Students with no prior background in midwifery, herbal medicine, or basic science may wish to supplement their enrollment in the course with additional reading materials or other learning opportunities. Instructors can make specific recommendations for students wishing to supplement their course training. For those with training and credentials in a health care field, completion of this course will supplement your current practice modalities. This course does not confer any credential to practice botanical medicine or any other form of health care.

What Students Receive

All students in the Herbal Medicine for Women distance learning courses will receive:

Four handbooks:

• Foundations in Botanical Medicine for Women
• Herbs for Gynecologic and Menstrual Health
• Herbs for Childbearing Women
• Herbs for the Wisdom Years

Each handbook contains 10–16 lessons, medical abstracts, homework project assignments, and experiments for each lesson. Each lesson is also cross-referenced to related optional reading in major herbal medicine texts and books.

The course is also accompanied by a bound instructions book.

• Botanica: Herbal Medicine for Women Newsletter, a bi-annual publication updating students on special topics in herbal medicine, articles, current media and regulatory concerns, medical journal article reviews on women’s health topics, clinical wisdom, practice tips, job listings, courses, conferences, and seasonal health topics.

• Comprehensive written responses, evaluations, and personal instruction for all submitted required course work and projects.

• Two hours of privately scheduled phone appointments per 24 months of enrollment (or on-site via specially scheduled appointments at select conferences) with Aviva Romm and/or other qualified program faculty.

• Four 1 1/2 hour teleconference sessions per year. Experts from the herbal field will be brought in as special guest teachers. Topics will relate to the topics covered in the course and will be repeated periodically. Audio-recordings of the courses will be available at a nominal additional cost for optional purchase. Participants will be provided with a direct-dial access number to the call. The actual cost of the phone call itself is the responsibility of the participant.

• Access to experienced advisors for questions that arise during the coursework.

• Textbook of Botanical Medicine for Women by Aviva Romm (Elsevier/Churchill, 2008). All students will receive a copy of this book as a study tool. Students participating in the course prior to the publication of the book will receive a copy of Complementary Medicine for Women by Tieraona LowDog, and the option to purchase Aviva’s book at wholesale plus shipping upon its publication.

• Option to purchase the herbal products required for the projects and experiments in the course at wholesale costs.

• Discounts on on-site classes offered by Aviva Romm and other Herbal Medicine for Women faculty.

• Certificate of Completion for all graduates of the program.

Completion of the Certified Women’s Herbal Educator™ Program

The Certified Women’s Herbal Educator™ Program requires passing grades for all lessons and the successful completion of a women’s health reading curriculum, a final project, and a final exam. Students successfully completing this level of the course will receive Certification as a Women’s Herbal Educator through the program, as well as a special graduation gift. Graduation does not confer the right to practice herbal medicine or any form of healing art.

Continuing Education Credits

Herbal Medicine for Women has been approved for over 290 continuing education units for naturopaths (Oregon Board of Naturopathic Examiners), midwives (Midwifery Education Accreditation Council), and acupuncturists (National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine).