Reshaping Herbal Medicine

Peter is a practising medical herbalist, teacher and author. He came to study herbal medicine following a growing interest in green issues and alternative health approaches. He graduated from the 4 year full-time course in herbal medicine at the College of Phytotherapy in England in 1995 and has been in practice ever since. He practises at the Atman Clinic in Tunbridge Wells. In addition to seeing patients Peter is involved in several other areas of herbal activity including education and professional regulation. Peter views herbal medicine as both an ancient art and a modern science. His work is founded on understanding herbal medicine by integrating the perspectives of rational evidence based medicine, traditional herbal writings and the knowledge gained from clinical experience. He passionately believes that herbal medicine should and will emerge as an important strand of mainstream medicine during the 21st century. Charles Cunningham is a qualified Health Advisor in Maharishi Ayurveda. He has a BSc in psychology and an MSc in health promotion for which he conducted empirical research on Tridosha theory. In 2000, he published in the American Journal of Cardiology a study conducted at St George's Hospital on the effects of Transcendental Meditation on a heart condition known as Cardiac Syndrome X. Charles has also taught Transcendental Meditation to more than 2,000 people over 15 years, and has lectured on this and Ayurveda to doctors, university audiences,

• ForewordPrefaceIntroduction: reshaping herbal medicine: the contextSection One: Knowledge, education and professional culture1. Determining professional identity: an exploration of the factors, which characterise the nature of a profession2. Professional education and practitioner identitySection Two: The traditions of Herbal Medicine3. Chinese herbal medicine: the history and context to statutory self-regulation4. A brief history of Traditional Tibetan Medicine and its introduction to the United Kingdom5. The development of integrated medicine with reference to the history of Ayurvedic medicine6. Western herbal medicine - gender, culture and orthodoxy7. The relationship of classical Greek medicine to contemporary Western herbalism: an exploration of the idea of 'holism'Section Three: Problems with knowledge, education and culture in the development of the herbal medicine profession8. Patient safety and practitioner identity: the move towards statutory self-regulation9. Herbs and herbalists: professional identity and the protection of practice10. Culture and knowledge in the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine11. Knowledge, skills and competence: an exploration of the education and professional formation of herbalists12. Knowledge and myths of knowledge in the 'science' of herbal medicine