There are a number of universities in the UK that Western Herbal Medicine accredited by  the European Herbal and Traditional Practitioners Association and  The National Institute of Medical Herbalists.

If you live in the South East and wish to know more about becoming a medical herbalist visit  Middlesex University, and the  University of Westminster websites.  Further afield is Lincoln College offering a BSc(Hons) in Western Herbal Medicine.

Herbal Exchanges

The National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) was founded in 1864 and recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. Council members decided to mark this major milestone in the history of the Institute, and of herbal medicine, with a variety of events including a commemorative book featuring herbalists from many different disciplines each sharing their knowledge of Western herbal medicine.

Entitled Herbal Exchanges the work is edited by Hananja Brice-Ytsma and Frances Watkins and is an eclectic mix of articles commissioned to celebrate this special occasion. Herbal heritage includes a synopsis of the history of NIMH and a detailed account of practising herbal medicine during the First World War in the East End of London.

The section on herbal research explores the outlook for herbal medicine, the role of herbalists and the learning we have obtained from plants. Practitioner reflections of herbal medicine and encounters of herbal medicine as a patient give intriguing insights to the rich diversity of herbalists. Herbal therapeutics is a far reaching chapter that looks at managing the menace of antimicrobial resistance to premature ovarian failure and infertility.

Contributors include Jan de Vries, Barbara Griggs, Alison Denham, Julian Barker, Michael McIntyre, Kerry Bone and many more. The final section of the book focuses on herbal philosophy or in the words of medical herbalist Jonathan Treasure, ‘Western herbal medicine – back to the future’.

To order your copy of Herbal Exchanges visit NIMH website or at .