Have you considered a career in homeopathy?

Homeopathy is the fastest growing form of alternative medicine today.

by Dr. Todd Rowe — 

Homeopathy is the fastest growing form of alternative medicine today, and is well-represented and popular in countries all around the world. As it is making its way to the United States, now is a great time to consider a career in this satisfying and lucrative field. Today, people are seeking an effective and affordable form of treatment that produces long-term results without being toxic or invasive, or causing adverse side-effects.

Why study homeopathy?

The reasons to study homeopathy are as diverse as the individuals who choose this field; however, some common themes emerge when students are asked what brought them to homeopathic training.

• Need: Presently, the demand for homeopathic care far exceeds the number of practicing homeopaths in most areas of the world. This need will only grow over time, as the demand for homeopathic care increases.

• Homeopathy works: Many students come to homeopathy because they or a family member were successfully treated homeopathically. This experience can turn a skeptic into a believer.

• Second career: Some individuals choose not to study a discipline such as homeopathy, feeling that they are too old to learn. This is not substantiated by clinical evidence or experience. Many who choose to embark on the study of homeopathy do it as a second career. Growth is a never-ending process.

• Holistic: A homeopathic practitioner treats individuals on all levels of their being, including the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. In this way, homeopathy has the capacity to get to the root cause of illness. Good homeopathic practitioners take the time to connect with their patients, who respond by feeling deeply understood. Many practitioners are attracted to the slower pace of homeopathy and the opportunity it affords to spend more time with their patients.

• Possibility of cure: Rather than being concerned with managing disease, homeopathy offers the possibility of cure. Many modern diseases are potentially curable utilizing homeopathic treatment. Homeopathy also offers treatment for chronic conditions that are untreatable by traditional methods.

• Lack of side-effects: Homeopathic medicines have no toxic side-effects. When prescribed correctly, these medicines are quite safe and well-tolerated by patients.

• Intrinsic beauty: Homeopathy is a beautiful field of study. It is a complete healing system within itself. Its tremendously rich tapestry captures the hearts of those who study it and touches them deeply. It explores the harmony and resonance that occur between individuals and their world. Homeopathy ultimately involves the study and learning of all life.

• Plus factor: Many practitioners pursue various other forms of healing before learning homeopathy. With each field of study, they struggle to integrate it before moving on. Yet when they come to homeopathy, they find it to be boundless.

• Nurturing the spirit: Many homeopaths find homeopathy deeply satisfying and fulfilling. It captivates their minds, fires their imaginations, holds their hearts and frees their spirits. In their work, they feel part of a supportive and nurturing tradition that goes back several hundred years.

• Science balanced with art: Homeopathy is both an art and a science. It has a considerable and growing body of empirical medical evidence supporting its efficacy (Gray, 2000). It also requires considerable artistic skills in actual practice. This art is embodied in a series of qualities and the knowledge necessary for practice. Homeopathy uniquely marries the science and the mystery, as well as the technology and the humanism.

• Popularity and cost: What attracts many is its low relative cost — which is generally much less than that of conventional medicine. Students are finding it to be a solid, satisfying career choice. Most medically trained homeopathic practitioners find that they can make a salary equivalent to that of their allopathic colleagues in private practice.

• Philosophy: Homeopathy is founded on clear laws and principles. Unlike traditional science, where 50 percent of what is held true will eventually be proven untrue, homeopaths maintain a firm foundation while continuously adding to their existing body of knowledge.

A main philosophical principle that attracts students is the non-suppressive nature of homeopathy. Homeopathy does not suppress and push illness deeper into the organism. It is expected that many diseases of the 21st century will not respond well to allopathic treatment (e.g., antibiotic-resistant organisms, multiple chemical sensitivity), but will respond to the many forms of alternative medicine that are better suited to address these conditions.

• Individualization: Another fundamental principle of homeopathy is individualization. Homeopathy does not treat patients as diseases but as individuals. Classical homeopathy uses only one medication at a time. It is believed that the average American is taking eight pharmaceutical medications at any given time.

True learning gets to the heart of what it is to be human. It gives us the capacity to re-create ourselves, to do what we never could do before and to change our relationship with the world. Homeopathic education changes the student, providing new ways of seeing and perceiving the world. Each of us possesses a deep need inside for this kind of learning.

Todd Rowe, M.D., M.D.(H), CCH, DHt, graduated from Rush Medical School and the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy, and is a licensed homeopathic physician in Arizona. Author of several books on classical homeopathic education, he is the president of the American Medical College of Homeopathy and director of the Society for the Establishment of Research in Classical Homeopathy. www.AMCofH.org or 602-347-7950.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 28, Number 2, Apr/May 2009.