Job type

Medical herbalist

£16k - £40k

Typical salary

18 – 39

Hours per week

Medical herbalists use plants and herbal remedies to help improve their clients' health and wellbeing.

More info

Use plant-based medicines to treat medical conditions in patients
You'll need excellent people skills, and to be qualified in the field to practice
You'll normally be self-employed so will need to manage your own business and promote yourself

As a medical herbalist, you'll use herbal remedies to improve the health of your clients.

DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES

Taking a detailed history of the patient's symptoms and lifestyle
Carrying out a physical assessment and appropriate tests
Prescribing a relevant herbal remedy
Growing and preparing herbs in various forms (including capsules, extracts, ointments or infusions)
Keeping client notes
Seeing clients for follow-up appointments
Referring clients to their GP where necessary

DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT

You'll usually be self-employed and your income will depend on the hours you work, the number of clients you see, and what you can charge.

You'll usually work from consulting and treatment rooms that may be at your home, an alternative therapy centre, natural health clinic or GP surgery. You may also visit patients in their own homes.

You'll need

For this role, you'll need knowledge of psychology, biology, medicine and dentistry, counselling skills, sensitivity and understanding, thinking and reasoning skills, the ability to read English, and excellent verbal communication skills.

You'll need a degree in herbal medicine approved by the National Institute of Medical Herbalists or one of the other organisations represented by the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association. Degrees last 3 years full time or 5 to 6 years part time, including at least 500 hours of supervised clinical practice with patients. If you're a trained medical practitioner like a doctor or nurse, you could take a postgraduate degree in herbal medicine.

You may find it useful to arrange work shadowing with a practising herbalist before you begin to study.

There is currently no statutory regulation for medical herbalists.