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The School of Homoeopathic Medicine (Page 2 of 2) |
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Today
Now, in 2001, there is increasing demand for good homoeopathic health care and homoeopaths enjoy greater public recognition. SHM has a role in establishing sound professional structures and educational standards and also in developing relationships with government bodies and other organisations with similar aspirations.
Although people in Britain and Ireland now are much more familiar with the word homoeopathy than, say, even ten years ago, it can by no means be assumed that everybody knows just exactly what it is. So a few words of explanation here might be of interest to those readers whose educational interests are a world away from alternative therapies.
Briefly, homoeopathy involves the use of specially prepared and chosen remedies, administered according to the principle of 'like curing like', and of treating the individual as a whole. It dates from the 18th Century when Dr. Samuel Hahnemann tested, demonstrated and developed this fundamental principle - that a substance that can create symptoms in a healthy individual can heal one suffering from similar symptoms.
Successful homoeopathic healing is based on understanding and artful application of deceptively simple principles. Almost anyone can make use of homoeopathic remedies in mild acute illness and simple first aid. In contrast it is not at all easy for the un- or ill-trained to achieve the supreme promise: the cure of chronic disease, even when deep-seated and complicated, and even when declared incurable by orthodox means.
Training
As the learner begins the study of disease and health through homoeopathy, there comes an embarkation point for leaving behind purely materialistic ideas of health and treatment of disease, absorbed largely unconsciously through our culture. This does not eschew concerns for the curing of physical maladies, but, in fact, places the physical processes in their correct position in the continuum of mind - emotions - body, thus recognising the effect disturbed life force has upon physical processes.
Thus the learner of homoeopathy must be encouraged, steadily, into deeper layers of understanding of apparently simple principles. This is essential given the dynamics of health and disease. Unimpeded flow of life energy is health, encompassing not only the absence of symptoms, but allowing individual creativity, inner well being and clear understanding of the benefits of creative service to others.
Individual instruction
From the beginning the learner enjoys the personal attention of one or more tutors. Feedback is imperative and we pay it particularly detailed attention. What is sought is the development and ideational enhancement of the learner. To this end SHM has developed its system of individual, personal instruction in clinical training, integral to the course, including full demonstration and the opportunity to develop case-taking and management skills. Everything studied in the first thirty months is enlivened, given meaning and incorporated into an understanding of the purpose and role of a homoeopathic practitioner. To quote Dr. Schumacher, "Education does not 'jump':it is a gradual process of great subtlety".
The discipline of open and distance teaching is proving satisfyingly effective in bringing the desired results. It works well for those who may only complete our foundational one-year Certificate. They gain valuable information and insight, and have the opportunity to decide whether homoeopathy is for them.
The school plays a wider role in disseminating information about a therapy which can successfully treat much acute and chronic illness, which does not involve massive expenditure on orthodox drugs and could have a profound effect on public spending on health if more widely adopted.
The School Of Homoeopathic Medicine
30 Dame Street
Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel: +353-(0)1-679 4208
Fax: +353-(0)1-841 4274
Lloyd Smythe - Principal
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Promoting Quality in Open and Distance Learning
