Topic: The current state of education in homeopathy world wide and in the US.

Recent reviews confirm that Complementary Medicine (CM) and Integrative Medicine (IM) continue to be characterized by sustained growth and professionalization. In parallel, CM education seems also to be characterized by substantial growth in many countries. But for all that expansion, what is really known about this specific arena of education? In this presentation, Alastair briefly shares the results of his PhD literature review, exploring the current empirical knowledge of education and CM, and presents some basic questions and consequences for the profession of homeopathy.

Why does this matter? For homeopathy to be a player in individual or public health care provision in the 21st century, either with other CM modalities or as a stand-alone discipline, to attract students and passionate practitioners to study in formal programs is an imperative. But where is the next generation of passionate professionals to come from? Homeopathy education is experiencing tough times in some parts of the world.

This talk explores the challenges and pressures and discusses if this is due to external opposition to homeopathy or if schools offering relevant content and are they attending to the needs and expectations of modern students? Are they teaching the actual skills, knowledge and attributes required to deliver Homeopathic Medicine in contemporary times? There are clear and unequivocal directions in education, especially related to the use of learning technologies and e-learning, but how are homeopathy colleges and education programs proactively dealing with this? How are schools to meet the challenges of attracting students (the need to design and packaging curriculum to today’s busy, non-traditional, part time students, often are saturated by email and who need to learn the skills of curating information). Some professions such as nutritional medicine are seemingly more within reach of potential students making decisions about their future, expensive decisions. They are working with marketing departments and designing curriculum that is modulated, packaged, and delivered in blended and online environments while not compromising quality, also retaining students, realizing that keeping existing students is as much a feature of a thriving profession and learning environment, that learners need to be engaged, and the material must be relevant.

In this presentation Alastair charts the trajectory of education in homeopathy from Hahnemann to the present and will focus on the current critical issues, standards, quality and accreditation.

Alastair Gray brings to the discussion:

• 27 years of uninterrupted practice
• 20 years teaching, lecturing and tutoring in homeopathic medicine
• 4 years at the coalface running a department of Homeopathy at the largest multi-modality provider of Health Science degrees in in the world
• 3 years heading up the eLearning division at Endeavour College for 4000 students of natural medicine
• Currently directing two schools of homeopathy in two hemispheres.
• The President of the Accreditation Commission for Homeopathic Education in North America (ACHENA)

Bio: Alastair Gray teaches at and heads up the academic, course development and e-learning departments at the Academy of Homeopathy Education NYC | World. He holds various consulting roles: academic (Endeavour College, Australia), educational (Portland Centre of Integrative Medicine, UK), management (Director Operations College of Health and Homeopathy, NZ), as well as consulting to organizations on homeopathic provings and e-learning world-wide. Prior, in Australia he headed up the homeopathy department at Endeavour, later the bioscience department, and was the National Academic e-learning Manager. Other operational roles included the Campus Manager at the Sydney and Gold Coast campuses. He has lectured under and post-graduate CAM, homeopathy and naturopathy for 20 years, including philosophy, case taking and management, ethics, business practices and scope of practice. A regular seminar and conference presenter worldwide he is the author of 22 books and numerous articles on primary research in natural medicine. Originally educated as an Historian, he teaches the history of healing and medicine at schools, colleges and universities in four countries. He is passionate about eLearning and educational technology in his academic and teaching work. Currently he is enrolled in a PhD at the University of Technology Sydney exploring the intersection of Education, CM and learning technologies. Clinical practice (25 years) remains a significant focus of his work with a practice that specializes in Anxiety, Drug and Alcohol compulsion and working with men. He lives in New York with his wife Denise Straiges.