Semester 1, Week 1, Day 4

I had a really good day yesterday.  My children let me read my text book!  In that, I mean my son took a nap and my daughter was so into her Wishenpoof she forgot I existed for a short period of time. Some new episodes came out so she had to learn new words. It's so cute! When Ben pretends to be a duck, she tries to quack, she tries to hop like a frog when they do, all kinds of stuff.  Her vocabulary is increasing nicely. Being able to read what I did enabled me to get the discussion post done for homeopathy and I had already gotten the quiz done.  This means it's Sunday and I have ONE assignment left. The classes this semester have less scripted assignments. The discussions almost all read the same way and we have more options to choose what to discuss. I like that. Since I never turned in my bitter challenge, I'm thinking of using that one since there is an option about writing about experience using herbal medicine. If I can get my assignments done soon enough, I will have time to work on study materials for finals. I have 2 finals, only 1 is proctored. I also don't have a paper to do for chemistry which is amazing for me!  I do need to figure out what to do for the other papers. One is a case study and the other is a literature review, both of which are something I have never done before. I think the case study is vital, though.  Once I start helping people, I expect to be writing them to share with others what has worked and what hasn't. My daughter just got up and is happy which means she got some good sleep last night. This is good since her brother woke me many times last night. I'm too tired to deal with a cranky child. at this moment, where I was feeling overwhelmed already a few days ago, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm thinking of starting a few tinctures with the herbs from my lab kit for the labs but I think I should look at what herbs are discussed when first so I can do the labs in those 2 weeks when they are due. I'll get this assignment done first then think on this. The discussion post below I leave you with is just a small taste of professional organizations you can go to for reliable herbal information. Have a great day!

Topic 2: Industry Organizations
What industry organizations do you belong to or interested in joining? What information do they provide to you about legal/scope of practice issues? Do they offer any type of group liability insurance to members? Find as many as possible and discuss your results.

I was a member of the American Herbalists Guild and will sign back up when I can afford it. They have an extensive list of ethics they require their members to abide by. They have various levels of membership with the most expensive being professional.  It’s also the hardest one to get taking 2 years and certification to prove you actually “know your stuff”. They sell books of people who are respected in the community and have a list of schools they consider legit, to include this one.  In fact, being a member can reduce your tuition and cost of some of the materials in the Apothecary.  As a professional member, you have your name and information posted on their site so, like with schools, people can find you to enlist your help. They don’t provide any insurance but they do provide education to members and non-members (though most is only available to members, books sales open to all as well as some webinars).

Herbal Research Foundation provides news and important herbal information to members and non-members.
American Botanical Council provides peer-reviewed research quarterly as well as a whole LOT of education on their site. I was impressed with the long list of things they discuss!

The Herb Society of America looks like another I need to sign up for. It’s educational as well but it’s so big they have regions. It’s been around since the 1930s which improves their credibility.

I know the task was to provide “as many as possible” but the list is LONG which I had no idea. I know when I was trying to get an education, AHG was the most helpful but now that I’m getting that education, I may need more organizations under my belt.  I will explore these much more in depth to determine while would be the most benefit to me. I live in Louisiana right now with has GREAT herbal laws but I’d like to move and the laws I will have to abide by will get more stringent so I need to seriously take some time in investigating these organizations.
 
Mindy
Author, A. A. (year, month, day of publication). Title of webpage. Retrieved from http://www.xxxx
(2018, December, 5). American Herbalists Guild. Retrieved from https://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/
(2018, December, 5). Herbal Research Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.herbs.org/herbnews/
(2018, December, 5). American Botanical Society. Retrieved from www.herbalgram.org
(2018, December, 5). The Herb Society of America. Retrieved from https://herbsocietyorg.presencehost.net/hsa-about/history/hsa-history-overview.html