What to Expect

Homeopathy students learn that people must be be emotionally and mentally healthy in order to be physically healthy.

Homeopathy is not just a science, but an art, says Nancy Siciliana, who took a homeopathy program. Those who do well are often well rounded, and have a multidisciplinary background.

"You need to have intellectual flexibility," says Siciliana, who holds two bachelor's degrees: one in film theory and the other in English literature.

Siciliana says the curriculum is intense. "Even though we don't meet every day, the work is as intensive if not more intensive than a regular university class," she says.

Anneke Hogeland studied at the Pacific Academy of Homeopathy in San Francisco. Her program is three years long. For the first two years, students meet for 10 weekends and one intensive week during the summer each year, which together equal 500 hours of classroom time.

Each student is also required to complete 120 hours of clinical training. The third year is like postgraduate work and consists of 160 hours of training.

Since homeopathy involves patient meetings that can last two hours per session, homeopaths need to be skilled at listening and counseling in order to analyze the patient and prescribe the proper remedy.

"It's incredibly demanding. You need a lot of self-discipline and it also means that you have to be very open about yourself in a class of about 50 people. That was really hard for a lot of people, but it's essential," says Siciliana.

Another demanding part of homeopathy is the volume of reading. "I read about homeopathy constantly, either old journal articles or remedy descriptions," says Hogeland. "I try to sort out cases in the repertory. I spend a lot of time organizing my data so that I can keep remedies separate and distinct."

How to Prepare

A psychology background can be very helpful in homeopathy study. Before coming to the program, Hogeland took correspondence courses in anatomy and physiology.

Programs don't always require a medical background, but many do require two years of college.

Siciliana says students should be careful choosing a homeopathy program. "There are quite a few programs, but not all teach at the same level," she says.

For example, some schools cater their lectures toward medical practitioners, or jump right into casetaking. Someone new to the field may be intimidated by this pace. "If you are a novice, you should start at the beginning," says Siciliana.