REGISTRATION was Organon 6 - 24

[Soroush Ebrahimi]

Dear Irene

You have touched on an important subject.

Using UK as an example, very sadly we have a number of colleges etc which
teach differently and their 'graduates' are all supposed to be competent
homoeopaths.

However, the reality is far from this goal.
There is no filtering of people joining these courses. There should be a
'police' check both at the beginning and end of the course to ensure that
the candidates have not criminal records - especially that of sexual abuse.
There should be a certificate from each candidate's homoeopath that they are
suitable material to treat others.

In my view, if some one carries a great deal of mental emotional baggage,
they will have difficulty in dealing with the issues presented by others.

The teaching emphasis of the courses varies across the board. Some
'homoeopaths' I have seen worry me greatly. I would not send my nearest and
dearest to them.

And although the Society of Homeopaths shows the year of graduation of
people on its register, it does not show the colleges from which they
graduated. So if I am at pains to select a fellow homeopath to recommend to
a dear one, how can the general public manage it? Do they use a pin?

There is no one single registering establishment which in my mind should not
only accredit the colleges but also set the final exams and mark or moderate
them to ensure uniformity across the board.

Regards
Soroush

[Irene de Villiers]

Finrod wrote:

Same problem in USA. There is no level of qualification that has a
general acceptance level even among professional homeopaths (a chicken
and egg problem in any case to decide which homeopaths are qualified
enough to say what other homeopaths are qualified enough - some unity on
this from "homeopaths" is a prerequisite).
I would be inclined to require something equivalent to a D.I.Hom or
D.Vet.Hom as at BIH, to be a general guide of the level of qualification
needed on purely the homeopathy aspect.
Then one must add the factor that homeopathy alone is not enough,
and decide how much and which "other" training is essential. How much
pathology of disease, clinical nutrition, anatomy/physiology etc do they
need? And how do we test for it to obtain a basic uniform level when -
currently - most of them have courses from some other place.

It reminds me of a program in South Africa called "Matriculation"
managed by the "Joint MAtriculation Board" (JMB).
It has to dop with university entrance but will suffice here as an
example of a way to obtain a uniformity across many colleges/schools:
Exams for the proficiency called "Matric" can be set and run by the
individual school (with the advance approval of the exam by the JMB who
ensures it meets minimum standards) OR the school can opt to use the
JMB-set exam.
This approach allows for two important things:
*Individuality of what the specific school wants to teach;
* Minimum proficiency at a specified level.

A big advantage is that even if one does not agree with what the "JMB"
calls appropriate to start out with - at least there IS a specific level
that all "matriculants" will have achieved and ANY member of public can
know that "matriculation" was achieveed; the more intelligent consumer
can then ALSO look at the school where the credential was obtained - but
at least there is a starting line that is KNOWN. (It need not be an
agreed place to start initially - just a known place with known things
proved learned.)
That is a starting place and the JMB qualifications level can be
adjusted over time to suit what more and more homeopaths want.

I would think that a similar Joint homeopathy board would be to
everyone's benefit - homeopaths and clients alike - whether we agree
wiht the JHB exams or not.
Perhaps at first it will only exclude total charlatans with zero
credentials of any kind - as they will not even have the "JHB". But over
time, the JHB exam can be studied and improved.

The problem I see is that everyone wants to have their cake and eat it
up front. They all want to say what's in the JHB exam. this is not going
to work - individual school;s must decide what's in THEIR exam. The JHB
should have the bare bones only. In my op9nion. As a starting place.

We'd have great difficulty even getting that going as for example
veterinarians with the 4 or 5 week seminar ting will want the JMB to
include that smattering of trainign as "homeopath".

I'd HATE to say that was the minimum starting level - but even that
would be better than nothing at all as we have now!

When we have a starting place however poor, the objective must be that
there is need and procedure to improve it, or to add "levels" to it.

That's just an off the cuff idea - my problem is that currently in USa
we have no "JHB" type thing. We have several groups in USA with some
other motives like promoting homeopathy or worrying about litigation
agaionst homeoapths or being the only place to set an exam for
homeopaths - and all manner of other excuses to exist (and require fees)
besides the basic JHB need alone.

We need to start with the knitting - not the extraneous issues - and
JUST get a starting "basic no-frills homeopathy level of achievement"
uniformity.
It's a bit like ensuring all mathematicians can count to 100.
Later we would make improvements - perhaps insist they also can count
backwards. And so on.

That would be my suggestion for an achievable starting place run by a
group doing NOTHING else than running this JHB achievement test and/or
assessing any school's test to see that it complies at least with the
JHB level in current use.
On your other comments:
I do not think there should be at this point!
If someone with no chance of doing the job wants to pay to learn how,
let them. It is relevant *whether* they learn how or not. I am not a
great believer in entrance exams. I do believe in entrance advice so
people do not sign up for things they can't do, and it's fraud to
encourage sign-ups that assume specific knowledge without making it
clear that some knowledge is assumed.
But if they feel ready willing and able to learn - I'm happy to
teach. The onus is on the teacher to ensure that the student does not
graduate unless they are ready to be a homeopath. THAT is where the
filter should be IMO, not at the entrance.
I can see some validity to this.
But one has the problem of which criminal acts to exclude and for how
long. Someone in jail for speeding on the freeway has a criminal record.
Are they automatically no good as homeopaths all their life?
As an entry requirement?
And if the potential student has no personal homeopath?
Or the homeopath has a poorly based opinion?
Actually I disagree with this concept as an entrance issue.
I believe it is the tutor's job to see that the person is ready to be a
homeopath. They can certify that in their opinion they feel the
candidate is ready to be a homeopath.
You can not make it the tutor's job to guarantee it!
Not always.
If you excluded everyone with some mental baggage I doubt you'd have one
homeopath left:-)
None of us is perfect, and whether we can treat ourselves is definitely
in question - but having baggage does not necessarily make a person
inadequate as a good homeopath for another person or animal.
IF there is a severe psychosis in effect that is different from "having
mental baggage".

The same applies in any health profession - nurses and doctors and
chiropractors etc - all have mental baggage too.
Nor me. But I am capable of researching their credentials before
choosing a homeopath.
I feel for potential clients unaware of the disparity between different
educations in homeopathy. It is for THEM that we need a JHB starting
place. Not for us:-)
One HAS to ask the specific potential homeopath what he studied for how
long and where. And even then - is the general public supposed to know
which are good schools?

I advise people on my catwell list (a cat health list) to ask for
credentials of the "homeopathic veterinarian" they know of in the area,
that pertain to homeopathy (letters used and name of school) - and to
google them to see how long the training was.
It's not much but it helps.

We/they NEED the JHB type thing.
I'd call it the JMB - and I'd require external people to monitor the
exam to remove subjective judgements within the school.
JMB in South Africa allocates each student an exam number - and no name
appears on the papers. The papers then go to accredited "external
examiners" for grading.
I like the uniformity you suggest - we need it - but allow for a
specific minimal level of uniformity - PLUS whatever an individual
school may want to add to meet THEIR own standards and reputation.

Namaste,
Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."