Cork college to offer first herbal science degree

Qualifications: The Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) is to offer the first third- level degree course in herbal science in Ireland later this month.

The four-year bachelor of science honours degree has been welcomed by the Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists (IIMH) as the first professional training for medical herbalists in the Republic.

"All other courses to date have been run by private colleges and they didn't amount to professional qualifications because they were using herbal medicine as an adjunct to other therapies," said Emmet Walsh, medical herbalist and chairman of the Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists.

Dr Andrew Peterson, head of the department of biological sciences at CIT, said the college had been approached by the IIMH to establish the BSc in herbal science. "There were ongoing concerns about the absence of a professional qualification for practitioners of herbal medicine in Ireland," he said.

Dr Des Corrigan, senior lecturer in pharmacognosy (the study of medicinal plants) at the school of pharmacy, Trinity College Dublin, also welcomed the course. "A good quality undergraduate programme will tie in well with statutory self-regulation as the education underpinning [such self-regulation]. Everyone - practitioners and patients alike - win with such a development."

Mr Walsh said: "This course will provide a research base for the emerging herbal science industry in Ireland and such evidence-based medicine is the prerequisite for public confidence in medicine. It is our intention to end the days of self-appointed gurus and charlatans which have given herbal medicine a bad name.

"This course fulfils part one of the professional requirements of the IIMH. Medical herbalists combine allopathic medical training, clinical diagnosis and examination skills similar to medical doctors with the use of herbs and constitutional medicine [ the evaluation of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual make-up of the individual]."

Graduates of the CIT course will require a further two years master's degree training in clinical medicine, herbal therapeutics and constitutional medicine before becoming a medical herbalists accredited by the IIMH.

The late validation of the course meant that it was not part of the CAO system this year and there are still places available. Admission is by Leaving Certificate points with a number of places set aside for mature students. The closing date for applications to this year's course is Friday. Tel: 021 4326887 or e-mail

newcoursesinfo@cit.ie