In this course, students will receive an overview of the history, philosophy and practice of herbal medicine. This will include product manufacturing, botany, dosage forms, and pharmacy practices.

After completing this course, students will be able to begin their formal studies of traditional Chinese herbal medicine with a deeper understanding of its philosophy, as well as how to integrate their knowledge into a successful modern clinical practice.

This three-semester course sequence provides students with knowledge of TCM herbology, including general theory, treatment methods, categorization, taste, temperature, entering meridians, indications, and the laws of herbal combining. Students will learn over 350 single herbs, including clinical use, contraindications, and methods of preparation and delivery. Current research in the field of TCM herbology will augment lectures. This knowledge will serve as a foundation for the TCM Formula courses.

The art of Chinese herbology lies in the practitioner’s ability to combine herbs into a balanced formula tailored to meet each patient’s singular pattern of signs and symptoms. During this two-semester course sequence in TCM Formulas, students will implement the knowledge they have acquired in the single herbs courses, and TCM differential diagnosis, to understand how a formula is designed. The formulas are taught in functionally related categories. Students will study approximately 250 herbal formulas including, formula composition, functions, clinical indications, modifications and contraindications.

Since the beginning of TCM, great physicians understood the profound influence of diet on human health. This course introduces theories of TCM dietetics and surveys the TCM functions and properties of common foods, the dietary programs appropriate for the treatment of prevalent TCM disharmonies, and their effect on health and longevity. Effective food combinations and recipes are provided for the treatment of common diseases, and to enhance general well being.

This is an invaluable course for students and every clinician using herbal pills and prepared solutions. The course covers major TCM syndromes and the patent herbs used to treat them. The lectures include the differential analysis of patent herbs used for the same diagnosis, recommended dosages for both adults and children, and contraindications. Much of the information presented is derived from various Chinese texts and clinical expertise, and will not be found in any textbook. Upon completion of this course, students will understand the functions of over 150 prepared Chinese patent herbs and solutions and how to properly prescribe them.

This course addresses the increasing concern among the medical community, including TCM practitioners who prescribe medicinal herbs, regarding toxic biomedical interactions between pharmaceutical drugs and natural products, such as Chinese medicinal herbs. The course reviews the biomedical nature of herbs and the potential interaction between them and commonly used pharmaceutical drugs and nutritional supplements. The course includes the critical analysis of literature and research reports of herb/drug interactions.

Join highly experienced faculty and herbologists on an herb walk at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden or the Henry Cowell Fall Creek State Park in Felton to learn how to identify important medicinal plants used in Chinese medicine. You will walk one to two miles on mostly flat terrain and dirt trails seeing over a dozen medicinal and/or edible species such as: Huckleberry, Aralia (a relative of ginseng), Nettles, Lemon Balm, and Asarum, a local variety of XiXin.