Farm to Pharmacy - A Grassroots Healthcare Revolution!

A Unique Hands-On Learning Experience

Learn the fundamentals of operating a medicinal herb farm, and the use & application of herbs, synthesizing traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, & Western herbal traditions.

 

Farm to Pharmacy is an innovative internship program that takes place from April through October at Goldthread Herb Farm and Apothecary in the foothills of the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. The Farm to Pharmacy Internship is a unique educational opportunity that exposes students to the full spectrum of herbal medicine, from cultivation of plants to their use in clinical practice, with an emphasis on creating a sustainable, non-toxic, and cost-effective community-based healthcare system.

April showers and the coming warmth of spring signal the start of the growing season at Goldthread. Interns begin in the greenhouse, tending to seedlings and learning the fundamentals of propagating over one hundred species of medicinal plants. As the season progresses students learn plant identification, soil health and composition, composting strategies, maintenance and design of educational and production gardens, and harvesting and processing techniques. A special part of the program is the unique opportunity to participate in the distillation of essential oils and hydrosols over a wood fire in our eighty-five gallon commercial still, including conifer oils wild-harvested from the surrounding forests and selected crops such as lavender and yarrow grown on the farm.

As the weeks progress students begin learning the skills necessary to be a community herbalist. Utilizing various preparations for their own health needs, students gain a deep experiential understanding of the healing qualities of medicinal plants within their own bodies.  The physiological actions of herbs as well as basic chemistry are taught within the context of traditional Western, Chinese, and Ayurvedic medical systems. The preparation of tinctures, syrups, elixirs, teas, salves, and oils are all introduced.  In the final phase of the program students work under the guidance of a licensed healthcare professional to learn the clinical uses of the herbs they have grown for common illnesses.

Our educational approach combines working with living herbs in the soil, studying the academic and scientific knowledge of phytomedicine, and then utilizing finished herbal products for practical healing purposes.  In this way students gain a truly holistic understanding of the power of plants.

Farm
• the fundamentals of cultivation & processing herbs on a working herb farm
• herb propagation & growing techniques
• maintenance & design of educational & production gardens
• harvesting techniques for optimal medicinal benefits
• drying & processing herbs
• essential oil & hydrosol distillation  New 85-gal distiller in 2010!

Academic
• herb walks & plant identification on the farm & in local woodlands
• herbal language & energetics
• herbal pharmacology
• organ systems
• herbal formulation
• disease catagorization
• herbal actions
• intro to tongue & pulse diagnosis
• digestive, nervous system, respiratory, musculoskeletal, immune system, and women's & children's health
• materia medica & more...

Clinical
• Interns will take what they have learned in the first 5 months & begin applying it to actual patients in a supervised, low-cost clinic.
• Observe the intake & assessment process
• Participate in questioning & physical diagnosis
• Together with a supervisor, interns will develop a customized treatment plan, including dietary & lifestyle recommendations and herbal formulation.
• Roundtable discussion of cases in detail, along with patient follow-up.

Internship Requirements
• April–October commitment (if time is an issue, see our Intensives)
• one 5-6 hour day/week of farm work including cultivation, harvest, and maintenance of herb gardens.
• The work is varied but physically demanding at times. It is important that students come prepared to
   both work & learn what it takes to run a working medicinal herb farm & herbal CSA.
• 4-5 hour academic or clinical session 1 day/week

• Field trips scheduled in advance

• Tuition: $1900. Pay in full before March 15th and save 10%!  A non-refundable deposit of $400 is required to hold space with the remainder payable in three installments of $500. (Due April 13th, May 18th, and June 15th.) Note: there will be a % fee to pay by credit card, to be announced. Cash or check encouraged.

• Limited work-study available.

• Refunds and Cancelation policy: be sure to read it here.

• Applicants should complete this form and return to Goldthread Herbal Apothecary in Florence, MA, via mail, web, or in person. We will schedule an interview and Q&A session.

• Certificate Awarded Upon Completion
• Possible College Credit Available

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