Case studies: Herbal practitioner: Clare McQuade

Clare works as a herbal practitioner and dispensary/shop assistant in Napiers, a renowned Edinburgh herbal clinic and shop, after gaining a BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine at Edinburgh Napier University

I had the good fortune of knowing the assistant manager of Napiers through university and mentioned I was looking for work just when they had a vacancy. I worked in the shop for ten months before being offered a slot in the clinic when another practitioner left.

At that time, a typical day involved the day-to-day running of the shop, as well as dispensing herbal prescriptions sent through by the herbalist on duty, providing health advice for individual customers and directing them to the most relevant over-the-counter products for their needs.

When working in the herbal clinic I ensure my practice room is clean and organised, review the previous case notes of any repeat patients booked in for that day and spend the remainder of the day providing care for each patient. As I work within an established clinic, I do not have the responsibility of the day-to-day running of the clinic as a sole practitioner would, e.g. dispensary stock levels and business bookkeeping. Working within this environment has provided a strong support network for me as a new practitioner.

As I have only recently started practising as a medical herbalist, I feel I am still finding my feet. However, I think it would be particularly beneficial to have further knowledge of nutrition and nutritional supplementation.

I enjoy the fact that no two days in practice are the same; it keeps you focused and driven when you see people with different health issues throughout the day. Your research is never complete - there is always something to read about, new ideas to investigate.

I feel that what we do as medical herbalists is offer the public a natural way to better health, working alongside mainstream medicine, or where perhaps mainstream medicine has failed them in the past or does not offer any solutions for the future. Being able to aid someone on the path to better health is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

Most people who enter a profession such as herbal medicine do so because they want to care for and help people. One of the most challenging parts of my role is to be able to treat it is as a 'job' or a 'business' and not to take home with me the concerns I may have regarding my patients.

It is also challenging to know that there are many who lack an understanding of, or who are opposed to, herbal medicine - general public and doctors alike. However, I feel that attitudes are changing and herbal medicine is becoming a more mainstream healthcare choice.

I would advise anyone interested in becoming a herbalist to acquire good counselling skills. Consultations involve careful listening, as patients talk through things which can be difficult for them. Try to see as many patients as you can during your clinical training as preparation for dealing with patients once you are qualified.