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Herbalism/Herbalist

A program that prepares individuals to utilize the materia medica and clinical practices of Western, Native American, African, Australasian, and other herbal medicine traditions to prevent and cure illness and temporary physical disorders. Includes instruction in basic anatomy, physiology, pathology, and toxicology; nutrition; terminology and materia medica; therapeutic herbalism; herbal pharmacy; botanicals and ethnobotany; wildcrafting and harvesting; labeling and dispensing phytotherapy; counterindications; practice management; consultation skills; and professional standards and ethics.

Types of Degrees Herbalism/Herbalist Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Herbalism/Herbalist can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	8
Bachelor’s Degree	10
Master’s Degree	95

What Herbalism/Herbalist Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Herbalism/Herbalist build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Herbalism/Herbalist graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Herbalism/Herbalist emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills developed in a Herbalism/Herbalist program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Herbalism/Herbalist careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Herbalism/Herbalist graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.7 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.5 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.2 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public	4.1 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.1 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Herbalism/Herbalist professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	—
Private Practice	Medical software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	✓
AS/400 Database	Data base user interface and query software	—
Patient electronic medical record EMR software	Medical software	—
Enterprise resource planning ERP software	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	—
Extensible markup language XML	Enterprise application integration software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Herbalism/Herbalist graduates include:

• Naturopath
• Naturopathic Doctor
• Kinesiologist
• Birth Doula
• APC (Advanced Practice Clinician)
• Licensed Certified Professional Midwife
• Doula
• Certified Midwife
• Homebirth Midwife
• Licensed and Certified Midwife
• Birth Center Midwife
• Postpartum Doula
• Licensed Midwife (LM)
• Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
• APP (Advanced Practice Provider)

What Can You Do With a Herbalism/Herbalist Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Herbalism/Herbalist commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other	1.0%	$138,809	$116,859–$160,758
Orthoptists	4.8%	$135,811	$108,351–$163,270
Naturopathic Physicians	6.6%	$138,086	$113,456–$162,716

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Herbalism/Herbalist graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Post-baccalaureate certificate	31.9%
Doctoral degree	28.1%
Postsecondary certificate	12.4%
Master’s degree	12.1%
Bachelor’s degree	7.0%
Some college courses	3.3%
First professional degree	2.3%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	1.2%
Post-doctoral training	1.2%
Post-master’s certificate	0.6%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Herbalism/Herbalist?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 86.7% of Herbalism/Herbalist degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	98	86.7%
Men	15	13.3%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Herbalism/Herbalist graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	51	45.1%
Asian	6	5.3%
Hispanic or Latino	8	7.1%
Black or African American	26	23.0%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	2	1.8%
Two or More Races	11	9.7%
Race Unknown	7	6.2%
International Students	2	1.8%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Herbalism/Herbalist Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Herbalism/Herbalist graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$16,376

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine	1,485
Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,195
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	757
Holistic/Integrative Health	481
Ayurvedic Medicine/Ayurveda	141
Energy and Biologically Based Therapies	121
Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems, Other	107
Direct Entry Midwifery	74
Alternative and Complementary Medical Support Services, Other	52
Aromatherapy	8
Energy and Biologically Based Therapies, Other	—
Polarity Therapy	—

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.