The AFMCP™ (Applied Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice) course is a five day professional healthcare provider training programme in applying the principles of functional medicine. This course is one step on the path to Certification with the Institute of Functional Medicine.
Many people today are suffering from chronic, complex diseases for which modern medicine does not appear to have effective treatments. Or perhaps there may be some treatments but they only suppress symptoms, managing a particular disease or condition without ever hoping to resolve or improve it.
Functional medicine like traditional herbal medicine has a different approach. It looks for the root causes of illness rather than only addressing symptoms. These root causes might include a genetic predisposition, diet and lifestyle factors, or environmental conditions.
Of course we can’t change a person’s genes, but by uncovering the circumstances that have caused imbalances in a person’s health helps to direct a personalised treatment plan for optimising health and wellbeing.
As a graduate of this course and other courses on this subject, I incorporate functional medicine practices and principles into my herbal medicine practice to promote the health and wellness of my patients.
There is no single optimised model for practicing functional medicine. In fact, functional medicine practitioners use functional medicine principles alongside or within the scope of their training. So, I use medicinal herbs and nutrition to promote health and wellness in my patients.
Other functional medicine practitioners may also suggest herbal remedies in their treatment plans, however as a trained medical herbalist and specialist in the use of herbal remedies I can provide individualised herbal prescriptions, rather than herbal products that are ‘one size fits all’.
It is also in my scope of practice to assist or advise patients that are already taking medicine from their doctor. Medical herbalists are trained to know which herbs can safely be used alongside conventional medicines and which are not.