"Over the last few years we have seen an increase in the number of people wanting to study with us here in Preston" said Kate Chatfield, admissions tutor. "Every week we get emails, phone calls and letters from homeopaths in America, Australia, Europe, India, and Pakistan who have heard of our undergraduate courses. Many of the enquirers already have initial qualifications in homeopathy." This steady stream of enquiries prompted the realisation that there could be demand for a Masters-level course. ‘We were particularly keen to get a Master of Science programme running" added Jean Duckworth, responsible for successfully steering it through the complicated University quality assurance system. "An MSc programme offers the opportunity to raise the profession of homeopathy to the next level of academic acceptance. And with UCLan graduates already completing health-related Master's courses elsewhere (as well as gaining PhD fellowships) the time seemed ripe to see what we could offer."

But change didn't come overnight. "It's taken four years of planning, meetings, and discussion to get to where we are now" Kate pointed out. "If it had not been for the continual reminders of our friends across Europe in particular, we might have given up. But they kept telling us how important this development was".

Twelve months ago, the Vice Chancellor of the University gave his support to an

e-learning initiative which resulted in UCLan's homeopathy team being awarded substantial development funds. The result is the world's first MSc in Homeopathy – by e-Learning. "This initiative was ideally positioned to support homeopaths" Jean added. "We're a profession which is (generally speaking) comfortable with computer technology, and although we're spread out all over the world we do have a sense of community and are used to being in regular contact with each other electronically. UCLan is an organisation which already has successful e-learning programs employed around the world."

"We will use the world-wide web to deliver study materials unique to our needs as homeopaths, which will then stimulate collaborative email work and face : face discussion in the form of web meetings and tutorials" said Ian Townsend. "I've been fascinated with this idea since the 1960s, but only recently has relatively low-cost technology been available to enable us to do this."

"Homeopathy has well-established post-graduate homeopathic courses" he added. "What UCLan could provide was a recognised award drawing on our specialist interests. We found our own Master's level studies (in Complementary Medicine, Education, Supervision) so stimulating that we wanted to be able to offer an opportunity for others to experience this too. The University already had some well-regarded modules which we could adopt and which would fit in with our vision for a Masters Degree in Homeopathy."

 

With Kate's background in philosophy and research (she recently completed her term of office as the Society's Research Director and continues to be active in its Research Committee), Ian's work in therapeutic relationships and supervision (Ian served as the professions first employed Professional Conduct Officer and has taught communication skills for the last 18 years) and Jean's training in ethics, the law and education (Jean was the Society's Professional Conduct director for 2003-2006), the UCLan MSc draws on the teams specialist interests. The 2-3 year part-time programme details (including on-line application) are available at

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"Since announcing the course at the end of March we've had over 30 applications from practitioners in Australia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the UK" Kate said. "Our September 2006 intake is almost full, and we're drawing up waiting lists for 2007 and beyond. The whole team is excited by the profession's response to this development"

 

To register your interest in this program, please contact a team member or visit the UCLan web address above.

 

Contacts:

 

Kate Chatfield (Admissions Tutor BSc / MSc) [email protected] 01772 893687

Jean Duckworth (Course Leader, BSc programme) [email protected] 01772 893710

Ian Townsend (Course Leader, MSc programme) [email protected] 01772 893696