Educational and Career Opportunities in Alternative Medicine
All You Need to Find Your Calling in the Healing Professions
written by Rosemary Jones

If you cruise the alternative health web sites and bulletin boards, such as AOL, you are bound to get letters or see postings from people asking what health career they should pursue. One wants to say we are the blind men feeling the different parts of the elephant. The purpose of health careers are the same but how we get there is very different.
This book is a well researched answer for all those with a calling for alternative medicine. It is a sign-of-the-times, not that so many people want to practice alternative medicine, as that so many think that they can make a career out of it. And many do. I do. Many of my friends do and I am amazed. Outlined in this book are short descriptions and the educational requirements for over 40 healing modalities.
From Acupuncture to Yoga, Education and Career Opportunities tells one where you can study, the cost, licensure for the profession and the cost of the education. Also included are a number of listings for long-distance educational opportunities. This is not the only research that a prospective student will want to do but it is a great start. I suggest that anyone wanting to spend years in a school should get treated in their clinic as basic research.
The weakness of the book are the realistic assessments of the actual career opportunities. Although a massage therapist may eventually charge $70 an hour it may take several years to build to that. And finding a number of full paying clients is worthy of several books on to itself. Unfortunately, this book doesn't explore the difficulty of starting your own practice as a business. Until now anyone wanting a health career would have to look in the back of the new age journals for advertisements. Now there is a book that puts all of this information into a single volume. High schools and colleges will want to stock this book as a must-have for graduating students. Prima Publishing has published other books such as The Guide to the Best of Alternative Medicine, The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine and The Natural Pharmacy.

review by Douglas Eisenstark L.Ac.

Educational and Career Opportunities in Alternative Medicine
written by Rosemary Jones
- 1998 Prima Publishing Box 1260BK
Rocklin, CA 95677
1-800-632-8676
http://www.primapublishing.com $18.95