Apprenticeship Track

1st Year Apprenticeship Program

 

Upon completion of the Apprenticeship, you will be able to identify, locate, harvest, process, and use unfamiliar plants outside of the class setting. These skills will apply throughout the world beyond the Pacific Northwest.

Spring Term (April-June)

10 field trips, 1 overnight field trip, and 25 lectures (2-3 lectures/ week: 1/week discussing field trips and practicing plant identification; 1/week covers Herbal Concepts and Northwest Materia Medica; 1/month Herbal Preparations Lab; 1/month Indigenous Connections starting May).
Pre-requisites: none
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$4,540 includes a $500 non-refundable deposit. A $200.00 discount will occur for payment in full before January 15, 2025. A $100.00 discount will occur for payment in full before March 15, 2025.

Summer Term (July-September)

4 overnight field trips and 10 lectures.
Pre-requisites: Successful completion of 1st Year Apprenticeship Spring Term.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$2,645 includes a $500 non-refundable deposit. A $100.00 discount will occur for payment in full by June 15, 2025.

2nd Year Apprenticeship Program

 

 

 

Students learn how to familiarize themselves with new ecosystems by exploring many ecosystems throughout Oregon. Outings are roughly 1/3 botany, 1/3 ecology, and 1/3 wildcrafting and preparing medicinals.

 

Second Year (April-November)

8 field trips, 1 overnight field trip, 1 three day field trip, and 18 lectures.
Pre-requisites: Successful completion of the 1st Year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$2,650 includes a $500 non-refundable deposit.

3rd Year Apprenticeship Program

Clinical Internship

Interns sit in with an herbalist and client in the clinic, assuming increasing responsibility as their skills increase.

Pre-requisites: 2nd Year Apprenticeship, 2nd Year Lecture-Only Program, or with instructor approval.
Hours may be used as clinical experience for the American Herbalist Guild Professional Membership.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$25/hour.

Clinic Roundtables

Lectures presented for clinical interns and those on the Clinical Internship wait list. Interns and practitioners discuss important clinic cases.

Pre-requisites: 2nd Year Apprenticeship, 2nd Year Lecture-Only Program, or with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$15/hour.

 

Lecture-Only Track

1st Year Lecture-Only Program

Herbal Concepts and Northwest Materia Medica

Teaches fundamental principles of herbalism using a selection of Northwest medicinal plants. Herbal preparations and medicine making labs are included throughout the year.

1st Year Spring Term (April-June)
13 lectures (32.5 hours).
Pre-requisites: none.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$490 includes a $50 non-refundable deposit.

1st Year Summer Term (July-September)
8 lectures (24 hours).
Pre-requisites: Successful completion of Spring Term Lecture-Only Program or Spring Term 1st Year Apprenticeship.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$360 includes a $50 non-refundable deposit.

2nd Year Lecture-Only Program

Topics may include local materia medica, handling and using drop dosage herbs safely, clinical intake, case history review, and clinical assessment techniques. This class teaches the student of herbalism to understand chronic illness in a clinical setting.

2nd Year Lectures (April-November)

18 lectures (54 hours).
Pre-requisites: Successful completion of 1st Year Apprenticeship, 1st Year Lecture-Only Program, or one year of herbal study from another institution with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$810 includes a $100 non-refundable deposit.

3rd Year Lecture-Only Program

Clinical Internship

Interns sit in with an herbalist and client in the clinic, assuming increasing responsibility as their skills increase.

Pre-requisites: 2nd Year Apprenticeship, 2nd Year Lecture-Only Program, or with instructor approval.
Hours may be used as clinical experience for the American Herbalist Guild Professional Membership.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$25/hour.

Clinic Roundtables

Lectures presented for clinical interns and those on the Clinical Internship wait list. Interns and practitioners discuss important clinic cases.

Pre-requisites: 2nd Year Apprenticeship, 2nd Year Lecture-Only Program, or with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$15/hour

Electives

Available after completing 1 Year of Columbines School

*Available to students on the Lecture-Only Track

*Physiology for the Herbalist (September-November)

Covers basic physiology concepts including membrane physiology and the nervous system. Required text: The Physiology Coloring Book by Kapit, Macey, and Meisami.

18 lectures (36 hours).
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st Year Apprenticeship, 1st Year Lecture-Only Program, or comparable experience with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$540 includes a $50 non-refundable deposit.

*Dancing Interplay of Hormonal Cascades: Reproductive System Intensive (December):

Using both Western physiology and Michael Moore’s constitutional model, we will cover topics such as menstrual cycle regulation, birth control pills, synthetic hormones, fertility, estrogen dominance, and herbal and nutritional support for folks born with ovaries.

4 lectures (12 hours).
Pre-requisites: Completion of 2nd Year Lecture, Physiology for the Herbalist, or comparable experience with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$180 includes a $50 non-refundable deposit.

* GI Tract Physiology Intensive (June):

An in-depth look at the western physiology of the digestive system, and Michael Moore’s constitutional physiology of the upper and lower GI.

6 lectures (12 hours).
Pre-requisites: Completion of 2nd Year Lecture, Physiology for the Herbalist, or comparable experience with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$180 includes a $50 non-refundable deposit.

Final Offering Springtime in the Sonoran Desert (March)

Students discover Sonoran Desert ecosystems of Southern Arizona. Wander through old growth cactus “forests” with free time for personal exploration.

1 week field trip consisting of 5 teaching days in Arizona.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
We accept only eight students, so timely enrollment is encouraged.
$900 includes a $400 non-refundable deposit.
Prepayment discounts available.

Final Offering Southern California Botanical Adventure (March)

Tour Southern California ecosystems from coastal chaparral lands, to hillsides of Shooting Stars, to the Sonoran desert.

1 week field trip consisting of 5 teaching days.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$900 includes a $400 non-refundable deposit. Prepayment discounts available.

Final Offering Chasing Spring (March)

Combining Springtime in the Sonoran Desert and the Southern California Botanical Adventure, we begin with the blooming flowers along the Arizona-Mexico border and follow spring north over a two week stretch into Southern California.

2 week field trip consisting of 10 teaching days.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$1800 includes an $800 non-refundable deposit. Prepayment discounts available.

Available during or after 2nd Year of Columbines School

*Physical Assessment Skills (October)

This lab class teaches physical assessment skills for clinical herbalists including legalities, ethics, vital signs, deep tendon reflexes, neurological screening, HEENT (head, ears, eyes, nose and throat). This is not a class in diagnostics, but rather one of “red flag” assessment.

6 lectures (18 hours).
Pre-requisites: Enrollment in or completion of 2nd Year Apprenticeship, Second Year Lecture-Only Program, or comparable experience with instructor approval.
Instructor: Brounstein.
$360 includes a $50 non-refundable deposit.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Alumni Field Trips

Available after completing 1st Year of Columbines School

Central Oregon Alumni Overnight Field Trip (May)

We will tailor the curriculum according to class interest and alumni experience to include different plants and focus. Botany review, edible and medicinal plants, and wildcrafting are all possibilities.

Time and Dates TBA.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st Year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$300 includes a $100 non-refundable deposit.

Alumni Botany Review Field Trip (June)

Re-take the first year spring overnight for a botany review of early spring to early summer plants and families.

Time and Dates TBA.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st Year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$300 includes a $100 non-refundable deposit.

Apiaceae (Carrot Family) Review (September)

A review of the Carrot family taxonomy for current and old students that will further botanical skills using familiar friends and new plants.

Time and Dates TBA.
Pre-requisites: Completion of 1st Year Apprenticeship.
Instructors: Brounstein, Kays.
$300 includes a $100 non-refundable deposit.