Jean Dow

About me

I started my professional career as the business manager for a group of very successful and dynamic chiropractic clinics, managing five clinics 50 miles north, south, east and west of Edinburgh. My academic career has always been done whilst in full-time employment which has been a challenge indeed, but gave me a great ability to focus and prioritise my workload. It started with my passion for books and I completed a B.A.(Hons) through Open University followed by an  M.Sc. in Sociology through Edinburgh University. In 2004 I completed my B.Sc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine.

Through my position as business manager, I was able to travel extensively to health, philosophy and personal development seminars both in Europe and the United States.  It was through learning about health from a different perspective that I realised that I wanted to have a more direct involvement in healthcare than simply management.  After a period of illness, I was introduced to herbal medicine and was simply amazed and inspired by how gentle yet powerful this medium of healing was. As someone who has always loved all aspects of plant life and nature it seemed to tick every box for my future.

Most people don’t realise the depth of training involved in being a medical herbalist and I feel it is important that patients know this so that they know they are in safe hands as I will be asking them to take internal medicine.  It is a four-year honours degree covering all the same subjects as a medical degree. This includes anatomy, physiology, pathology, differential diagnosis, botany, plant pharmacology, and biochemistry.   This allows us the right to primary diagnosis and to safely prescribe alongside pharmaceutical drugs.  In addition, we had to spend 500 clinical hours in supervised clinics.

I graduated from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine in 2004 and have been practicing in Edinburgh since that time.  I see a very wide variety of patients ranging from newborn babies to people in their 90s and it’s wonderful to be able to show that herbal medicine is suitable for all. I work from a vitalistic philosophy where I use herbal medicine in a manner that supports the person’s own innate self-healing and self-regulating ability.  

Contact

Jean Dow B.Sc.(Hons)B.A.(Hons), M.Sc.

www.jeandowherbalist.co.uk

Tel: 07973 368189

jeantheherbalist@gmail.com

fb.me/jeandowherbalist

Covid 

At present while Covid is still an issue I am seeing people via zoom, Skype, FaceTime or good old fashioned telephone.  If there was a clinical requirement to see a person face to face then I am using full PPE to maintain appropriate clinical care as outlined by my professional body the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.