Affiliated Schools
The North American Institute of Medical Herbalism is part of a community of schools which are informally affiliated. Each of these autonomous institutions has as its foundation the same Vitalist approach to healing. In addition there is substantial overlap of courses, curriculum, and key faculty between them. Through these affiliated schools, more than 400 clinical herbalists have graduated and become certified clinical herbalists.
ACORN School of Herbal Medicine
The ACORN School of Herbal Medicine was founded by Heather Luna, Clinical Herbalist, Clinical Nutritionist, a long-time student and apprentice of Paul Bergner. The school is located in Nevada City, California, but offers their programs online with live instruction from both Heather and Paul. The ACORN School offers 3 programs, Footprints in Medical Herbalism (first year), Advanced Herbalism in the Vitalist Tradition (second year), and the Clinical Residency and Roundtable (third year). The first two programs use the NAIMH lectures as their course curriculum. Using a "flipped classroom" model of education, students listen to the audio lectures on their own time before class, and then attend live video classes where these lectures are explained and discussed in greater detail. This offers a community style learning experience. The ACORN School also offers a monthly free clinic day, where third year student interns practice and develop their skills as an herbal practitioner. Graduates of the ACORN School earn dual certification from the ACORN School and NAIMH.
Southern Institute of Medical Herbalism
The Southern Institute of Medical Herbalism was founded by Richard Whelan, Medical Herbalist, who has been in practice in Christchurch, New Zealand since 1989. His school offers internet-based education in medical herbalism throughout the world (one student lived at an Arctic outpost by the North Pole). SIMH incorporates all the audio courses of the NAIMH into its curriculum, and supplements them substantially with extensive video training and internet mentoring by some of the leading professional medical herbalists in New Zealand. They offer an entry-level course Certificate in Herbal Medicine, which is an enhanced version of the NAIMH Foundations in Western Herbalism program. This is followed by their Diploma of Medical Herbalism with extensive training in professional-level clinical skills.