American Herbalists Guild

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The American Herbalists Guild is the only professional organization for herbalists of all traditions in the United States of America. The Guild was founded in 1989 as a non-profit, educational organization. It was founded to represent the goals and voices of herbalists who come from a wide variety of traditions. It is the only peer-review organization in the United States for professional herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants. AHG membership consists of professional members who must meet conditions for certification, general members (including students) and benefactors. They publish the Journal of the American Herbalists Guild and hold annual conferences at which research is presented.^[1] The professional title granted after education, reviewed clinical experience and review by a multidisciplinary admissions board is Registered Hebalist (AHG).

A major goal of the American Herbalists Guild is to establish standards for herbal training. An approved study program has 200 hours of anatomy, physiology and human sciences, 60 hours of botany and plant identification, 400 hours of herbal materia medica and therapeutic herbalism, 80 hours of pharmacognosy, pharmacology and dispensing, 400 hours of clinical skills, 20 hours of practice management/ethics, and 40 hours of history of herbal medicine and research skills. Professional members can achieve certification through apprenticeship or other methods providing they meet appropriate standards.^[2]