Introduction to Medicinal Plant Use & Integrative Medicine

Why should I take this Trinity Elective?

Traditional health practices such as the use of medicinal plants and other complementary approaches to health are often categorized as traditional medicine. You will learn about the interculturality associated with traditional medicine and how integrative medicine combines conventional western medicine with holistic traditional treatments and practices treating the person as a whole, including physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects.

The proposed elective has the following attractive characteristics:

• It provides students with knowledge about an important aspect of the current Irish society and its diverse cultural practices.
• It explores key critical issues within the field of medicinal plants and integrative medicine.
• There will be a yoga, a meditation workshop and a lab class.
• Learn about aromatherapy and mindfulness practices.
• It incorporates a variety of teaching and assessment methodologies.
• It involves group work and discussion panels, enhancing communication and team working skills.

What will I learn?

• You will learn about medicinal plants and integrative medicine.
• You will learn about the nature of complementary therapy approaches such as aromatherapy, naturopathy, and others.
• You will take part in yoga, meditation and mindfulness workshops.
• You will do a laboratory session and learn how to isolate drugs from plants.
• You will learn about the importance of the responsible use of medicines, especially when this relates to medicinal plants and other aspects of integrative medicine.

What will I do?

• You will attend lectures – some will be in-person, others online covering a range of important topics on medicinal plants and integrative medicine.
• There will also be workshops on different topics, such as yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and aromatherapy. There will also be a laboratory class where you will learn how to extract a drug from a medicinal plant.
• We will have group discussions – work with others on a discussion panel to deepen and apply the knowledge acquired during lectures and workshops.
• There will be formative assessments, such as quizzes on Blackboard – they are designed for you to self-test your understanding of the covered topics and will be preparing you for the following session.
• There will be summative assessments – these are designed to evaluate your learning.
• You will submit a group video recording.
• There will be a poster presentation at the end of the module.

How will this be delivered?

• Lectures: 10 one-hour lectures both in-person and online
• Workshops: 5 two-hour workshops on yoga, meditation, aromatherapy and a lab class.
• Group Discussions: We will incorporate case-based discussions and problem-based learning (PBL) to highlight the responsible use of herbal medicines.

How will this be assessed?

• Pre-lecture quizzes to allow the student to gauge their level of previous knowledge on the topic (formative only, will not count towards the module mark)

Summative assessments:

• Post-lecture quizzes (10%)
• Post-workshop/practical quizzes (20%)
• Post-lecture group discussions (20%)
• Submission of a 1-minute long (social media style) videoclip (10%)
• Final presentation (poster style) on a selected topic (40%)

Who can take this Trinity Elective?

Any student eligible to take a Trinity Elective can select this Trinity Elective except students currently enrolled on TR072 Pharmacy and TR060 Botany.

* Please note that assessment methods, assessment weightings and amount of contact hours are subject to change by the module coordinator. You can confirm all assessment details and expected contact hours with the module coordinator upon starting the elective.