Veterinary Herbal Apprenticeship & Retreat

A 5-part course incorporating Herbal Medicine into Western Veterinary Practice
Dr. Laurie Dohmen, VMD, MS, RH (AHG) and Guests

2025-2026 COURSE DATES

September 11-14, 2025
October 17-20, 2025
November 8-10, 2025
March 14-16, 2026
April 11-13, 2026
 
LOCATION
Lowood Educational Center, Duck, North Carolina

PRICING

$4250.00
$1000.00 deposit option available.
 
Payment accepted by check, money order or credit/debit card. Refunds: $50 processing fee.
 
REGISTRATION
Now open! CLICK HERE to sign up.

RACE CREDITS PENDING

COURSE REFUND POLICY

 A $50 PROCESSING FEE WILL BE APPLIED TO ALL REFUNDS ISSUED.
NO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED AFTER JULY 1st 2025.

Course Overview

This is a comprehensive training in the use and practice of Herbal Medicine. All Materia Medica lectures will include an organoleptic component. There will be extensive labs in medicine making. Each module will feature an herb walk to a different part of the Outer Banks islands. We will also incorporate compassionate care, both for our patients and ourselves. We have a focus on self-care, as we believe good health starts with ourselves. Bonus offerings include stretching in the breaks and a movie night! There will be homework so we can assess your progress as veterinary herbalists. Continental breakfast is included daily.

Course Schedule

Our 2025-2026 course schedule will be available soon.

Lectures

There will be Materia Medica lectures organized primarily by Western organ system. Every Materia Medica has an organoleptic component to familiarize the student with the herbs. There will be additional lectures to flesh out the practice of Western Herbal Medicine (WHM). These lectures will cover topics such as the origins of WHM, the practice of formulation and prescribing, phytopharmacology and more. Also, a brief overview of other types of Herbal Medicine (such as Ayurveda and Chinese) will be discussed. Ancillary topics including Mushrooms and Essential Oils will be presented.

Labs

Hands-on labs will cover making products for use in practice. Each session will focus on a different application, such as tinctures, topicals, and more. Students will then go home and make products based on that session’s lab, and these will be evaluated in the subsequent session. Even for students planning to purchase pre-made herbal products, this is of paramount importance for practitioners to be able to assess quality of products in the future. In the last session, there will be a Medicine Making Show, where students will get an opportunity to present their own creations in a fun, festive atmosphere.

Herb Walks

Each session will feature an afternoon herb walk. This will be a guided walk in a different part of the Island each session. The second module will begin our exploration of food therapy and herbs for the gastrointestinal system with a field trip to Island Farm just outside the town of Manteo on Roanoke Island. “A living history site, Island Farm interprets daily life on Roanoke Island in the mid-1800s” (http://www.theislandfarm.com).

We will also be traveling to Currituck Banks Reserve, Nags Head Woods, and Carova Beach, home of the Carolla Wild Horses. 

Self Care

In this course, self-care and renewal will be explored through ongoing activities in meditation, nature connection, and physical care. Work with the herbs will allow students to know them better by making teas, lotions, and more. Guided stretching and other physical activities be be incorporated throughout in breaks and other sessions. There will be time left for fun too, with free evenings on the island and a movie night.

Assignments

Students will be responsible for making 2 products based on the previous session’s lab for the following Module. Students will be responsible for handing in a Monograph on 2 new herbs for each Materia Medica lecture. On a rotating schedule, students will be required to present a pictorial and informational herb walk of their home area with 10 herbs presented. 

Support

There will be a private forum for the class where students can post any and all questions so we can all learn from each other. This will be a discussion forum between students and teachers. This will also be a site for students to organize room sharing and ride sharing, or any other activities that the whole group or small groups wish to organize. This forum will include all course materials, as well as a list of resources, some required and some optional. These will include texts, websites, reference lists and more. We will be posting all our PowerPoint slides to the group site prior to each session. All recipes made in the course, both by instructors and students, will be posted for future use. Membership in United Plant Savers will be included with registration.

Speaker 

Dr. Laurie Dohmen, VMD, MS, RH (AHG), FACVBM

​​Growing up, Dr. Dohmen always wanted to be a veterinarian.  She grew up in a time where pharmaceutical medicine was considered the zenith of all medicine.  All her schooling was in pharmaceutical medicine, but she started feeling that there was something more.  In her personal life, she had been a vegetarian for years; she wanted to help animals, not eat them.  She began to use organic food and alternative medicine modalities for herself and her family.  Her family thrived on this more wholistic lifestyle, and she realized that if these things were better for her family, they would be better for her patients also.  So Dr. Dohmen began studying alternative modalities.
 
Dr. Dohmen graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1997.  Since then, Dr. Dohmen has received training in Acupuncture, Food Therapy, Bach Flower Essences, and most extensively Herbal Medicine.   She has studied with Dr. Steve Marsden, Dr.Huisheng Xie, Registered Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, and many others. She received her Masters of Therapeutic Herbalism from Maryland University of Integrative Health in 2014. She was accepted as a Registered Herbalist through the American Herbalist Guild in 2020. She became a Fellow of the American College of Veterinary Botanical Medicine in 2023.
 
 In 2013, Dr. Dohmen down-sized her integrative mixed animal practice in southern Delaware.  She is now a full-time continuing educator and lectures regularly on Veterinary Herbal Medicine, and other wholistic topics.  In 2017 together with Dr. Kris August, they started the only hands-on veterinary herbal medicine course for western veterinary practices in the USA. She is published frequently in journals such as the Journal of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and the Integrative Veterinary Care Journal.
 
Dr. Dohmen is the Past President of the Veterinary Botanical Medical Association; as well as a member of the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture, American Holistic VMA and AVMA.  She is on the Editorial Board of the AHVMA Journal.  Dr. Dohmen lives on a 72 acre farm with her husband, 2 sons, and many four-legged animals.  She has her own organic herb and vegetable gardens.  She also owns Lowood Educational Center in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which she uses as the home of Purple Moon Herbs and Studies’ trainings.

Guest Lecturer

Dr. Julie Wentzel, DVM, CVA, CVPP, CCRT

Dr. Julie Wentzel grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry and Wildlife in 1998. She then received her DVM from the University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004, where she pursued interests in both wildlife medicine and small animal emergency medicine. After graduation, she completed a small animal emergency medicine internship at Anne Arundel Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Annapolis, Maryland, where she remained on staff for another seven years.
 
After moving to Virginia, she spent several years working at Animal Emergency and Critical Care, and still moonlights there. She completed her Certified Veterinary Acupuncture courses in 2013, became a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner and Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist in 2014, and is a 2018 Veterinary Herbal Apprenticeship and Retreat graduate. She spent 6 years working full time in rehabilitation and pain management. Currently she is an associate at Market Street Animal Clinic, and enjoying all aspects of medicine; however, she remains passionate about treating acute and chronic pain through an integrative medicine approach.
 
In her free time, Dr. Wentzel enjoys spending time with her family, as well as gardening, bird watching, volleyball, and running. She lives with her husband and their three children and two cats in Leesburg, Virginia.

Guest Lecturer

Dr. Ann Scearce, DVM, CVA

Dr. Scearce, like most veterinarians, has loved animals all her life. It was not until she took Animal Science at UC Davis that she realized that she wanted a career in veterinary medicine. Over the years she began to choose a more organic lifestyle for herself but was not sure how to use introduce a more holistic approach in practice.

After becoming interested in Hospice and End of Life care she became acupuncture certified and from there realized that there was more that she could offer her patients than the allopathic approach.
 
Dr. Scearce graduated in 1999 from UC Davis Veterinary School. Her first 5 years in practice were in a primarily dairy mixed animal practice. She then moved into small animal practice, but continued part time dairy practice until 2019. She became acupuncture certified in 2015 and completed TCVM herbal training in 2018. She then studied with David Winston from 2018 until 2023, completing both his herbal apprenticeship and graduate programs. She has particular interest in internal medicine, hospice and palliative care and oncology.
 
Dr. Scearce provides a holistic alternative to a primarily allopathic practice in California, and also does acupuncture house calls. She lives with her husband and many furry friends. She is an avid gardener and spends as much time as she can hiking.​

Guest Lecturer

Dr. Rachel Klickman, DVM, CVA, CHPV, CVNN

Dr. Rachel Klickman has been surrounded by animals all her life. Growing up in Oregon her family included dogs, cats, rabbits, goats, fish, birds, and assorted rodents. After moving to Maryland, she was hired as a receptionist for an emergency veterinary clinic. Here she discovered a keen interest in medicine and a way to combine 2 passions. She graduated with her veterinary degree from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2007, after which she completed a rotating internship in Emergency Medicine. She worked for several years in a general practice, then was invited to work at an integrative practice by a friend and mentor where she was exposed to acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Dr. Klickman became interested in how combining modern treatments with ancient wisdom gives us the best of both worlds. She earned her certification in animal acupuncture in 2015 and completed an apprenticeship in Western Herbal Medicine in 2017 through Purple Moon Herbs and Studies. She also found that caring for pets at the end of their lives was a calling close to her heart, leaving Healing Paws for several years to work in a practice specializing in end-of-life care. During this time, she completed a certification course in Animal Hospice and Palliative Care. She was delighted to be asked to help as a TA for multiple courses presented by Purple Moon.

After 6 years of focusing on end of life care, Dr. Klickman returned to the integrative practice to use her new skills in helping pets and their families. While she loves caring for pets at all stages, she believes that there is a special place for those in need of hospice and palliative care. As an integrative veterinarian she can use modern medicine combined with holistic options to help maintain good quality of life for as long as possible.

Dr. Klickman’s current crew (“her boys”) includes the silly but incredibly stubborn Dachshund
Fillian and the undisputed head of the household lording over all, Loki the cat. Dr. Klickman
loves creating things, including cooking from scratch as much as possible, making wine, mead,
and cider, sewing, working in her yard, working on art projects for her home, and any DIY
project that catches her eye.

Guest Lecturer

Vickie Shufer

 Vickie Shufer will be leading many of our herb walks. She will also be lecturing on Botany and conducting a wild foods lab. Vickie is an alum of MUIH, where she got her MS in Therapeutic Herbalism in 2013. Vickie is a naturalist, herbalist, and forager. She worked in False Cape State Park for over 20 years before moving on to her own business. Vickie is the owner of Wild Woods Farm, a native nursery in northeastern North Carolina where she grows coastal native plants. She also conducts foraging and wellness programs in Virginia and North Carolina. Vickie is the author of several books, including her new book, The Forager's Handbook (Skyhorse, 2022), The Everything Guide to Foraging (Adams Media, 2011), and was the editor/publisher of The Wild Foods Forum newsletter from 1994 to 2014. If you want to know more about her, Vickie’s website is http://ecoimages.us.

Course Location - Lowood Education Center

Purple Moon’s base of operations is Lowood Educational Center​​ in north Duck in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The Educational Center has 3 floors: on the top is a breakfast nook with a library of herbal books available for perusal over the weekend.  The second floor is the kitchen classroom.  This is where labs and smaller courses will be held. There will be cameras over the prep table and stove linked to the large screen in the room for better visualization.  The bottom floor is a state-of-the-art classroom with large glass doors overlooking some of the gardens.  Lowood also has its own elaborate cultivated gardens and native area  benches.  Vickie Shufer and her company have tirelessly added many native and medicinal plants for educational and beautification purposes.  Additionally, there are 3 bedrooms available for students to rent while attending classes, along with a common kitchen, dining area, and living room.

The Outer Banks

The Outer Banks is a great place for self care. As veterinarians, we are very compassionate to others, but less so to ourselves. We believe that the healthier we are as practitioners, the more good we can do for our patients. 
​
The Outer Banks is a chain of barrier islands that consist of a string of sand dunes that serve to protect the mainland of North Carolina from the Atlantic Ocean. They are separated from the mainland by large bodies of water called “sounds.” We will be at the north end of the island in between Duck and Corolla, home of the Corolla Wild Horses. This area of the Outer Banks is sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Currituck Sound with easy free access to both. The area is replete with open spaces and natural settings that stir the soul, as wild as the native horses. We will be there in what is called the “shoulder season,” during which the Outer Banks is open and ready for tourist business, with a plethora of delicious and fresh restaurants. There are also a variety of activities available, including wild horse tours, mini golf, surfing and more. However, since it is not fully tourist season, places are quiet and more intimate. No matter what the season, the locals are incredibly welcoming and friendly.
 
There are 2 towns at the north end of the island.  South is the town of Duck. There are many excellent restaurants and shops open in the evenings in Duck. We will have a list for students of recommendations and open hours at the beginning of the conference. North is Corolla (not pronounced like the Toyota, but Cor-al-la). Corolla has a few excellent restaurants also, most notably Mexican and seafood. In Corolla, there are many fun activities, if time allows, it is worth spending an extra day. There is Historic Corolla, with the original lighthouse that can be climbed. “The red-brick Currituck Beach Lighthouse towers above the landscape in the Historic Corolla village. Visitors to this Outer Banks attraction can climb the winding staircase, 220 steps in all, to the top of the lighthouse for a panoramic view of Currituck Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and the Currituck Outer Banks. Inside the lighthouse, at the base and on the first two landings, there are museum-quality lighthouse exhibits” (​http://corollaguide.com/attractions). Also in the village is the Whalehead Club, “Whalehead is an historic house museum on the northern Outer Banks. The grand residence, dressed in bold yellow and striking copper, stands on a vast green lawn bordering the Currituck Sound” (http://corollaguide.com/attractions). The grounds in between the lighthouse and the Whalehead are beautiful to walk, with a boat house and a bridge right on the edge of the Sound. Farther north in Corolla, the main road ends and the beach becomes the road. This is the home of the genetically pure Corolla Wild Horses. “Present day Ocracoke and Corolla wild horses carry the distinguishing features of Spanish type horses. One striking similarity to the Arabian ancestry is the number of vertebra (one less than most breeds) which occurs in the Banker Horse Breed. Their even temperament, endurance, size, and the startling beauty which crops up frequently in the Banker Horses all point strongly to their dramatic history…these are the remnants of once numerous herds of Spanish stock which ran free along the sandy islands of our coast. The Spanish Mustang Registry is satisfied that the Banker Horses, in particular the Corolla strain, are as lineally pure to the 16th century Spanish importations as can be found in North America today, and that they compare closely to the selectively bred South American Spanish derivative stock” (http://www.corollawildhorses.com/). There are multiple tour companies that will take you up to see this area (it requires a 4WD vehicle), but please take a tour with Corolla Outback Adventures. They are offering all interested Purple Moon students a discounted rate.