Wholistic Pain Management

Drs. Julie Wentzel and Laurie Dohmen

2026 COURSE DATES

September 18th - 20th 2026
 
LOCATION
Lowood Educational Center, Duck, North Carolina

PRICING

$495.00
 
Payment accepted by check, money order or credit/debit card.

18.5 RACE CE credits per attendee (vet or vet tech).

 A $50 PROCESSING FEE WILL BE APPLIED TO ALL REFUNDS ISSUED.
NO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED AFTER JUNE 1st 2026.

Course Overview

This course will introduce an integrative approach to pain management and rehabilitation. We will learn to incorporate herbal medications, acupuncture, and other rehabilitation modalities in addition to conventional allopathic pharmaceuticals.  Continental breakfast is included each morning. 

Lectures include an overview of the multimodal approach to pain management in which we look at the whole animal – body, mind, and spirit. The wholistic exam including the history and findings are the stepping off point that will help guide patient recommendations and treatments. We will have more in depth discussions regarding the theory behind common modalities found in rehabilitation medicine as well as how and when to utilize these for your patients.

There will be in depth discussions on herbs that are utilized in pain management and palliative medicine specifically, but also in the general support of chronically ill and geriatric animals. There will be an organoleptic portion to these lectures to see and taste the herbs in tea, dried and tinctured forms. We will discuss how the herbs can be used as safe, effective alternatives to non-steroidal and he differences in the body’s physiologic response to both.
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To tie everything together, we will review specific cases of various conditions, as well as cases that incorporate a variety of the above modalities.

Course Schedule

Course schedule coming soon!

Speaker Bio

Dr. Julie Wentzel

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. 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.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Laurie Dohmen

​​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.
 
 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.

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 open room with large glass doors overlooking some of the gardens.  Lowood also has its own elaborate cultivated gardens and native area with trails and 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-healing. 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. Come to the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina and enjoy the beach while learning about Western Herbs. Breakfast will be included every morning, including a variety of fresh choices, and a plethora of teas and coffee.
 
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.