SUMMER 2021
Course Name
Holistic Health Approaches
Host University
Universidad Veritas
Location
ISA Remote Learning in San José, Global
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
Total contact hours: 60 hours
Pre-requisite: Must be a Health Sciences student
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will introduce basic concepts of alternative medicine. Also this course will explore, and evaluate alternatives approaches and philosophies to personal
health and wellness. Some of the topics included are: Homeopathy, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Acupuncture, Herbal and Nutritional Therapies, Massage, Chiropractic, Electromagnetic Therapy, Breathing Exercise and others.
The following is the final project from this class where i related holistic health to athletic training practices. this class was very insightful and provided me with many alternative therapies to explore in my practice. some are out of my scope of practice, but the project below dives into one of the few that athletic trainers can be certified in, dry needling.
By taylor yeager
to the left is a certification I received from this course when a guest speaker taught us how to properly mix ingredients and create aromatherapy tools. I am now certified in lavender aroma therapy!
Reflection: Unfortunately, my study abroad had to be completed in a virtual setting because of COVID-19. I was extremely disappointed that I was unable to go to my original study abroad location. Instead, I attended this class in Costa Rica from a computer in my home in Virginia. There were two other students in my class, and one of them was attending in person. I enjoyed the personalized attention from the professor, and I think she was able to guide us through the class easier with the small number of students.
I feel like holistic health has a very positive yet naïve but also empowering take on medicine. It promotes healing and that the mind and body can be resilient to any pathogen. It talks about working with the environment as well as your internal health. However, I feel like you cannot live your life in denial and just assume you will never be sick if you practice your Tai Chi, for example. On the other hand, it is a wonderful goal to try to live holistically because it seems like you will get the most benefit rather than relying on westernized medicine to cure you. Along the course of this class, I learned that holistic health is a cultural and medicinal way of life that promotes wellness and prevents illness in each individual person and their environment.
Throughout the class, I was very skeptical of the topics she was teaching because they are very different than westernized medicine. I understood the concepts, but sometimes the theories did not seem to hold much weight compared to the science we have today. For example, some people believe that certain herbs can cure ailments better than pharmaceutical drugs. It was hard for me to switch into that mindset after living through America’s healthcare system for so long. This class very quickly broadened my perspective on the world, especially the world of sports medicine. I enjoyed learning about different mental health healing techniques as well such as Qi Gong, aromatherapy, and emotional frequency tapping.
I am not sure how many of these techniques I will really use in the future, but the class allowed me to understand what other cultures may see when it comes to healing. I will definitely utilize the techniques to help with anxiety because I think that is a very underrated aspect of sports medicine. I also would love to continue pursuing aromatherapy on the side.