Easiest Holistic Medicine Courses & Degrees

Holistic medicine is a growing field of alternatives to pharmacy-based medication. Students in holistic medicine use mental and spiritual health to promote physical health.

Depending on which school you are looking to enroll in, holistic medicine degrees will have different names, such as:

• Integrative Medicine
• Naturopathic Medicine

These degrees provide students with an understanding of the human body and ways to promote health without prescription medication.

Easiest Holistic Medicine Degree Programs

Finding the easiest holistic medicine degree program is one way that students can get to helping people as quickly as possible. What makes a degree easy will vary from person to person, but there are a few key indicators that often mean a degree program will be easier.

Some of the factors that help decide an easier degree program include:

• Degree level (i.e. associate, bachelor's, master's, or doctorate)
• Online vs in person
• The college's acceptance rate
• The college's graduation rate

Degree programs with more of these factors will generally be easier than others, but that doesn't mean that coursework won't provide a challenge for students.

Degree Level

Holistic medicine degrees come in multiple levels from certificates to doctorate level degrees. In most cases, certifications are add-ons to degrees, but some schools offer 30-hour certification programs that can offer some entry-level opportunities to graduates.

For most students seeking careers in holistic medicine, though, they'll want to pursue a degree, at least an associate level one. The difficulty will change from degree level to degree level based on increased credit hours and more intense coursework.

Holistic medicine degrees come in all the traditional degree levels:

• Associate: 60 credit hours, usually earned in 2 years
• Bachelor's: 120 credit hours, usually earned in 4 years (some holistic medicine programs are 123 credit hours, but they are still designed to be completed over 4 years.)
• Master's: 150 to 160 credit hours (this includes the credit hours earned for a bachelor's degree and added master's level courses)
• Doctorate: 120 credit hours beyond the credit hours needed to complete a bachelor's degree, but this can vary depending on the degree program and

Online vs In-Person

Another big factor that can impact the difficulty of a holistic medicine degree program is whether the degree can be earned online.

Online courses provide students with flexible scheduling and, in some cases, self-pacing options which reduce some of the burdens of college coursework.

Online colleges often have lower tuition and higher acceptance rates than traditional universities.

The College's Acceptance Rate

Although a college's acceptance rate doesn't guarantee easier coursework, generally colleges with higher acceptance rates have different standards. If you're trying to find the easiest holistic medicine degree program, a good indicator will be a college with a high acceptance rate.

Acceptance rate isn't solely based on academics, though. Colleges that receive more applications will have to reject more students due to limited class sizes and on-campus resources.

The College's Graduation Rate

One other factor to consider is the graduation or completion rate for a college. Degree programs with higher graduation or completion rates tend to be easier, but this isn't always true for all students.

Many schools keep data for individual degree programs as well as overall rates. If you're researching this data to try to find an easier program, try to find degree program-specific data as some degree programs are much harder and will skew the data.

Can I Earn a Holistic Medicine Degree Online?

Yes, you can. Many online colleges offer multiple degree options for holistic medicine, allowing students to earn their degrees on their schedule.

You also can find hybrid and fully online holistic medicine degree offerings from traditional colleges and universities. It's important to remember that earning a holistic medicine degree is only part of the process to begin practicing.

After earning your degree, many holistic medicine providers pursue certification by the American Council of Holistic Medicine. This provides more credentials that can help provide legitimacy to new providers.

What Are Some of the Best Holistic Medicine Degrees?

Although many schools offer holistic medicine degrees, some of the more respected programs within the industry are:

• Arizona State University
• Everglades University
• Northern Vermont University
• Bastyr University
• National University of Health Sciences
• Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Sonoran University of Health Sciences
• Anoka-Ramsey Community College
• University of New Mexico - Taos

Finding the Easiest Holistic Medicine Degree That Fits Your Education Goals

Finding the best degree program for your needs isn't always easy.

Begin your higher education path with Learn. We've put together a database that contains thousands of articles and other education resources to help students find information on colleges and degree programs across North America.

Whether you're looking for the easiest holistic medicine degree or any other type of degree you can think of, start with Learn's resources today.