Review by Kristy Lampe, MA
Published in Homeopathy Today, May/ June 2008
There’s a rather unique new homeopathic study aid on the block. Lucy Clark and Gwynn Cadwallader, recent graduates of the Florida Academy of Classical Homeopathy, have created the Quick Study System™ to help students prepare for the Materia Medica section of the Council for Homeopathic Certification’s CCH examination. Whether you learn by seeing or by hearing, this box containing 154 remedy-cards and 4 audio CDs will help you to understand and learn remedies so that you use them properly, and are prepared to sit for the CCH exam.
Remedy Cards
Clark and Cadwallader used their class notes and Materia Medicae from Kent, Lippe, Morrison, Nash, and Vermeulen to extract the essence of each remedy. They also used information from the Council on Homeopathic Certification’s Certification Prep Guide (by Karen Allen) and their insights from having taken the CCH exam themselves. The remedy-cards are organized by “Affinity,” not alphabetically. This classification makes sense when first learning how and when to use remedies; later on, the remedies listed in each section might help the practitioner to focus on particulars of a case being analyzed.
The sections include:
• Acute (15 remedies)
• Circulation, Heart & Bleeding (11 remedies)
• Collapse (6 remedies)
• Cough (8 remedies)
• Female (10 remedies)
• Gastro-intestinal & Digestion(16 remedies)
• Glands (6 remedies)
• Nervous System (22 remedies)
• Polycrest (39 remedies)
• Upper Respiratory (10 remedies)
• Skin (7 remedies)
• Urinary Tract Infection (4 remedies).
The remedy-cards are printed on one side of 24-lb. paper, which is thick enough so that you can use a highlighter pen or ballpoint. The blank reverse can be used to add information from other sources or your own cases. Of course, the authors couldn’t get everything about a remedy onto a 4 x 5″ card, but these are excellent summaries that will jog your memory (or send you to the sources to study on a deeper level). It makes sense to keep the remedy-cards in their original numerical-sequence stack during an intense study period. Later on, some users might choose to load them into photo-sized sheet protectors and store them in a 3-ring binder for easy reference, especially for acute prescribing.
Audio CDs
The four audio CDs contain the same information on each remedy card, read in a clear voice by the authors. In addition, you will hear little gems about each remedy, quoted from the writings of homeopathic masters, including Hahnemann, Phatak, and Kent. The remedy-cards and the audio CDs complement each other well, and reinforce the learning process.
I was pleased that there is no background hissing so I didn’t have to crank up volume to ear-damaging levels. The CDs can be played on your computer, on a car stereo (MP3-compatible only!), or downloaded to your iPod/MP3 player so you can learn while you commute, exercise, or travel.
For all serious students
While the authors created this system specifically for students preparing to take the CCH exam, I feel the Quick Study System™ will also be helpful for homeopathic study groups and individuals who wish to start studying remedy-pictures in greater depth. The information on the cards can be used to create lesson-plans and quizzes. The system is easy to use and provides just the right amount of information without overwhelming students. I look forward to additional study aids that the authors say will be appearing on their website in the coming months.
About The Author
Kristy Lampe, MA, DIHom, is NCH e-Newsletter Editor, NCH On-Line Chat Moderator, Coordinator for NCH Affiliated Study Groups, and ASG-Newsflash Editor. She also works extensively to promote animal care using homeopathy and natural diets.
