Sam Coffman
Lead Instructor
About the Instructor
Sam has worked with herbs since 1987 and formally as a clinical herbalist for over 15 years. He served in the military for 10 years of which 6 were as a US Special Forces Medic (aka Green Beret Medic). He is a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild, a Wilderness EMT (WEMT), and a Wilderness First Responder instructor.
Sam is the founder of The Human Path/Herbal Medics Academy and co-founder of Herbal Medics which is the school's outreach organization that works with underserved communities.
His primary goal has become the creation of an integrative medical model that embraces both vitalistic and mechanistic aspects of herbalism into a collaboration with orthodox and energetic models of diagnosis and treatment, to include orthodox western medicine. To this end, he has created and co-created nearly 2000 hours of pathophysiology-based herbal medicine curriculum, and led hundreds of herbal clinics in remote, austere, post-disaster and underserved areas. Also as part of integrating orthodox medicine with plant medicine, Sam regularly works as an herbalist with, teaches with and instructs doctors, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, nurses, and other licensed health care practitioners.
The primary goal of this module (as with all the pathophysiology modules) is to understand an organ system through the eyes of the herbalist.
This 4-week, online course (4 hours of course material per week) will focus on the immune system specifically as it pertains to plant medicine and focuses on the subject matter through the eyes of the herbalist. In doing so, this course picks up where the basic overview (basic herbal medic online course) left off, reviewing principles of the innate and adaptive immune system, immunoglobulin structure, antigen/antibody reactions, T-cells, T-cell activation, phagocytosis, pathophysiology of disease as it relates to immune system attacks, autoimmune reactions and disorders, allergies and immune deficiencies.
Like all of the modules in the pathophysiology portion of the intermediate clinical herbalism course, the immune system module gives us a deeper look into this aspect of our body, specifically from the standpoint of the herbalist. As we have already studied in the basic course, the immune system plays the primary role of combating attacks on the body, from infections to cancer. As the body’s defense, it has to accurately recognize and respond to the differences between foreign and self.
· Reviewing principles of the innate and adaptive immune system
· Herbs and the immune system: A deeper look at what and why
· Immunoglobulin structure
· Antigen/antibody reactions
· T-cells, T-cell activation
· Phagocytosis and disease
· Pathophysiology of disease as it relates to immune system attacks
· Autoimmune reactions and disorders, herbal indications and contraindications
· Allergies, immune deficiencies and herbs
Course Contents
Course Curriculum
- Welcome to the Course (Watch this video first!)
- Slides for all Week 1 Lectures
- Study Guide Part 1 (Week 1)
- Study Guide Part 2 (Week 1)
- Lecture 1 - Course Introduction and Course Overview (~5 min)
- Lecture 2 - Review of the Lymph/Immune System as Studied so Far (~12 min)
- Lecture 3 - Antigens and Antibodies (~5 min)
- Lecture 4 - Lymph, Innate & Adaptive Part 2 (~14 min)
- Lecture 5 - Lymph, The Complement System (~4 min)
- Lecture 6 - Lymphocytes, Humoral v s. Cell-Mediated Immunity (~8 min)
- Lecture 7 - Macrophages, T-Cells and B-Cells - A Closer Look (~12 min)
- Lecture 8 - Antibodies, Review so Far (~5 min)
- Lecture 9 - Autoimmune Disease - Introduction (~10 min)
- Lecture 10 - Vocabulary & Terminology (~24 min)
- Lecture 11 - Innate Immune System in More Depth (~22 min)
- Lecture 12 - Macrophages in more Depth (~19 min)
- Lecture 13 - Materia Medica 1 (Part 1)
- Lecture 14 - Materia Medica 1 (Part 2)
- YouTube Animation Video about White Blood Cells
- Animation & Fun Quiz - Complement Activation
- YouTube Animation Video about Humoral Response
- YouTube Animation Video about Cell-Mediated Response
- Week 1 Quiz
- Week 2 Study Guide
- Week 2 All Slides
- Week 2, Class #1 - Viruses & Life, a Vitalistic Viewpoint (~7 min)
- Week 2, Class #2 - Review of Definitions and Terminology for the Week (~15 min)
- Week 2, Class #3 - A Closer Look at Viruses (~16 min)
- Week 2 Class #4 - The Flu Virus (~15 min)
- Week 2, Class #5 - Herbs for the Flu, Part 1 (~20 min)
- Week 2, Class #6 - Herbs for the Flu, Part 2 (~14 min)
- Week 2, Class #7 - Virus Families (~23 min)
- Week 2, Class #8 - Corona Viruses, Herbal Protocols for SARS and MERS infections (Part 1) (~15 min)
- Week 2, Class #9 - SARS and MERS Herbal Protocols (Part 2) (~17 min)
- Week 2, Class #10 - Herpes Family Viruses (Part 1) (~14 min)
- Week 2, Class #11 - Herpes Family Viruses (Part 2) (~8 min)
- Week 2, Class #12 - Dengue Fever (~10 min)
- Week 2, Class #13 - Viral Encephalitis (~8 min)
- YouTube Flu-Virus Animations
- Quiz #2
- Week 3 Study Guide 1
- Week 3 Study Guide 2
- Week 3 - Lecture #1: Additional Neuroregenerative Herbs
- Week 3, Lecture #2: Pathology of Bacteria (1)
- Week 3, Lecture #3: Pathology of Bacteria (2)
- Week 3, Lecture #4: Pathology of Bacteria (3)
- Week 3, Lecture #5: Pathology of Bacteria (4)
- Week 3, Lecture #6: Biofilm & Efflux Pumping - Materia Medica and Protocols
- Week 3 - Lecture #7: Autoimmunity
- Week 3, Lecture #8: Autoimmunity (2)
- Week 3, Lecture #9: Inflammation Introduction
- Research Paper: UTI Herbs that have Bacterial Anti-Adhesion Qualities
- Slides - Additional Neuro-Regenerative Herbs
- Slides, Lectures 2 - 5 - Bacterial Pathologies
- Slides - Biofilms, Efflux Pumping Materia Medica and Protocols
- Week 3 Quiz
- Week 4 Study guide Part 1
- Week 4 Study Guide Part 2
- Slides for Week 4, Part 1
- Slides for Week 4, Part 2
- Week 4, Lecture #1
- Week 4, Lecture #2
- Week 4, Lecture #3
- Week 4, Lecture #3
- Week 4, Lecture #4
- Week 4, Lecture #5
- Week 4, Lecture #6
- Week 4, Lecture #7
- Week 4, Lesson #8
- Week 4, Lesson #9
- Week 4, Lesson #10
- Week 4, Lesson #11
- Week 4, Lesson #12
- Week 4, Lesson #13