This petition is now closed.
View a list of supporters of this statement HERE.
Dear colleagues and friends of homeopathy,
This is a request to add your signature to this Statement of Concern in support of accredited education as a certification requirement, along with the leadership of ACHENA, members of the Council of Homeopathic Schools & Colleges, other professional and membership organizations, and homeopathy practitioners.
On August 7, 2024, the Council for Homeopathic Certification (CHC) published a policy change. As of January 2025, the CHC exam candidate prerequisite of education from an accredited school is no longer required. In lieu of the completed curriculum from an accredited school, the CHC has announced that a candidate's education will be evaluated by the CHC Pre-Qualification Evaluation committee. Those whose education is deemed adequate will be approved to take the CHC exam.
We have prepared this
Statement of Concern to gather stakeholder community comments regarding this CHC change. For those who would like to review a full explanation of this complex situation before signing,
read this document.A collated list of the signatories of this statement, and their comments, will be provided to the Council for Homeopathic Certification (CHC) on August 19, 2024.
If there is an individual part of this statement you are not aligned with, you are still encouraged to sign it, while adding your comments below to further clarify your stance.
If you care about this issue, we encourage you to share this statement with your colleagues. Simply copy the URL at the top of your screen and paste it into an email to share with your fellow homeopathy stakeholders. Thank you.
In response to the CHC's August 7, 2024 published notification that the candidate prerequisite of accredited education is no longer required beginning January 2025,
WE THE UNDERSIGNED:
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Clearly state our support of accredited education as an important prerequisite for professional credentialing.
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Recognize the crucial link between accredited schools and well-trained, clinically competent practitioners, thus safeguarding the public and clients of certified practitioners.
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Observe that following the July 2024 resignation of the CHC president and 4 additional board members, a newly reformed CHC board immediately published this change to longstanding, community-evolved policies without prior involvement of, or discussion with, the CHC’s own stakeholders. This new policy directly opposes the prior board's strategic direction.
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Note our concern that the CHC leadership is taking homeopathy out of line with expected professional best practices. We find no comparable modern healthcare professions whose credentialing does not require accredited training.
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Convey our deep concern that this change denigrates the quality and value of the CCH credential for those who hold it. Those who qualified to take the CHC exam under the previous eligibility criteria were held to a more rigorous standard than those who will be qualifying to take the CHC exam in the coming years.
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Explicitly request the CHC to reverse this policy change immediately, maintain the requirement of accredited training as an exam candidate prerequisite, and moving forward, commit to properly engaging its stakeholders in the discernment of significant policy changes before implementing them.
While we acknowledge the CHC's autonomy to manage its mission as best decided by its staff, board, advisors, and committee members, we as stakeholders claim recourse as the CHC pursues a path which we do not support. Our options may include withdrawal of our support from the CHC's mission in any or all of the following ways that best support the homeopathy profession and consumers. These may include but are not limited to:
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Expressing our concerns regarding this policy change to the CHC's accreditor, the Institute for Credentialing Excellence.
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Proactively redirecting graduates from accredited schools to another form of credential, away from the CCH credential and toward a credential that requires accredited training.
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Emphasizing the importance that accredited training once brought to the CCH credential, and encouraging all active CCH certificants to reconsider their support of the CHC in light of this policy change:
- through their public use of the credential
- through their annual renewal later this year
The individual and organizational signers of this statement appreciate the responsibility that all of us, within and outside of the CHC, share as stewards of the homeopathy profession. While we do hope these concerns about accredited training can be resolved promptly and amicably, we also encourage each one to follow their conscience with actions most in line with what they believe will support continued growth, professionalism, and expanded access to homeopathy.
Thank you for standing in unity with homeopathy stakeholders and signing this Statement of Concern.