Why should people embark on a career in natural health?
There’s never been a better time to study natural medicine. Australia’s complementary medicine health sector has seen considerable growth in the past five years and is now a $5.6 billion industry. It continues to outpace growth in the broader economy and with a strong consumer focus on preventative healthcare, the future looks bright for our students and graduates. In addition to clinical practice, graduates have countless non-practitioner careers available to them. These natural-health specialist careers range from content creation to education to consulting and advising. With such a variety of careers available, Endeavour College graduates have the luxury of designing their careers to fit their passions, aspirations and lifestyles.
You are launching some new short courses this year that focus on nutrition and wellbeing. What are they?
We’re really excited about our new nutrition and wellbeing short courses as we believe that knowledge surrounding natural health should be accessible to everyone. They’ve been designed both for natural-health enthusiasts testing the waters prior to embarking on a degree program and for those purely interested in improving their own physical and mental health. Our industry-leading, intuitive learning platform allows students to study entirely online, in their own time, at their own pace. In as little as 15-20 hours, students can complete a short course from our Nutrition suite including topics such as Nutrition essentials; The gut microbiome; Eating disorders; Nutrition for Weight Loss; or Food and the environment. Or they can choose courses from our Mental Health and Wellness offerings, which cover topics such as Introduction to wellness coaching; Critical thinking and problem solving; Advanced wellness practices and more. Students can study courses individually or as a bundle with other short courses, to get a bite-sized taste of what our more extensive Undergraduate Certificate, Diploma and Bachelor of Health Science courses have to offer if they wish to turn their passion into a career.
What are your most popular courses?
Our Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy) is one of our popular degrees. Graduates from this degree — as well as many of our others — can work as practitioners in their own clinic or a multi-modality clinic alongside other clinicians. Many graduates are now taking their clinical practice to the client by offering mobile services as well as online using digital technology to access clients at a distance.
We have also seen a huge spike in our acupuncture course over the past two years, as interest in traditional Chinese medicine has been steadily growing in Australia; the COVID-19 pandemic has created an even further spike in demand. To support this demand, Endeavour launched three new Chinese medicine courses in February, including our Diploma of Health Science (Chinese Remedial Massage), Bachelor of Health Science (Acupuncture Therapies) and Bachelor of Health Science (Chinese Medicine). The courses have been designed to meet our students’ changing needs, with a focus on improving career and employment opportunities for graduates.
What role do you think mindfulness plays in natural health?
Research shows that making time for a regular mindfulness practice may help improve cognition, focus and productivity, create a buffer against burnout, and reduce anxiety, depression and stress. But that’s not all! It can decrease binge eating and substance abuse and is also effective against reducing procrastination, which we’ve all been guilty of at some point. Mindfulness can even fend off neural degeneration typically associated with ageing, and consistent practice can instigate positive change in the regions of the brain involved in executive functions like decision-making, goal-related behaviours, planning and self-regulation. No matter how we choose to practice mindfulness — whether it’s through yoga, meditation, or while preparing and enjoying nourishing meals — it’s important to build mindful moments into each day. It’s amazing just how many positive natural health benefits these simple practices can unlock.
What’s next for Endeavour College of Natural Health?
Endeavour will continue to expand our short course offerings over the coming months. In the meantime, we’ve also embarked on a campus renovation initiative to offer redesigned student teaching, breakout and group learning spaces, digital learning hubs and modern teaching clinics. We relocated our Brisbane Campus to a brand-new, bespoke location earlier this year with our Sydney and Melbourne Campuses undergoing major renovations as well. Our Gold Coast Campus is slated for renovations to be complete early next year. We’re really excited about these renovations and purpose-built improvements, as they’ve been designed to provide the best experience possible for our students and clients.
For more information about Endeavour College of Natural Health, visit endeavour.edu.au.
