Most modern medical professionals busy themselves dallying with the scientific method and peer-reviewed papers to learn more about treating the human body. Holistic medicine practitioners, on the other hand, take a somewhat wider approach, ditching the standard for the spiritual.

They're the rebels of the medical world, treating illness through a variety of methods you'll never see in your general practitioner's office. We're talking aromatherapy (smelling stuff), hypnotherapy ("follow the swinging pocket watch"), and herbology (didn't they study that at Hogwarts?), just to name a few.

 

It could be a bacterial infection that caused inflammation of the bronchial tubes, but your neighbor's drum set is definitely not helping. (Source)

As a general summary, holistic practitioners believe that disorders cannot simply be treated by handing someone a bottle of pills and sending them on their way. Instead, they think about it spiritually. 

They believe your entire environment contributes to your health, and therefore anything less than treating your entire environment is bound to only solve a fraction of the problem. Oh, you have a stressful relationship with your neighbors? That could be the cause of your chronic bronchitis.

Because of the diversity inherent to the holistic approach, salaries vary wildly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the average salary for what it considers "Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners" at $86,720 per year. However, depending on how you practice, that could be as low as fifteen spirit bucks (redeemable only on the spirit plane) or as high as $187,200 for physicians and surgeons who practice traditional medicine (source).

Though this might go without saying, people who want to dive into holistic practice should probably believe in it. For example, practices such as massage have yet to show any quantifiable medical benefits beyond muscle therapy (source). They'll still make you feel all warm and fuzzy and relaxed, though.

Though not the case for all holistic treatments, many are widely considered to fall under the superstition umbrella (don't open it indoors). These alternative treatments are often sought and practiced by alternative sorts of people.

In the spirit (no pun intended) of breaking from the beaten path, holistic education tends to be just as typical—or nottypical—as the practice itself.

Certain colleges offer bachelor's degrees in complementary and alternative health or master's degrees in holistic studies. These can be a great starting point, but it's likely that you'll need to specialize from there. 

More often than not, specializing means certifications that can vary from state to state and practice to practice. We'd recommend figuring out exactly how and where you want to practice holistic medicine, then research the requirements for that state before doing anything.

 

Hm...maybe there should be an app for that overlap. (Source)

Now, while you might be worried about stepping into this field when most people you talk to are clearly into that whole "actual M.D." kind of doctoring, that doesn't mean there's not enough business out there to keep you practicing. 

Almost forty percent of people use alternative medicine to some degree (source). Compare that to twenty-five percent of phone-owning Americans who own iPhones, and all of a sudden it'll feel like holistic practitioners and their clients are everywhere.

The forty percent number is still a little high, though. Most sicklings who fall into that category are peppering in things like acupuncture treatments, herbal remedies, and massage therapy in addition to their regular office visits. But all that peppering means profit for your holistic practice.

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