Austere Medicine (pronounced aw-steer) – the practice of remote field medicine in wilderness, post-disaster situations and emergency situations. 

This week on Everything You Didn’t Know About Herbalism, we are featuring the best-selling author, US Army and US Special Forces Medic Veteran, clinical herbalist, austere medicine specialist, wilderness survival expert, and all-around badass, Sam Coffman. Listen in as Thomas and Sam dive into an engaging conversation surrounding what austere medicine is, why this realm of study is invaluable to every survival-enthusiast and herbalist alike, and how a bit of herbal education, wilderness experience, and a survivalist mindset could very well save someone’s life someday–-even your own!

As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism. 

Learn more about Sam below! ⬇

🌲 Sam Coffman (MSAOM, L.Ac., RH[AHG], W-EMT) began his medical education in the US Army as a Green Beret Medic (18D) in 1989. Over the years that followed, he dedicated himself to being able to work with botanical medicine as a successful method to provide sustainable health care in remote and post-disaster regions for chronic, acute, and physical trauma care. Since that time, Sam has taught herbalism for over 30 years and has worked as a clinical herbalist for over 15 years. His herbal and acupuncture clinic/apothecary are now located in Taos, NM along with his school.  

In 2007, Sam founded Herbal Medics Academy (AKA The Human Path), which offers five primary herbalism programs – Clinical Herbalism, Austere Medicine, Advanced Medicine Making, Community Herbalism, and Family Herbalism. Sam has developed over 1200 hours of curriculum, in addition to other curricula developed by the 20 instructors working for his school part-time. As a few of the curriculum highlights of his school, Sam teaches the integration of herbal medicine with both functional medicine and austere medicine together with two medical doctors who also specialize in those areas. At the new Taos campus, Sam teaches many on-site medicine courses including WFA and WFR certification, CERT certification, wilderness survival, TECC certification, and a 12-day Herbal and Off-Grid Medicine Experience (HOME) course together with Dr. Steve Pehrson MD. Sam and his wife Suchil also co-founded Herbal Medics in 2011, which is an outreach organization that gives their students and interns an opportunity to work in the field while providing free health care and education to underserved communities. They have worked in Nicaragua, Mexico, and all over the USA to provide post-disaster relief and free herbal clinics, education, and sustainable medicine/food projects for underserved communities. 

Sam currently serves on the board of Taos Search and Rescue (TSAR) and is also part of the canine search and rescue team together with his Belgian Tervuren dog, Lucy. His book, Herbal Medic, has been in the top 3 best-selling books for Storey Publishing for the past 2 years. His new book under Storey Publishing is titled, Survival Gardening, and is being released in January 2025.

⛑️ Find out how you can get your hands on a copy of Sam’s best-selling book below!

Herbal Medic: A Green Beret's Guide to Emergency Medical Preparedness & Natural First Aid

🌾 Preorder a copy of Sam’s upcoming book releasing in January 2025 below!

Survival Gardening: Grow Your Own Emergency Food Supply, from Seed to Root Cellar

🏕️ Looking for gift ideas for the herbal survival-enthusiast loved one in your life?

Shop Sam’s Herbal First Aid Gear store!

Find Sam on his YouTube channel! @TheHumanPath

Find Sam on Instagram! @herbalmedicsam

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