Mentorship Program
PREREQUISITES for joining the mentorship
To ensure we all have the same basic language and concepts so we can move forward more smoothly into more specialized information, we require the following prerequisites. Please consider carefully if you have completed these prerequisites. That is something you can gauge better than we can. You will need to have learned the following, and to let us know when and where you learned it:
- Graduated from an established program in Āyurveda that is at least one year in duration, or equivalent. Such a program should have covered (and you should be you comfortable with) Āyurvedic foundational principles including Ayurvedic anatomy & physiology (subdoṣas, dhātus, malas, upadhātus, srotāṃsi, agni, āma, etc.) the stages of Āyurvedic nutrition, saṃprāpti, etc. Please look at the, “course structure” outline and topics for our Foundations of Ayurveda Part I and Foundations of Ayurveda Part II online courses. You should be thoroughly comfortable with those topics.
- Have a working knowledge of Western anatomy & physiology (A&P). This can be achieved through Western A&P courses offered as part of a year-long Ayurveda program or through separate courses taken at a community college, university or some other comparable way. You don’t need to have mastered this information, but you need to be comfortable with the basics: the basic anatomy of cells, tissues, the skeleton, muscles and nervous tissue, what and where your organs and systems are, and their general functions.
- You should have clinical training and practice in your background and be: comfortable conducting an Ayurvedic assessment of a patient, developing a treatment plan and treating patients within your scope of practice. For example, the Ayurveda program you graduated from should have included training in differentiation of diseases, one-on-one supervision and training in applying theory to live patients, by working with patients and patient intake forms and practice with supervised case studies. You should be comfortable with S.O.A.P. note theory (that stands for “Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan” –it is a method of documentation employed by health care providers to write out notes in a patient’s chart–if you are not already familiar with each of those four terms in their medical context, please become so before applying to be part of the mentorship), filling out a rūgna patrakam [patient intake form, and Āyurvedic Assessment and Analysis], and in interacting with patients. You should be able to list, for any client, what you believe their prakṛti to be, their vikṛti to be, why you believe that, which subdoṣas, dhātus and srotāṃsi are involved; what you believe is the most elegant diagnosis and treatment plan for that patient.
- Completed either a women’s health weekend workshop with Dr. Welch, or our Women’s Health & Hormones Part I: Hormonal Balance & Stagnation online course. (If you took our Healthier Hormones online class before September 2019, that can substitute for Women’s Health & Hormones Part I) This requirement stands even if you are already a health care practitioner and even if you have taken other women’s health seminars other places.
- Women’s Health & Hormones Part II: Srotorodha & the 6 Therapeutic Principles follow up online course for clinicians. (If you participated in a mentorship program with Dr. Welch before September 2019, you are exempt from this requirement. However we recommend you take it anyway as it goes deeper into this material than we were able to do in any previous mentorship.
- Completely read Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and Wellness through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and Western Science by Dr. Claudia Welch.
- Completely read The Four Qualities of Effective Physicians: Practical Ayurvedic Wisdom for Modern Physicians by Dr. Claudia Welch.
Completing these prerequisites before the first Mentorship session will ensure we all have the same basic language and concepts in our backgrounds and will allow us to move forward more smoothly into more specialized information.
What do we learn?
Our 2021 program is planned to consist of 15 live 1 ½ hour Zoom sessions. 10 sessions (the Monday sessions) Dr. Welch would facilitate exploration of case studies and questions from participants related to theory and practice of Ayurveda. Five sessions (the Wednesday sessions) will be time for participants to share their biggest successes and, “failures” in clinical and theoretical application of Ayurveda, so we can all gain important practical experience–one of the four qualities of effective physicians, without having to make all the mistakes ourselves! Pre-recorded lectures are also made available to participants.
What is the cost? Refund Policy?
Our 2021 mentorship program is full. We like to offer these programs every couple years. Here were the costs the last bunch of times we ran this. They are likely to be similar in the future:
Discounts available for payments received by two weeks before start date.
- Early Bird discount: 1030 USD by credit card or PayPal account, or 1000 USD by check. Otherwise 1133 USD by credit card or PayPal, or 1100 USD by check after the early bird cut off.
- Mentorship alumni (students that have taken the mentorship program previously) discount $773 USD by credit card or PayPal account, or $750 by check.
How & When Do I Apply & Register?
We cap registration at 15 participants. Our 2021 Mentorship program is full.
After ensuring you’ve met all the program prerequisites, kindly contact us to let us know your interest at office@DrClaudiaWelch.com and sign up for our newsletter to be sure you receive news about the next mentorship program details. We intend to offer a program every couple years.
When Do We Start & What’s the Schedule?
We are foregoing a Mentorship run in 2023 because Dr. Welch needs to focus her attention on nurturing the Vedic Threads course she is scheduled to co-facilitate with Dr. Ramkumar through Satsangam.net. However, that Vedic Threads course should be a good option for anyone interested in the Mentorship program.
We are not sure when the next Mentorship will run but do contact us if you are interested in it so we can keep you posted re. the next run.
In 2021 the program design was 15 one and one half hour sessions. 10 of them devoted to case studies or questions from participants and five devoted to participants sharing stories of notable challenges and triumphs in clinical and daily life, in order so that we all could learn more quickly than having to make all the mistakes ourselves 🙂
You will have continual access to all class sessions and materials, for five months after your last class.
Contact us and let us know you would like to be kept posted about any details. In the meantime, be sure to look at the prerequisites, so you have time to complete those before the next run.
Does this program qualify for NAMA PACE credits?
What if I've taken a previous Mentorship Program with Dr. Welch, will this still benefit me?
We offer a discount for returning students. If you still have questions, encounter challenging cases, want to know further what you know and what you don’t, or to go deeper in your understanding, or enjoy good company and discussions, you may find more benefit. Many participants, including seasoned Ayurvedic Practitioners, have taken the Mentorship Program multiple times.
What if I have to miss a session or cannot attend at the set day or time?
We fully understand if a participant has to miss a scheduled session – or part of one. While there are no refunds for missed sessions, we intend to record the sessions so you can listen to them later, so you can make it up that way.
We will work to make the recordings available within a couple days of the live sessions.
What technological expertise and equipment do I need to be able to participate in the mentorship?
We plan to conduct the sessions via Zoom. So a computer and internet access is best, but you only need a way to call in to a conference number if that is what you have available. Once you register, you’ll be given specific instructions. To access recorded sessions, you will need a computer with internet access.
Access to Past Lectures and Case Studies
In the mentorships, Dr. Welch often makes previous relevant lectures available, at no extra cost, to current students, so they may access that information without taking up extra live time during current sessions. This adds extra lectures and value at no extra cost to you. You will have access to this information, along with your lectures and study sessions, until 5 months after the completion of your last class. Dr. Welch’s lectures and case studies covered in these mentorship sessions may also be edited and added to the libraries for future use.
Words From Former Students
Being mentored by Claudia in a small group setting was nothing short of magical. Our time was spent diving deep into the well of Ayurveda, exploring concepts and teachings that are at the root of our practice. It was so lovely to share this time with each of the participants as well; we may have been far apart in the physical sense but near in the ways of the heart. A beautiful way to learn and grow. – L.J.
Being a part of Dr Welch’s Mentorship Group has been such a rich experience for me. The depth of wisdom that Dr Welch generously shares is invaluable to any Ayurvedic practitioner. If you have been thinking about joining….no need to hesitate! It is a wonderful course. With gratitude, J.
If you are ready to take your studies to the next level, I strongly recommend Dr. Claudia’s Mentorship program. She is a brilliant teacher/student of Ayurveda and is somehow able to share this gift with us while at the same time being fully present and humble. I feel blessed that Dhanvantari allows our paths to cross again and again and that I am able to share this knowledge with my clients. If you can join a mentorship group just do it. I don’t know any other place for me where I can have the ear of such a gifted teacher in my continuing studies at home. – T.R.
What a wonderful opportunity… Dr. Claudia has the unique ability to help students at any level hone their understanding of Ayurveda and medicine. She is learned and skillful in the art of finding the right approach for each client and situation–I’ve learned so much from her and am so grateful. – K. G.
If you’re reading this statement, that means you’ve somehow come to learn about Dr. Claudia Welch. Congratulations for that. Knowing that I’ll probably never get a chance to support your life in any way other than writing this sentence: my hope is that you will consider reading her book, taking her online courses, attending a seminar, or any and all of the above. Good luck. – J. P.
I’ve done other online things before. I find the format and approach you’ve chosen works really well for me. I appreciate the …layout of the program, I like the forum, I like that I can listen to recordings over and over… I can’t think of anything that would improve things. As far as I’m concerned – you rocked the casbah on this.
Thank you so much for the amazing opportunity to be in the mentorship program. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to broaden and deepen my understanding, as well as develop more flexibility in my way of thinking about things from the Ayurvedic view. I appreciate that it re-enforced something I already know – that the Vedic sciences are very subtle and powerful medicine. I also loved learning more and more how to become medicinal in my thoughts, words and deeds – in my heart. I love you Dr. Claudia. Thank you from the depths of my being. I look forward to another mentorship program… God willing ❤ (representing Canada in the 2016 program)–M.W.
I wanted to let you both know how much I enjoyed and appreciated the mentorship program this winter. It was one of the highlights of the season, for sure. I miss it already and look forward to the next round. I am enjoying re-listening to some of the lectures and getting even more out of it. Thank you for keeping those available for awhile. Truly, it was a great experience and a brilliant offering. Love and happiness to you both…–Candice
It’s a shame that the mentorship is coming to an end. I really enjoyed it and learned a huge amount, I never expected to get so much out of it. A big thank you for everybody’s input. R.
I had no particular expectations of what I would learn from this course, but rather signed up because I knew being in the presence of Dr. Claudia and students drawn to her work would be deeply healing and supportive. It did not fail to deliver on that front. Because the study of Ayurveda is so different from the study of other things, it’s hard to boil down into objectives or topics—it’s all connected, and this mentorship underscored that fact beautifully. The stories shared by Dr. Claudia and all of the participants were full of practical knowledge and deep truths about the nature of our lives that I will carry with me in my practices and interactions with clients. Whether we examined with a case of krimi or insomnia, or a chronic lack of satisfaction in how we spend our time, we learned to approach it with the same curiosity and respect for the whole person in front of us, and the being(s) that are beyond our knowing but always with us directing the whole show. What stands out to me as a key takeaway from these weeks in community is that we, as ambassadors of Ayurveda, can be medicine in our very presence, and that living in alignment with the flow of the universe, and letting ourselves get caught in the current of love that surrounds us, is the greatest work we can hope to do. It gives us a lot of responsibility, and just as much possibility for freedom. Jennifer K.
I particularly loved the story Wednesdays, which was really different than the past mentorship which felt much more like an academic deep dive. Which I also loved. I think the balance of the case studies and the stories was a really sweet spot for me as a learner. Liz
New: Menopause Chronicles, an honest conversation about transformation with Dr. Claudia Welch and friends.