Dr. Eric Udell was recently invited to teach homeopathy in Guatemala . Udell spent the first weekend of September in Guatemala City , the Central American country's capital. While there he provided instruction to students of the Homeopathic School of the Americas.

The school, founded five years ago by Karl Robinson, M.D., a medical doctor from Texas who has been practicing homeopathy for thirty years, offers training in homeopathy to medical doctors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, and other health care providers in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Although Udell has spoken Spanish for many years and treats a number of Spanish-speaking patients in his practice, this was the first time he taught homeopathy in Spanish.

Udell presented cases that demonstrated the homeopathic method and helped hone the skills of the 25 students who have been studying with Dr. Robinson for the last four years. In order to accomplish this, Udell called on the assistance of SCNM resident physician, Dr. Barbara Ezrre, a native of Mexico , and SCNM fourth year student, Judy Hinojosa, a native of Ecuador . Ezrre and Hinojosa assisted Udell by translating enough cases to provide twelve hours of training to the students in Guatemala .

“Without their help,” Udell stated, “I could have never pulled together enough material in Spanish to teach for an entire weekend.”  

In keeping with the educational approach of the homeopathy program at SCNM, Udell presented the cases in an interactive format where the students were asked to “solve” the cases before them. His approach was a variation of what SCNM students are expected to do during homeopathic clinical rotations at SCNM's student clinic. The Guatemalan students were so pleased with Udell's approach that they commented to Robinson that, "Dr. Udell had been one of the very best teachers they had worked with in their four years of training, and hoped he would return to teach them again."

It was especially rewarding for Udell to be able to help with the homeopathic education of these Central American practitioners, especially since homeopathy is both effective and relatively inexpensive, making it very important for the health of these countries. Udell is a 2002 graduate of SCNM where he also completed a residency in Naturopathic family practice. In addition, he completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in homeopathy under Dr. Stephen Messer. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Homeopathic Medicine at SCNM and has a private practice in Tempe , Ariz.

In 2004, Udell was part of an American team, of the France-based Homeopaths Without Borders, who provided homeopathic medical care to tsunami victims in Sri Lanka .