Biography

Dr. Mitcheson serves the Herbal Academy as an advisor and Lead Medical Educator, contributing to course development on the subjects of botany, anatomy, and physiology. Alongside his work with the Herbal Academy, he is the Medical Director of Bay State Clinical Trials, Physician and President of Bay State Urologists, and a surgeon at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Named after Henry David Thoreau and born and raised in Northumberland, the most northerly region of England, Dr. Henry David Mitcheson grew up in a sea coast fishing village with beautiful woodlands and the moors and hills of the Cheviots. From an early age he and his Aunt Reta would explore the countryside together. She was what he now recognizes as a natural herbalist. With great reverence and respect for nature, she would identify and gather fresh herbs that grew wild–plants like mugwort, wild onion, plantain, dandelion, and berries of all sorts. She was a masterful cook and understood how to use these harvested plants as food and medicine. As a young child, he learned how to identify herbs at the side of his aunt, and it was there that he grew the desire to learn more about plant life, a desire which has never left him. At the age of 15, he became a beekeeper and wrote a botanical treatise titled, “The pollen loads of the honey bee.” Before attending medical school, Dr. Mitcheson received a diploma in botany with a distinction for his treatise; he also received a diploma in advanced biology. Inspired by these early experiences in botany and folk herbalism, Dr. Mitcheson brought an emphasis on bedside manner and holistic approaches to his medical school and residency years. With over 50 years years of practice, Dr. Mitcheson still maintains his deep interest in botany and builds a personal compilation of the flowering plants of Horn Pond and Horn Pond Mountain in his spare time. As a hobbyist, he dabbles in beekeeping off and on, and has shared this passion through locally-instructed beekeeping classes at the Herbal Academy schoolhouse. Alongside his role as the Herbal Academy’s Lead Medical Educator, contributing to herbalism course curriculum, Dr. Mitcheson is a clinical associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA and former instructor at Yale University and Edinburgh University. He has guest lectured at numerous hospitals and universities across New England including Yale University, New England Medical Center, Boston Cancer Research Association, Brown University and has been published in the British Medical Journal, British Journal of Cancer, Journal of Pathology, Clinical Oncology, Oncology Times, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Journal of Urology, Environmental Health Perspectives, and New England Journal of Medicine, among others. Dr. Mitcheson holds membership with several professional societies including the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, American College of Surgeons, Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction, and is an active committee member of the Physician Health Committee. Degrees and Diplomas: F.A.C.S., American College of Surgeons, 1985 M.D., Doctorate by Thesis, Newcastle University, 1984 Diplomat, American Board of Urology, 1984 F.L.E.X., 1982 F.R.C.S., Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, 1976 E.C.F.M.G., 1975 M.B., B.S., Newcastle University, 1971 Certifications: American Board of Urology, 1984 Accreditation of Higher Surgical Training in Urology, UK, 1984 Medical Licensure, State of Massachusetts, (#48820), 1982 Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, 1976 Medical Licensure, United Kingdom, (#1473940), 1972