Subseqent to his tenure at the Northumbria College, Ian completed The Dynamis School's two-year Advanced Diploma under the tutelege of Jeremy Sherr. Ian now runs practices in a large industrial British town and in a smaller rural market town.

For most of his adult life, Ian Townsend has been involved in education – first as a teacher, then as a teacher-trainer. His educational training led him into secondary (12-16) Science Education; educational technology ("toys for the boys" as one of his friends calls it!) and, latterly, Alternative Education.

For ten years, as a national consultant to the central Government Body, Ian was responsible for the training of nurses and midwives. While launching national initiatives into the usage of computer technology in nurse education, Ian and his partner discovered parenthood, natural childbirth, and relaxation – which for Ian was the start of the long slippery slope to homeopathy.

In 1982, Ian Townsend developed an interest in British homeopathic education – first as a consumer, then as a practitioner. Along with Bob Fordham and Dee McLachlan, he pioneered one of the first locally-based video-case courses for postgraduate practitioners.

Ian has taught at the London College of Classical Homoeopathy and at the Manchester College of Classical Homoeopathy. Ian is a founder and Clinical Director of the Sheffield School of Homeopathy. Since 1993, he has also been a Senior Tutor at the Scottish College of Homoeopathy in Glasgow.

When not practising or teaching homeopathy, Ian Townsend can be found wondering if his 17 year-old daughter will ever stop practising her flute (on weekends he sees, or more appropriately "hears" five hours daily non-stop practice). Ian is getting his own back by trying (accent the "trying") to learn to play alto sax, and sampling his collection of malt whiskies. He's also been known to spend hours on the end of e-mails . . .