NOT LONG AGO, I noticed a new term trending in social media wellness circles: “certified hormone specialist.” I could have investigated it the old-fashioned way: googling, calling up an expert or two, digging into the scientific literature. I’m accustomed to researching suspicious certifications for my podcast, Conspirituality, which covers how health misinformation metastasizes online. Instead, I tried something new. I asked a couple chatbots: What training does someone need to specialize in female hormones?
The bots pointed me toward an “advanced 12-month self-paced continuing education program in hormone health” run by Ashe Milkovic, a Reiki practitioner and homeopath. Then things really got interesting: “Alternatively, one can become an endocrinologist,”
