We live in a time of increasing diversity of food, spirituality, language, culture, and medicine. As people move from place to place they bring with them their own definition of what it means to be healthy, their beliefs of how illness happens, and their tools to facilitate healing. This direct and personal blending of skills and perspectives is further advanced by travel of the written word itself. However, information that is a gift can also be a curse. Overwhelmed by massive amounts of information of varying quality and confused by agendas of the providers of that information, people are often left stunned; unable to access the health care they need to heal.

Purpose: The Center for Integrative Medicine is dedicated to providing quality resources on clinical offerings of Integrative Medicine. This may be in the form of links to clinical centers, media events, products, and educational products. We exist to forward the cause of Integrative Medicine and to make its services more readily available to the many people seeking this type of health care.

What is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative Medicine cares for the whole person; mind, body, spirit, and emotion. It directs healing at the root of a problem while treating symptoms. It brings together wisdom of the West with that of the East. It merges what technology and modern science have taught us with traditional healing practices. It blends the art of human relationship with the tools of diverse healing systems. It considers the impact of all aspects of life on health including; environmental, relational, social, economic and geographic. While many definitions of Integrative Medicine exist, at The Center for Integrative Medicine we hold the word integrative as equal in importance to the word medicine. Separation continues to feed the idea of duality, of us versus them, of better or worse. The goal is to take what is the best from the current dominant paradigm of allopathic or conventional medicine, and to expand its usefulness while minimizing its negative attributes. The goal is also to bring in other wisdom and healing traditions and what they offer, not instead of but in addition to, conventional western medicine.

We believe Integrative Medicine is the future of medicine.

Examples of conditions (using conventional medicine diagnoses) in which Integrative Medicine may be useful include:

Anxiety

Arthritis

Asthma

Autoimmune diseases

Cancer

Dementia

Depression

Diabetes

Digestive issues

Fatigue

Gynecologic conditions

Heart problems

High Blood Pressure

Hormonal imbalance

Infectious diseases

Lung disease

Optimal Health

Pain of any kind

Skin conditions

Sleep disorders

Substance abuse

Weight challenges

Tools and modalities used by an Integrative Medicine approach may include:

Acupuncture

Biofeedback

Chiropractic care

Craniosacral therapy

Energy Medicine like Reiki, Healing Touch, Barbara Brennan technique

Healing environment

Herbal medicine

Homeopathy

Massage or bodywork like Rolfing, Reflexology, Shiatsu

Medications

Mind-body skills like Hypnosis, Meditation, Guided Imagery

Movement therapy like Tai-chi, Qi-gong, Yoga

Music

Nutrition

Osteopathic manipulation

Physician consultation

Psychotherapy

Self-empowerment

Spiritual practice

Supplements

Surgery

Therapeutic relationship

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Academic Medicine, also known as university or institutions of higher learning in the health sciences, is becoming very involved in this Integrative Medicine movement and its goal to optimize health care. This is significant not only because many people receive their care at clinics and hospitals affiliated with academic health care centers, but also because much of the medical research done in this country takes place in such institutions. Also, most health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, dietitians, pharmacists, and physical therapists are educated at academic centers. A large organization known as the Consortium for Academic Health Centers in Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) is key to the advancement of Integrative Medicine in academic medical centers in the United States and Canada.

Definition of Integrative Medicine Developed and Adopted CAHCIM:

Integrative Medicine is the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.

Members of CAHCIM as of 2007:

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Continuum Center for Health and Healing

Columbia University
Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for
Complementary & Alternative Medicine

Duke University
Duke Center for Integrative Medicine

Georgetown University
http://gumc.georgetown.edu/departments/mcgrad/index.html
http://som.georgetown.edu/cam
http://som.georgetown.edu/

George Washington University
Center for Integrative Medicine

Harvard Medical School
Osher Institute

Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Laval University
Integrated Approach in Prevention

Mayo Clinic
Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program

McMaster University
Family Practice Centre of Integrative Health and Healing

Oregon Health and Science University
Women's Primary Care and Integrative Medicine, Center for Women's Health
www.ohsuwomenshealth.com/services/doctors/integrative.html

Stanford University
Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine
www.stanfordhospital.com/clinicsmedServices/clinics/complementaryMedicine/default

Thomas Jefferson University
Jefferson Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine
jeffline.jefferson.edu/jmbcim
www.jeffersonhospital.org/cim

Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health
www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/integrative_health/

Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Program for Holistic & Integrative Medicine
http://www1.wfubmc.edu/phim/

Yale University
Integrative Medicine @ Yalecam.yale.edu

Yale Prevention Research Center
http://yalegriffinprc.org/

University of Alberta
Complementary and Alternative Research and Education (CARE)
www.care.ualberta.ca/

University of Arizona
Program in Integrative Medicine
www.integrativemedicine.arizona.edu

University of Calgary
Canadian Institute of Natural & Integrative Medicine
www.cinim.org

University of California, Irvine
Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine
www.sscim.uci.edu

University of California, Los Angeles
Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine
www.uclamindbody.org

University of California, San Francisco
Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
www.osher.ucsf.edu

University of Colorado
The Center for Integrative Medicine
www.uch.edu/integrativemed

University of Connecticut
School of Medicine
http://health.uchc.edu/clincialservices/
integrativemed/index.htm

University of Hawaii-Manoa
John A. Burns School of Medicine
Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
www.jabsom.hawaii.edu/jabsom

University of Kansas
Program in Integrative Medicine
http://integrativemed.kumc.edu/

University of Maryland
Center for Integrative Medicine
www.compmed.umm.edu

University of Massachusetts
Center for Mindfulness
www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Institute for Complementary & Alternative Medicine
www.umdnj.edu/icam

University of Michigan
Integrative Medicine
www.med.umich.edu/umim

University of Minnesota
Center for Spirituality and Healing
www.csh.umn.edu

University of New Mexico
Health Science Center
http://hsc.unm.edu/som/medicine/integrative_med/

Universityof North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Program on Integrative Medicine www.pim.med.unc.edu

University of Pennsylvania CAM at Penn
www.med.upenn.edu/penncam

University of Pittsburgh
Center for Integrative Medicine
http://integrativemedicine.upmc.com

University of Texas Medical Branch
UTMB Integrative Health Care
http://cam.utmb.edu/

University of Vermont College of Medicine
Program in Integrative Medicine
www.med.uvm.edu/integrativemedicine

University of Washington
UW Integrative Health Program
www.uwcam.org

University of Wisconsin-Madison
UW Integrative Medicine Program
www.uwhealth.org/integrativemed

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