Training of public health and preventive medicine physicians in evidence-based alternative and complementary health practices: A model program for academic medicine

There is a growing need in the US for primary care and public health physicians with knowledge and skills necessary to formulate treatment plans and public health policy that promote the health and well-being of patients and include evidence-based complementary therapies. The University of Michigan School of Public Health Preventive Medicine Residency (PMR) is one of twelve awardees of a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop an integrative medicine program within the PMR (PMRIMP) curriculum. The PMRIMP objectives include developing a required primary care and public health rotation in integrative medicine that utilizes community-based integrative medicine practice sites, including those that target under-served and culturally diverse populations. PMR faculty participate in an existing inter-professional program for faculty development in integrative healthcare to support residency learning. The PMRIMP incorporates evidence-based and experiential content about complementary approaches into required core residency seminars. The PMRIMP is unique in its approach in that it provides integrated competency-based curricula incorporating preventive medicine and integrative medicine objectives, targets public health graduate students along with residents enrolled in preventive medicine seminars, and provides web-based training modules and seminars to teach integrative healthcare. Evidence-based applications include lifestyle modification and community health promotion strategies for multi-cultural populations. The PMRIMP curriculum is replicable and has a widespread and global applicability to other programs, as well as future primary care and public health settings. Information on the structure and format of this program, including competencies, activities, and program evaluations will be shared.