The Department of Family Medicine, in collaboration with the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, the UCI Health Family Health Centers and the Orange County community, is developing a new model of primary care. The Family Medicine Residency Program’s track in Integrative Medicine (IM) is a unique program designed to offer additional education and training in the diagnosis and treatment of primary care patients using the tools and philosophies of integrative medicine.
Our goals are to improve the quality of life and health outcomes for patients at the family health centers in Anaheim and Santa Ana and to increase access to integrative medicine resources for our underserved patient community.
We also strive to change the focus of healthcare and medical education for our residents, medical students and faculty to include a multidisciplinary, patient-centered approach that emphasizes wellness, prevention and self-care skills, and the adoption of the principles for creating optimal healing environments.
The curriculum for this special training track is taught in a longitudinal fashion over the course of the three-year program, with various educational elements integrated into the standard family medicine residency curriculum. At the core of the program is a web-based series of award-winning teaching modules, part of the Integrative Medicine in Residency program made accessible to our residents in collaboration with University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine (ACIM).
Educational information from this online program is complemented by a variety of on-site interactive and experiential learning activities. This track addresses a number of key elements of holistic care that are often overlooked in traditional medical school curricula, including nutrition, mind-body medicine, the evidence-based use of herbal medicine and supplements, acupuncture, a focus on patient-centered communication, self-care and the importance of a healing environment.
Students interested in this track should follow the usual residency applications procedures. There is no separate match application for this track.
When arranging your interview, simply indicate that you have an interest in learning more about the IM residency track.
You can indicate at that time if you would like to be considered for acceptance into the track.
David Kilgore, MD
For any questions regarding our courses, please email ssihi@hs.uci.edu.