Overview
Health Education to Advance Leaders in Integrative Medicine (HEAL-IM) is a UCI School of Medicine program designed to provide a future generation of physicians with additional training and skills in the tools and philosophies of integrative medicine.
This four-year longitudinal medical student program (with an optional fifth year of instruction) is dedicated to supporting the practice of evidence-based, compassionate, whole-person care to benefit the treatment of patients and families, our community and healthcare as a whole.
HEAL-IM incorporates a diverse set of teaching methods and resources, including:
- A set of nationally recognized online integrative medicine education modules
- Regular seminar and lecture series
- Experiential, practical skill-building workshops and activities
- Integrative patient case conferences
- Integrative practitioner clinical shadowing and care experiences
- Additional opportunities (see curriculum information below)
HEAL-IM medical students may also choose to spend an optional fifth year completing certified integrative medicine training (in acupuncture, osteopathic manipulation therapy, medical hypnosis, and culinary medicine) or pursuing a master’s degree supporting the effective implementation of future integrative medicine practices.
Goals & Objectives
HEAL-IM is designed to focus specifically on advancing integrative medicine research, education and clinical practice to promote individual and population wellness. We are driven by a mission to provide a sound foundation in the principles, philosophy and evidence-based practices of integrative medicine, setting the stage for future professional study and practice.
By the end of the program, students will be able to:
- Define current understanding of the principles, philosophy, practices and practitioners that comprise the practice of integrative medicine
- Demonstrate understanding of common integrative therapies, including their history, theory, proposed mechanisms, safety-and-efficacy profile, potential indications, benefits, risks and contraindications
- Summarize the evidence for how these foundational elements of health and wellness influence health and disease and, in particular, chronic disease.
Finally, they will join a growing community of mentors and leaders who together will advance innovations in integrative medicine.
Curriculum at a Glance
New HEAL-IM students will meet with the program’s faculty and leadership at the start of the school year to review expectations and aspects of curricular elements.
First and second-year students will participate in 90-minute monthly seminars and a workshop series that will include presentations by a rotating panel of UCI and integrative medicine community specialists on topics covering a range of integrative medicine practices and skills.
During the second, third and fourth years of the HEAL-IM curriculum, students will participate in a quarterly multidisciplinary patient-care conference. This will include patient case presentations by faculty in family medicine, osteopathy, nursing, naturopathy, as well as practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, chiropractic and Ayurvedic medicine. Fourth-year HEAL-IM students are each required to present one case during the year.
Throughout the four years of the program, HEAL-IM students also will complete a variety of online evidence-based education modules through the University of Arizona covering a broad span and scope of integrative medicine.
Module Topics
Module topics during the first year will include wellness, resiliency, nutrition, mind-body and exercise.
Module topics for year two will cover integrative medicine modalities and motivational interviewing. Various clinical topics will be covered in years three and four.
PACE Sites
First and second-year students also will have PACE sites (Patient-Centered Clerkship, a longitudinal clinical rotation that is designed to introduce clinical knowledge and skills to students and to integrate basic science training into the clinical setting) at integrative medicine clinic practices at UC Irvine Medical Center, the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute and in other offsite clinical locations in community.
Elective Experiences
Students in the HEAL-IM program are expected to participate in a fourth-year integrative medicine elective experience. This will include clinical rotations at integrative medicine clinical sites, completion of additional University of Arizona integrative medicine modules, attendance at a Tai Chi research lab, a yoga therapy clinic and completion of a three-to-five page reflection paper.
Throughout their medical school education, HEAL-IM students will be trained and mentored by physicians and providers with expertise in integrative medicine.
Application Process
To be considered for the HEAL-IM program, applicants first must be accepted to UCI School of Medicine. Upon acceptance to the medical school, a separate application will be available for prospective students.
Applications will be reviewed by the HEAL-IM interview committee and students selected for an interview will be contacted.
Faculty
David Kilgore, MD
Clinical Professor — Department of Family Medicine
Program Director — HEAL-IM
Director of Education — Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute
Director — Family Medicine Residency, Integrative Medicine
Shaista Malik, MD, PhD, MPH
Program Advisor — HEAL-IM
Associate Vice Chancellor, Integrative Health — Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences
Executive Director — Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute
Elaine Chen, MS
Program Coordinator — HEAL-IM
Integrative Medicine Program Analyst — Department of Family Medicine