Lee Lipsenthal, MD, chair of the American Board of Holistic Medicine (ABHM) reports that this certifying group for MDs and DOs now has 847 diplomates since the exam was first offered in 2000. Roughly 120 new physicians a year sit for the exam, according to Lipsenthal. The 2006 review course, which precedes the exam, is being offered this year through a partnership with Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. He reports that ABHM is presently negotiating with a publisher over rights to publish the organization's course syllabus. Lipsenthal's own work continues to focus on helping physicians gain health, through his Finding Balance courses.
Speaking of balance, a report to the Integrator from the American Medical Student Association/Foundation (AMSA) on the organization's 5-year R-25 education grant from the NIH NCCAM includes notice that its Heal the Healer online module is proving a useful tool for students at the six participating medical schools. The module is now open to the general public (click here to view it). One focus of the AMSA grant, now in its final year, has been the development of a leadership training program for medical students with an interest in CAM. Roughly 80 students from 57 medical schools have participated in this educational and networking program which has included a retreat. Involved students are then able to receive small grants to assist their efforts in creating CAM programing in their schools. The program's principal investigator is Joan Hedgecock, who can be directly contacted at .
EDCAM pilot school Principal Investigators, Co-PIs of the EDCAM project. (Left-Right): Emily Ferrara, Univ. of Massachusetts; Mary Guerrera, Univ. of Connecticut; Gautam Desai, Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences; Henri Roca, Louisiana State University; Joan Hedgecock, AMSA & EDCAM PI; Bryan Bayles, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio; Stergios Roussos; EDCAM Evaluator; Desiree Lie, Univ. of California-Irvine; and David Rakel, Univ. of Wisconsin & EDCAM Co-PI.
Cleveland CC Partner, Truman Medical Center
Daniel Redwood, DC, shares with the Integratoran article on a two-year-old external training program for Cleveland Chiropractic College at Kansas City's Truman Medical Center-Lakewood. The agreement to establish the Wellness Center allows patients to utilize chiropractic services in this conventional hospital setting. Through the program, led by Chip Gowan, DC, 45 Cleveland Chiropractic interns have thus far helped manage patients under Gowan's supervision. The school requires an extensive application, credentialing and training process before authorizing students to participate. The Truman website notes that the wellness center offers "assessment, radiography, manual/manipulative therapy, therapeutic exercise, complimentary (sic) rehabilitation procedures, patient education and physiological therapeutics."
Michael Traub, ND, AANP Physician of the Year
Integrative Therapeutics, Inc.(ITI) has sponsored a post-graduate residency program through the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians through which a naturopathic physician will be placed in a selected integrative medicine clinic. ITI advisor and AANP board member Eileen Stretch, ND, helped create the program, working with ITI's general manager Richard Johnson ... Speaking of the AANP, Michael Traub, ND, DHANP was selected as Physician of the Year for 2006. Traub has held virtually every leadership position of note for the profession and has also been one of its leaders in developing relationships with the conventional medical community, especially through pioneering work at the North Hawaii Community Hospital ...
Pushing detox coverage post 911
The New York Times ran an Op-Ed piece on the health problems faced by individuals who worked at the Ground Zero site ("Poisoned Heroes" by Stan Altman, August 17, 2006). The article includes information on toxic loads found in patients in the Olive Leaf Wholeness Center integrative clinic, as well as the chelation therapy many receive. Altman, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, and an Olive Leaf volunteer, writes that the clinic's "practitioners have found that after three to four months of detoxification therapy, the afflicted Ground Zero workers see most of their symptoms diminish or disappear." He urges that some of the $1-billion of federal money to support victims be used for detox treatment. ...
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) announced August 16, 2006, that it has won against one of the defendants, Humana, in the giganticSolomon v. Anthem et al class action lawsuit. Humana agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with chiropractors and other non-MD providers. The ACA had argued that certain claims by chiropractors had been wrongly denied. In the settlement, Humana agreed to a series of changes in practices relative to chiropractors about which ACA president Richard Brassard, DC, says: "More importantly, we are heartened that Humana has committed to improving its business practices." Action is still pending with other defendants which plaintiffs are now seeking to expand to include United Healthcare and its CAM management affiliate, ACN Group.
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) announced August 16, 2006, that it has won against one of the defendants, Humana, in the gigantic
