Sierpina, Victor

Content on integrative healthcare and complementary and alternative medicine is being taught in hundreds of educational programs across the country. Nursing, medical, osteopathic, chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathic, and other programs are finding creative and innovative ways to include these approaches in new models of education and practice. This column spotlights such innovations in integrative healthcare and CAM education and presents readers with specific educational interventions they can adapt into new or ongoing educational efforts at their institution or programs. We invite readers to submit brief descriptions of efforts in their institutions that reflect the creativity, diversity, and interdisciplinary nature of the field. 

The overall objective of our educational program is to facilitate evidence informed practice (EIP) among CAM practitioners. Through the practice of EIP, we aim to educate research-literate Content on integrative healthcare and complementary and alternative medicine is being taught in hundreds of educational programs across the country. Nursing, medical, osteopathic, chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathic, and other programs are finding creative and innovative ways to include these approaches in new models of education and practice. 

The NCCAM-funded R25 project has provided the impetus for meaningful culture change at Northwestern Health Sciences University (NWHSU) which, over the long term, can affect the professional culture of our CAM constituents. Benefiting from a unique collaboration with the University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing, we are making substantial progress in developing our CAM professionals' research-related skill sets so that they may truly learn and practice in evidence informed ways.