What is IM/IH?

Integrative Medicine (IM) is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.

The Defining Principles of Integrative Medicine

  1. Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
  2. All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.
  3. Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.
  4. Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.
  5. Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.
  6. Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.
  7. Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
  8. Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.

We Put IM Principles in Practice

Some of the key ways we practice the principles of IM include:

  1. Educating practitioners from all over the world through the Fellowship, IHELP and Coaching
  2. Offering our online courses with CME to everyone -- with a new course on Pain Management
  3. Including training for Residents in Family Medicine, Pediatrics and other programs
  4. Conducting Research on the impact of the built environment on health as well as the cost effectiveness of integrative primary care and other fields.
  5. Promoting Health &Wellbeing -- through education for all licensed providers and helping people Find an Integrative Practitioner