Yale CME Home:  Past Events:

Past Events

Successful Offering of the “1st Annual Integrative Medicine Symposium”

Rachel Friedman, MS V, Bernie Siegel, MD, Lawrence Vitulano, MD. Photo by Julia O’Sullivan

On April 2, 2008, Integrative Medicine at Yale held its 1st Annual Scientific Symposium, entitled ‘Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Evidence for Integration’. An overflow crowd of nearly 160 participants attended the conference at The Anlyan Center for Medical Education and Research. The symposium, accredited for 7.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™, began what is hoped to be a long tradition at the Yale School of Medicine.

The Course Directors, Lawrence Vitulano PhD, Associate Clinical Professor, Child Study Center and Yale School of Medicine; Rachel Friedman, MS V, Yale School of Medicine; and Ather Ali ND, MPH, Assistant Director of Integrative Medicine, Yale–Griffin Prevention Research Center and Yale School of Medicine, and Anne O’Connor, BSN, MS, Research Nurse Coordinator, YCCI-HRU/Yale New Haven Hospital, designed the program that featured 25 renowned experts in Complementary/Alternative Medicine Research, clinical care, and the fields of mind-body Medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and more.

Ather Ali, ND, David Katz, MD, Josh Levitt, ND. Photo by Julia O’Sullivan

The course directors structured the day to include research oral and poster presentations, panels focused on clinical care models, and interactive workshops. Keynote addresses from Bernie Siegel MD, and David Katz MD, MPH highlighted distinct areas of CAM and the schedule offered the opportunity for open, but structured discussion to allow participants to share perspectives and expertise, as well as to build interest and support networks.

Workshops included the use of Reiki in Conventional Medical Settings; a Labyrinth Walking Mediation to Integrate Body, Mind and Spirit; The Art of Healing: How Dreams and Drawings of Patients Reveal Information About Psyche; Use of Hypnosis in the Pediatric Settings; Mindfulness–Based Stress Reduction; Introduction of Qi Gong; Music Therapy; Natural and Traditional Medicine in Cuba; Clinical Integrative Models; and Chiropractic.

The learning objectives for those who attended the conference were:

• Describe therapeutic benefits and recent scientific evidence supporting a wide range of safe and practical complementary treatments, including acupuncture, massage, yoga, meditation, nutrition and exercise
• Describe how complementary therapies are used as part of an integrative approach to treat and prevent acute and chronic illness
• Assess the importance of regular renewal and self–care for the health care provider
• Identify and discuss barriers to CAM use, practice and research, as well as propose ways of overcoming these barriers
• Identify areas and opportunities for future research, mentorship, and collaboration
• Establish a community and network of like–minded students, practitioners, and researchers from a variety of disciplines

In November 2006, with the support of the Dean of Yale School of Medicine, Yale joined Harvard, UCSF, Columbia, and the other top–tiered US medical schools in the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine in an acknowledgement of the commitment of individuals at Yale to education, research, and clinical practice of integrative medicine.

Photo by Julia O’Sullivan

Integrative Medicine at Yale was then established in February 2007 by an interdisciplinary group of Yale faculty and students, in response to the growing interest among many members of the community in addressing the potential efficacy of complementary therapies, the importance of rigorous, open–minded research into these therapies, and the notion of an integrative healthcare system that combines the best evidence–based therapeutics from both allopathic and non–allopathic systems.

This course was created as the first academic forum that showcased Yale–based CAM research and integrative models of medical care, educating practitioners with credible and reliable information about CAM therapies, and providing an opportunity for community building and future research collaboration.

Planning has begun for the 2nd Annual conference, to be held on April 3 and 4, 2009.