Integrative Medicine
Integrative medicine seeks to restore and maintain health and wellness by understanding the patient's unique set of circumstances and addressing the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences affecting health. Using conventional, complementary and alternative medicine modalities, integrative medicine seeks to address not just immediate health problems, but also the deeper causes of disease, illness prevention and the development of healthy behaviors and skills that can be used throughout a patient's life.
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As with any wellness support, it is important for fully research and form your own opinion on whether Integrative Medicine is right for you in partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.
Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
Principles of Integrative Medicine
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Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
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All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.
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Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.
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Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.
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Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.
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Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.
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Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
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Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles, be models of health and healing, and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.
Principles of Integrative Medicine
Resource Links
Dr. Andrew Weil helped establish the field of integrative medicine after receiving his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1968. He is the Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona.
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Practitioner Links
Below is a list of integrative medicine practitioners used by Connect4Hope community members or the people featured in our Stories of Hope.
The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona is the leading effort in the world to develop a comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine. Graduates serve as directors of integrative medicine programs around the United States, and through its Fellowship, the Center has been training doctors and nurse practitioners for 20 years. The Center also trains other licensed practitioners through it's 6-month IHELP program and offers residency training in family medicine, pediatrics and other specialities. This is the link to a directory of graduates from the Center's Fellowship and IHeLp programs and will help you find an integrative medicine practitioner in your geographic area.
Only able to see patients who live in Tuscon, Arizona. Integrative physicians provide consultations for patients with a variety of medical conditions, from chronic conditions to cancer. They also make recommendations for preventative care.