Response to a proposal for an integrative medicine curriculum

Background: A paper entitled "Core Competencies in Integrative Medicine for Medical School Curricula: A proposal," published in Academic Medicine, stimulated a broad discussion among complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) educators. This discussion led to a formal process for responding to the issues raised by the paper. Methods: Representatives from the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC) and the Oregon Collaborative for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (OCCIM) formed the ACCAHC/OCCIM Task Force to participate in a Delphi process of consultation and deliberation. This process led to a broad, cross-discipline agreement on important points to include in a response to the integrative medicine (IM) curriculum proposal. Results: Five key areas of concern emerged: (1) the definition of IM as presented in the paper; (2) lack of clarity about the goals of the proposed IM curriculum; (3) lack of recognition of the breadth of whole systems of health care; (4) omission of competencies related to collaboration between MDs and CAM professionals in patient care; and (5) omission of potential areas of partnership in IM education. Conclusions: A major overall theme emerging from the Delphi process was a desire for closer collaboration between conventional medical schools and CAM academic institutions in developing IM curricula. Several cross-disciplinary venues for addressing the Delphi Task Force themes include the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine's R-25 Initiatives, and the National Education Dialogue. OCCIM is presented as an example of a successful lateral integration approach.