title: Teaching Integrative Medicine to Residents: A Focus on Populations Rather Than Individual Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Integrative medicine (IM) is by its very definition patient centric: "It reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches." Best methods for teaching IM in residency have not been well described.
  
  
  METHODS
  An IM curriculum for preventive medicine (PM) residents was thoughtfully developed and iteratively revised using Kern's six-step approach. The centerpiece of this curriculum was to have learners work collaboratively within teams on projects that would facilitate IM-focused care within primary care practices. Before embarking on specific IM-related projects, residents immersed themselves within the practices to understand the needs of the community.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight PM residents have participated in the curriculum in the last 3 years, and 27 unique physician preceptors served as mentors for the projects. Both residents and preceptors enjoyed working on the projects, and both groups considered the work to be a valuable educational pursuit. Common IM content areas covered by the projects dealt with interprofessional collaboration, health promotion, and population-based prevention. Although there were challenges associated with implementation of the projects, overcoming these enhanced the PM residents' confidence and ability to serve as agents of change.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An IM curriculum was successfully incorporated into a PM residency program. The focus on serving the community, or a population health approach, may not be the most common approach in IM, but it worked effectively to enhance the IM knowledge and skills of PM residents.
authors.affiliation: General Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Electronic address: schaudr1@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Sajida S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chaudry
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Maura J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.affiliation: General Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Clarence
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: General Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hatef
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: General Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Miriam H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Alexander
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D013663:Teaching / Q000592:standards*