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University of Arizona's Integrative Medicine In Residency: A Dream Realized
A new 250-hour integrative medicine residency training curriculum developed at the University of Arizona’s Program in Integrative Medicine, is being implemented at 8 major medical centers across the country, a major step forward for holistic health care education.
Vol. 9, No. 3. Fall, 2008
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Helping Women with Osteoarthritis: Share Your Clinical Experience!
New studies are showing that, like cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis affects women differently than it does men. Women tend to have more severe pain, in more joints simultaneously, and the diseaes often has a far greater psychosocial impact. To better understand how joint disorders affect women and to identify strategies that can improve care, Holistic Primary Care is collaborating with Joyn, makers of the SheaFlex 70 joint health supplement, and Everydayhealth.com, one of the nation’s largest online health communities, on a first-of-its-kind survey of doctors and patients. We invite your participation!
Vol. 9, No. 3. Fall, 2008
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Fee-for-Service, Concierge Practice: The Right Models for Holistic Care?
Despite the rapid growth of public interest in holistic medicine, and broader acceptance in medical circles, most Americans are hard-pressed to find physicians who provide comprehensive holistic care. Because most holistic services are not covered by insurance, doctors are obliged to develop new practice models outside the insurance framework. Fee-for-service and concierge care hold great appeal, but also present significant challenges.
Vol. 9, No. 3. Fall, 2008
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Physicians, Techies & Policymakers Try To Close the Primary Care IT Gap
If well designed and carefully implemented, electronic medical records (EMRs) can improve patient care, reduce medical errors and save physicians a lot of money. But cost factors and time demands have conspired so that fewer than 10% of all solo and small group practices have EMRs. A growing number of IT-savvy physicians, software designers and policymakers hope to change that.
Vol. 9, No. 3. Fall, 2008
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What to Do—And What Not to Do—If Your State Medical Board Comes A'Calling
Disciplinary action from a state Medical Board is among every physician's worst nightmares. But if you know your state laws, practice scrupulously, obtain informed consent from patients, and you've got competent legal backup, you have little to worry about. Alan Dumoff, JD, and a team of integrative attorneys offer medicolegal tips for holistic physicians.
Vol. 9, No. 3. Fall, 2008
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New Board Offers Nutrition Certification For All Licensed Health Care Professionals
In an effort to improve nutrition education for all health care professionals, he American Clinical Board of Nutrition (ACBN) has launched the first federally-recognized nutrition science certification program. Certification is open to licensed health professionals from any and all of the healing disciplines.
Vol. 9, No. 2. Summer, 2008
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HPC Readers Boost TACT Trial Enrollment
Readers of Holistic Primary Care are giving a big boost to the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), a landmark NIH study to determine whether chelation therapy can prevent heart attacks. After reading about the ongoing trial in our Spring 2008 edition, 17 physician readers called the study's headquarters in Miami Beach, seeking to enroll their clinics as study sites.
Vol. 9, No. 2. Summer, 2008
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NIH-Sponsored Chelation Trial Seeks Study Sites, Heart Disease Patients
Chelation therapy to prevent heart attacks has never been accepted by mainstream cardiologists, but it is popular none the less, and increasingly so in the wake of trials questioning the value of drug-eluting stents. The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), a $30 million NIH-sponsored study, will hopefully provide definitive answers on whether chelation has a rightful place in heart disease prevention.
Vol. 9, No. 1. Spring, 2008
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AHMA & AANP Build Bridges With "Co-Located" Annual Conferences
The joint decision by the American Holistic Medical Association and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians to "co-locate" their annual conferences this Summer represents a significant and historic first step toward formal organizational collaboration between holistically minded MDs, osteopaths and their naturopathic colleagues.
Vol. 9, No. 1. Spring, 2008
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Chiropractic Primary Care: Is a Potentially Cost-Saving Model Headed for Extinction?
Since 1999, the Alternative Medicine Integration Group (AMI) has offered members of an Illinois HMO the option to choose chiropractors as primary care physicians (PCPs), and outcomes data show strong reductions in hospitalizations, medication use, and overall costs. But divisiveness within the chiropractic profession and limited insurance reimbursement have prevented the chiropractic primary care model from gaining ground.
Vol. 8, No. 2. Summer, 2007
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Catch-22: Can We Harvest the Health Benefits of Seafood Without Destroying the Oceans?
The recent Institute of Medicine and Harvard reports on seafood safety go a long way in allaying public concern about mercury toxicity in fish and affirming fish as a healthy food. But they largely overlook the precarious state of the world's oceans. Can we have our fish and eat them too? Yes, say marine biologists, but only with major changes in fisheries management and consumer consciousness.
Vol. 7, No. 4. Winter, 2006
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Fourth-Year Elective Puts HEART into Medical Training
The Humanistic Elective in Activism, alternative medicine, and Reflective Transformation (HEART), an annual month-long, live-in clerkship for 4th year MD and DO students sponsored by the American Medical Students Association, is trying to remedy the unhealthy grind of medical training by providing opportunities for med students to experience truly healthy living.
Vol. 7, No. 3. Fall, 2006
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New Orleans, One Year Later: Holistic Caregivers Keep On Keepin' On Despite Major Obstacles
Though rebuilding efforts are well under way, New Orleans is wracked by a huge burden of stress-related disorders. Short on healthcare facilities and medical staff, the city struggles to get back on its feet. Community-based clinics and holistic healthcare practitioners face marginalization and lack of funding, as practitioners themselves try to heal their own traumas. A front line report from the flooded crescent.
Vol. 7, No. 3. Fall, 2006
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AMA Gears Up to Fight ND Licensure and Doctors of Nursing Practice
American Medical Association is formalizing a position statement that directly opposes state licensure for graduates of the nation's four-year naturopathic medical schools. The resolution, drafted by AMA delegates in Florida, where NDs have come close to winning a licensure bill, is one of several recent moves by the AMA aimed at curtailing the growth of the naturopathic and nursing professions.
Vol. 7, No. 3. Fall, 2006
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High Tech Holism: iCaduceus Puts Holistic Thinking on Your Computer
Medical students Gil and Christie Winkelman were simply trying to develop a study aid that would help them systematize and comprehend the vast amount of clinical material they had to learn. A few years and a few friends later, they emerged with iCaduceus, a comprehensive differential diagnosis and natural therapies guidance tool that puts comprehensive holistic thinking on physicians' computer desktops. The first in a series of articles exploring high-tech tools for holistic docs.
Vol. 7, No. 2. Summer, 2006
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Terma Foundation: Saving Lives in Tibet's Far Reaches
Internist Nancy Harris, MD, has learned a lot over her 15 years of providing holistic primary care services in remote regions of Tibet. Among the lessons, the power of nutrition to transform lives, and the power of human dignity to transcend adversity.
Online Feature. Winter, 2005
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Vitamin Angel Alliance: Saving Lives Through Better Nutrition
For the past decade, the Vitamin Angel Alliance has been bringing vitamins and other nutritional supplements to hungry, displaced families facing the ravages of war, natural disaster and merciless poverty.
Vol. 6, No. 4. Winter, 2005
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Holism in Action: Natural Medicine Responds to Disaster
From battlefield hospitals in Iraq, to flood survivor relief centers in Sri Lanka and New Orleans, holistic physicians are showing that natural medicine can play a key role in front-line emergency medicine. Inspiring portraits of holism in action.
Vol. 6, No. 4. Winter, 2005
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New Food Labeling Regs: Consensus on Allergens, Contention Over Mercury
New food allergen labeling regulations, effective in January 2006, will make it easier for food-sensitive people to avoid allergy triggers.
Vol. 6, No. 4. Winter, 2005
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Winterizing Your Patients' Immune Systems
There's a lot physicians can do to help people fend off the flu besides doling out flu shots. Roby Mitchell, MD, aka Dr. Fitt, offers some outside-the-box thinking and practical suggestions.
Vol. 6, No. 4. Winter, 2005
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A Nation of Elders: Meeting the Challenge of the Age Wave
With the elderly population growing rapidly and birth rates flat, health care and social services for older Americans could very well bankrupt the country by 2030. Economist Laurence Kotlikoff predicts a major economic crisis unless we radically change health care financing and shift from disease care to disease prevention.
Vol. 6, No. 3. Fall, 2005
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Toward a Dignitarian Healthcare System: Reckoning with "Rankism" in Medicine
Abuse and discrimination based on differences in rank is widespread in our society, and medicine is no exception. Robert Fuller, noted author of Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank, discusses rank abuse in healthcare and offers a vision of a more humane system that preserves the practical strengths of hierarchical organizations while ensuring human dignity.
Vol. 6, No. 2. Summer, 2005
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Esalen Summit: Confronting Barriers to Humanistic Healthcare
Successful collaborations between conventional MDs and practitioners of natural medicine are still rare. Leaders of major associations representing both conventional and holistic health professionals met at California's Esalen Institute to confront the political, economic and personal roadblocks to greater collaboration and a more humanistic healthcare system.
Vol. 6, No. 2. Summer, 2005
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Will Medicare Cover Lifestyle Change Programs for CVD Prevention?
For the past 28 years, Dr. Dean Ornish and colleagues at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute have been quietly proving that one can reverse atherosclerosis and prevent heart attacks through diet, exercise and stress management alone. The bigger challenge is proving to Medicare and insurers that paying for these sorts of lifestyle programs is money well-spent.
Vol. 6, No. 1. Spring, 2005
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Vying for the Vioxx Market: Natural Meds Step into the Breach
Merck's recall of its billion-selling COX-2 inhibitor has left millions of former Vioxx users looking for new ways to relieve pain associated with arthritis and other chronic conditions. A number of natural products companies are promoting botanical, nutritional and homeopathic preparations as natural alternatives to Vioxx. How well do they work and will they carry the same risk of cardiovascular side effects? Holistic Primary Care finds out.
Vol. 5, No. 4. Winter, 2004
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Collaboration for Healthcare Renewal Hosts Cost Effectiveness Work Group
The Collaboration for Healthcare Renewal is a cross-disciplinary ad hoc action group dedicated to creating policy that fosters growth of integrative medicine. The organization recently launched a Cost Effectiveness Work Group to gather data showing the cost savings obtained from holistic health care strategies.
Vol. 5, No. 2. Summer, 2004
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Insurers Need to Open Eyes To Supplement Savings
For years, industry consultant Ian Newton has been trying to convince health insurers that they ought to cover multivitamins. To do so, he developed a comprehensive computer modeling system that allows insurance execs to see the kinds of savings and health benefits they would gain. While institutional inertia has prevented most of them from moving, increasing cost pressures are starting to open some eyes.
Vol. 5, No. 2. Summer, 2004
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Alternative Link's Coding Tools
A listing of the coding tools and software to support Alternative Link's ABC Code system for insurance reimbursement in holistic health care.
Vol. 5, No. 2. Summer, 2004
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Holistic Medicine No Longer Left Out in the Code
A national insurance coding system for holistic medicine is on the horizon, a critical first step in facilitating widespread insurance reimbursement for natural medicine. Alternative Link's ABC Code set is being tested in clinics around the country as part of a federally sponsored pilot study. The AMA, which controls the codes for conventional medicine, is also looking into the coding question, and may publish a code set of its own.
Vol. 5, No. 2. Summer, 2004
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Bridges in Medicine: Making Holistic Medicine Work in the Real World
This innovative integrative health clinic, led by Jeffrey Sollins, MD, recently became the first such program in the country to become eligible for Medicare reimbursement. Bridges in Medicine's success is rooted in a spirit of open-mindedness and collegiality among all of the participating healers, and it represents a model for the future of holistic health care.
Vol. 5, No. 2. Summer, 2004
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District of Columbia Passes Naturopathic Licensure Bill
Naturopathic doctors (NDs) in the nation's capital can now practice legally as full-scale primary care doctors, thanks to recent passage of a licensure bill within the District. The DC bill follows closely on the heels of a major naturopathic licensure victory in the state of California.
Vol. 5, No. 2. Summer, 2004
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Integrative Medicine Conference to Focus on Judicious Supplement Use
The first Integrative Medicine conference, sponsored by InnoVision Communications, will pair MDs with naturopaths and chiropractors to discuss nutritional interventions for a wide variety of common disorders. A preview of an innovative and highly anticipated conference.
Vol. 5, No. 1. Spring, 2004
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FDA to Ban Ephedra, Eyes other Herbs for Weight Loss
Citing a number of deaths associated with ephedra, the FDA opted to ban this herb as a dietary supplement for weight loss, and may soon go after similar herbs like Bitter Orange. Herb industry leaders and natural medicine practitioners contend that the deaths were due to abuse, and that when used appropriately under practitioner supervision, the herb is safe.
Vol. 5, No. 1. Spring, 2004
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FDA to Address Obesity Epidemic
The Food and Drug Administration has made the obesity crisis one of its top priorities, taking on the role of coordinating all of the Federal government's efforts in reversing the alarming trends. However, many public health experts question whether FDA truly has the resources or experience to contend with a problem of this scale.
Vol. 5, No. 1. Spring, 2004
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SB 907 at a Glance
A closer look at the historic law that grants Naturopathic Doctors the right to licensure and independent practice in the state of California.
Vol. 4, No. 4. Winter, 2003
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Holistic Primary Care Launches CME Series on Nutritional Medicine
As part of our ongoing effort to educate the medical community about safe, effective natural therapies, Holistic Primary Care is launching a series of accredited continuing medical education modules on nutrition. The first in the series is on natural approaches to managing high-risk lipid profiles to reduce heart disease.
Vol. 4, No. 4. Winter, 2003
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NDs Win Right to Licensure, Independent Practice in California
After a protracted struggle with the California Medical Association and organizations representing other holistic practitioners, Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) in California won the right to licensure. Under SB 907, NDs in California will now be able to practice as independent primary care doctors.
Vol. 4, No. 4. Winter, 2003
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Policy Institute for Integrative Medicine Looks Beyond NCCAM Trials
The federally funded clinical trials in natural medicine now underway are essential for evolution of the field, but they do not go far enough, according to Marc Micozzi, MD, PhD, director of the newly formed Policy Institute for Integrative Medicine. His goal is to translate findings from clinical trials into actionable public health policy.
Vol. 4, No. 3. July, 2003
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NCCAM Offers Fiscal Incentives to Draw Holistic Research Expertise
In the interest of drawing experienced medical researchers into the field of natural medicine research, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is offering a number of financial aids, including loan repayment programs and special stipends.
Vol. 4, No. 2. April, 2003
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NDs Take Holistic Health Agenda to Washington, DC
When Joseph Pizzorno, ND, and Pamela Snider, ND, were named to the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee, they went to Washington, DC with the hope of bringing the preventive philosophy of naturopathic medicine to the Medicare policy-making table.
Vol. 4, No. 2. April, 2003
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Petition Urges FDA to Mandate CoQ10 Recommendation on Statin Labels
Statins are very effective at reducing LDL and total cholesterol, but they also deplete coenzyme Q10, a naturally occurring substance that is essential for normal muscle and heart function. Citing evidence that a major statin manufacturer knew the risks in the early '90s but took no action, Dr. Julian Whitaker sent a petition to the FDA to put a black box warning on all statin labels stating the dangers of CoQ10 depletion.
Vol. 3, No. 3. October 15, 2002
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Nation's First Holistic Medicine Residency on the Horizon
Most of the nation's medical schools now have some coursework in natural medicine, but to date, there are no residency training programs for up-and-coming MDs and DOs wishing to practice holistic health care. Demand from recent medical school grads is very strong, and the University of Colorado's department of family medicine is attempting to lay the groundwork for a holistic residency.
Vol. 3, No. 3. October 15, 2002
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HHS Pushes AMA to Face Coding Issues for Holistic Services
Under pressure from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the American Medical Association initiated a series of meetings with an independent company that has developed a comprehensive set of billing codes for holistic health care. Establishment of a coding system is essential for development of insurance reimbursement for alternative medical services.
Vol. 3, No. 2. June 15, 2002
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White House Commission Calls on HHS for Permanent CAM Office
The White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine released its final policy report and called on the Department of Health and Human Services to create a permanent, federally funded office for scientific research, education, and public policy on holistic health care.
Vol. 3, No. 1. April 15, 2002
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In Memoriam: William R. Fair, MD
Dr. William Fair was as old-school and conventional as any oncologic surgeon could get. His faith in the power of the scalpel was nearly unshakeable, until he himself was diagnosed with inoperable colon cancer. That diagnosis prompted him on a quest into the worlds of nutrition, yoga, meditation, botanical medicine and touch therapy. He devoted the last years of his distinguished life to creation of Haelth, a New York City integrative health center bringing together the best of natural medicine with conventional allopathic care.
Vol. 3, No. 1. April 15, 2002
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Neither Food Nor Drug: Is it Time for a Third Regulatory Category?
Dietary supplements are regulated as foods in the US, but in many cases, they are used like drugs, creating a difficult regulatory conundrum. Many thought leaders in the field believe the problem could be solved by creating a third regulatory category that recognizes the ways in which supplements are different from both drugs and foods.
Vol. 2, No. 3. June 15, 2001
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White House Commission Urged to Respect Freedom of Choice
Under a federal mandate, the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy was charged with the task of setting a national agenda for holistic health care. In a series of public meetings, Commission members had the opportunity to gather input from the general public. Freedom of choice in health care was the core theme emerging from the New York City meeting.
Vol. 2, No. 2. April 15, 2001
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Washington State's "Every Category" Law Still Controversial, Five Years Later
In 1996, Washington became the first state to mandate that health care insurers cover services provided by naturopaths and other alternative health care professionals. The so-called "Every Category of Provider," mandate was controversial when passed, and five years later, the arguments for and against the law continue.
Vol. 2, No. 2. April 15, 2001
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Next Stop: Your Office Supplement Science Hits the Road
Pulling a page from the pharmaceutical company marketing playbook, some supplement manufacturers are sending sales reps out to meet physicians in their offices. But this new breed of holistically minded "detail" man is meeting with mixed response from the medical community.
Vol. 2, No. 1. February 14, 2001
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New Vitamin A RDA: Real Darned Ambiguous
Despite the fact that carotenoids in fruits and vegetables are not converted to vitamin A in nearly the amounts previously thought, a panel convened by the Institute of Medicine recently lowered the recommended daily allowance for this key vitamin and held back on recommending vitamin A supplementation.
Vol. 2, No. 1. February 14, 2001
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Decoding DSHEA: FDA Study Shows Current Labels Confuse Supplement Consumers
Supplement marketing language, as regulated by the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, is supposed to help consumers and make them aware that the FDA has not validated supplement claims. Consumer surveys show, however, that DSHEA-speak ends up confusing consumers more times than not.
Vol. 1, No. 2. December 15, 2000
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Fake Supplement Sites are Part of FTC's Regulatory Redress
The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates dietary supplement claims, has established a number of phony supplement websites featuring appealing but implausible health claims, in an effort to raise consumer awareness about the dangers of false claims, and push the industry to clean up its marketing act.
Vol. 1, No. 2. December 15, 2000
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Minnesota Sets the Standard for Health Freedom
Minnesota may have a reputation as a politically conservative, middle of the road state. But when it comes to public policy on holistic medicine, it is among the most progressive states in the Union. In 2000, Minnesota legislators passed the Complementary and Alternative Health Care Freedom of Access Act, which allows natural medicine practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds, even those without prior licensure, to practice freely.
Vol. 1, No. 2. December 15, 2000
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New Coalition Channels People-Power for Integrative Medicine
Dr. Andrew Weil's National Integrative Medicine Council, a non-profit advocacy group, is hoping to channel grass roots "people power" into meaningful national policy that promotes holistic medicine and preventive health care.
Vol. 1, No. 2. December 15, 2000
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Holistic Medicine: A New Medical Specialty?
In December 2000, the American Board of Holistic Medicine began offering a certification course and exam for physicians wishing to practice as certified Holistic Doctors. The Board exam and the standardized curriculum on which it is based, is setting the stage for evolution of a full-fledged holistic medical subspecialty.
Vol. 1, No. 1. October 15, 2000
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