Heal the healer
Burnout is at an all time high, and so many medical providers need a break. A breather. Space and time to take a pause. The first step is to heal the healer - to find your true north and remember your “why”.
Integrative and holistic healing can be a way to first heal the wounds from medical training and the system, and then find meaning in medicine agin.
“Healing yourself is connected with healing others.”
- Yoko Ono
Want to know how to provide evidence-based holistic care to your patients?
Here is a non-exhaustive selection of fellowship training opportunities, courses, and conferences.
The Academy of Pediatric Integrative Medicine, founded by Dr. Hilary McClafferty, offers the first course for training providers in Pediatric Integrative Medicine. The 10-month Academy Scholars online certificate course focuses on evidence-based material in mind-body medicine, herbs and supplements, and lifestyle modalities. The course material by Dr. McClafferty is supplemented by Masterclasses from pediatric integrative medicine faculty from a variety of subspecialties around the country!
This 2-year distance learning online fellowship through the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona has really shaped and changed my career. My mentors and colleagues at Stanford Children’s have all gone through this course, and it remains the fellowship with the deepest base of foundational training in Integrative Medicine. The fellowship is remarkably robust, with content across many specialities within medicine. Physicians from all over the world and a variety of specialties take this course, so it’s an incredible opportunity to network with like-minded providers. Another amazing benefit of the course are the 3 amazing week-long residential weeks where you go to Tucson and experience hands-on learning with your fellowship class cohort.
This is a 1-year in person fellowship offered through Stanford University and Stanford Children’s Health. We started this fellowship in 2018 at Stanford after realizing the need that Pediatricians need hands-on clinical guidance and mentorship to really see and learn how integrative medicine is practiced. Through generous foundational grant funding, we partner with the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine to have Stanford PIM fellows go through the AWCIM fellowship simultaneously while enrolled in the Stanford Fellowship.
If you have ever been interested and curious in taking a deeper dive to more about Ayurveda, this Ayurveda for Physicians course is for you. Dr. SiriChand Khalsa is so full of wisdom on how to bring this ancient healing tradition into modern day life. I could listen to her for hours. The best part of the course (and there were so many amazing pieces) was the cooking demos and recipes and true treasure chest of goodies that came with the course. The course was truly transformative in how I see patients and how I take care of myself.
This was another career-changing course for me. Medical acupuncture training! The Helms Institute trains physicians and nurse practitioners in medical acupuncture. It is a 9-month distance learning course with 3 in-person hands on weeks for practical training. Note: this course covers some basic Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, but it does not go into significant depth on Chinese medicine theory, herbs and herbal formulations. After taking this course you are eligible to sit for the medical acupuncture board exam.
Other Favorite Conferences and Training Opportunities
When else can you earn CME to learn how to teach your patients how to eat delicious and healthy food and cook alongside chefs from the Culinary Institute of America? Added bonus: you get to eat what you and your classmates cook! This was one of my favorite CME conferences.
Pediatric Hypnosis is an incredibly powerful tool for anyone who works with children. This course is offered in a weekend in October annually with founders in the field of pediatric hypnosis.
Annual Integrative Health Symposium
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia - CHOP - has a great annual (virtual) conference on pediatric integrative medicine. Usually at the end of September.
