Research Training in Complementary and Integrative Medicine

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Project Summary/Abstract This proposal is for a five-year continuation of the Harvard Medical School Research Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine (IM). This three-year program prepares both clinician and non- clinician post-doctoral fellows for successful careers as academic research faculty and educators. The Harvard-wide program is based within the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with continued close collaboration with the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, an inter-institutional program that facilitates the development of research and education across Harvard in this emerging field. The training program focuses broadly on mind-body therapies (including yoga, tai chi, meditation, and the placebo phenomenon), that are areas of faculty expertise. Faculty mentors have funded research programs in IM research and track records of successful mentoring. Most trainees earn an MPH degree during the first two years of fellowship at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). The master's program includes the Program in Clinical Effectiveness, an intensive summer curriculum in epidemiology, biostatistics, and health services research. Throughout the fellowship, weekly programs including seminars in research methodology/skills (e.g. study design, grant writing, publications) and a core program in evidence-based IM, provide specialized clinical, research and scholarly skills in IM. Fellows can also take in-depth courses in IM in order to acquire practitioner skills/certification to inform their research. Most of the trainees' time is devoted to mentored research. Each uses skills learned in the classroom to develop, conduct and analyze at least two original investigations in IM under the direction of experienced faculty mentors. Research may span clinical trials, epidemiology, health services research, basic science and translational methodologies from bench to bedside. Fellows also participate in experiential retreats in IM and have opportunities to teach IM at HMS. Fellows may develop clinical skills in IM at one of several available integrative practice sites. A principal research mentor, clinical preceptors, and an advisor at HSPH supervise each fellow's development. Over the first 18 years of the fellowship, 28 fellows have completed the program and most have earned an MPH. Most graduates have continued in academic medicine; twelve have been awarded K series career development awards. All graduated fellows have published peer-reviewed research manuscripts, with over 175 manuscripts published from fellows' work over the years.