Holistic medicine is no longer practiced as an alternative to conventional care. Today, people are demanding new approaches to treating and preventing disease… and they are willing to pay for it out of pocket.
This represents a grassroots industry in alternative medicine that is speculated to become a billion dollar a year industry!
At the forefront of this emerging field is the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, California. They created a master’s degree program in Integrative Health Studies designed to educate the new wave of health care managers.
The Integrative Health Studies program is a 2-year, non-clinical degree whose pedagogy was formulated in response to the increasing public demand for services that integrates complementary and alternative health modalities and conventional Western medicine.
The program reviews both Western medical understandings of healing, and the array of alternative health care systems. From a Western perspective, students are taught anatomy, physiology, nutrition, and pharmacology. From a non-traditional perspective students learn the value of homeopathy, herbal medicine, ayurvedic medicine, naturopathy, energy medicine, and indigenous forms of healing.
Students are also taught ways in which spiritual and scientific healing methods are brought together, and how these ways can assist them in developing a health care plan that is sensitive to a person’s cultural perspective.
“These days people are taking a closer look at their health care options. The number of people using alternative therapies has grown tremendously in the past five years. We’ve developed a program that meets emerging trends,” said Arisika Razak, Integrative Health Studies Director. Ms. Razak has been involved in conventional and alternative health care for over 25 years as a nurse, mid-wife, public health administrator and women’s health advocate in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The popularity of combining traditional and non-tradition health care treatments is creating new job opportunities in the health care industry. Professionals with an understanding of alternative and conventional medicine are landing key professional positions in hospitals, clinics and public health agencies.
“Traditional medical facilities are looking for health care professionals who know how and when to use alternative treatments to the patient’s best advantage,” continued Ms. Razak “We teach our students new ways to relate to the whole person using terminology and procedures most conventional Western-trained professionals have overlooked.”
The job market is responding to the need for this skill set. Graduates from the Integrative Health Studies program are landing jobs as Hospital Administrators, Integrative Health Navigators, Cancer clinic Coordinators, Pain Management Clinic Directors, Wellness Center Directors, Life Style Coaches, Health Educators and Consultants, Health Policy Consultants, and Diversity Consultants.
Some students in the program are combining their previous hands-on, clinical training with their newfound understandings, making them valuable assets in the health care field. Other students are using their own health journeys as a springboard for supporting an integrative health care duality. Still others are looking for a spiritual and cultural dimension in providing health care. In all cases, students are grateful for the evening class schedule which makes going to school and working possible.
Jake Pollack, a former yoga instructor and soon-to-be graduate of the program, was offered two unsolicited jobs at a recent alternative health conference. He said, “I am fascinated by the different approaches in various non-Western systems, yet I understand the value of what bio-medicine has to offer. While many people in health care are on one side of the fence or the other, I am clear that having respect for both traditional and non-traditional health care is where the value lies.”
Ms. Razak agrees, “Integrative health care is the medicine of the future. It is in the coming together of treatments that allows for full health recovery.”
The Integrative Health Studies master’s degree program is currently accepting applications for Fall 2006 admission. The admissions deadline is July 1. Scholarships are available.
For more information call 415-575-6153 or visit the California Institute for Integral Studies’ web site: www.ciis.edu