Global Medicine Hunter News           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(SAN FRANCISCO) -- The best way to get health care providers of different disciplines to work well together is to train them to respect each other's orientation to health and healing early in their respective training. The notion of interprofessional education is rapidly gaining credibility among health and medical educators, as they strive to prepare clinicians who have a deeper commitment to whole person care, reduced cost, multicultural competency, shared decision-making, and the most effective treatment or healing option --no matter what discipline or modality.

Interprofessional education is being embraced as a desirable route for a wide variety of health professions, including medical doctors, nurses, mental health counselors, integrative health practitioners, expressive arts therapists, integrative psychologists, naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, and chiropractors.  A new National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education that is open to all health care professionals and students has put forth core competencies and a forum for national models. Research and training principles are disseminated by scholars who see the need for early side-by-side training and learning opporutnities.

A merger of two San Francisco based graduate schools will pave the way for more interprofessional and collaborative learning environments for Traditional Chinese Medicine students and those pursuing degrees in counseling psychology, clinical psychology, human sexuality, and integrative health studies.  

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), a leading university that educates perhaps the highest number of psychotherapists than any other college in the US (and features one of the highest passing rates for state licensure examinations) has just received approval by the WASC Senior College and Univerity Commission (WSCUC) to merge with American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM), one of the oldest and most respected schools for educating masters-level licensed acupuncturists and doctors of Chinese Medicine and Acupucture.

The  importance and complexity of the merger, which is expected to be fully implemented on July 1, 2015, will integrate ACTCM into CIIS as a distinct and fourth college of CIIS.With the merger, CIIS becomes a more comprehensive institution while retaining its overall mission and remaining true to the spirit of its founding. ACTCM becomes part of a larger entity where it has a natural mission fit, and at the same time gains a robust infrastructure of resources and regional accreditation. The union of the two institutions expands opportunities for mind, body, and spirit education and research. 

Acupuncturists and Chinese medicine clinicians will be able to add coaching and counseling skills early in their training; integrative health students will become informed advocates of the benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is interprofessional education at its best: optimizing resources and allowing greater respect and mutual trust to develop among new practitioners.

For more information, contact medical anthropologist and department chair, Dr. Meg Jordan, at mjordan@ciis.edu, Department of Somatic Psychology, Integrative Health and Human Sexuality, California Institute of Integral Studies.  

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