This proposal is for the five-year continuation of the first NIH research training program in complementary and integrative medical therapies. This three year program prepares general internists for successful and rewarding careers as academic research faculty and educators. The program is based within the Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies at Harvard Medical School, an inter-institutional program set up to facilitate the development of research and education in this emerging field across the Harvard teaching hospitals. Qualified trainees earn an M.Sc. or M.P.H. degree over the course of the first two years of fellowship through enrollment at the Harvard School of Public Health. This program includes the Program in Clinical Effectiveness, an intensive summer core curriculum in epidemiology, biostatistics, health services research, and decision sciences, all courses developed specifically for physicians. The training grant provides partial support for tuition and fees for the summer program as well as the entire degree program. Much of the trainees' time is devoted to their own research. Each uses skills learned in the classroom to develop, conduct and analyze at least two original investigations on complementary medicine under the direction of an experienced faculty preceptor. Research focuses on the risks and benefits of complementary medicine, mechanisms of action, and use of CAM therapies using methods of outcomes research, epidemiology, health services research and clinical trials. Fellows attend weekly program-wide research seminars and participate in an educational curriculum designed to provide teaching skills and content within the area of complementary medicine. Fellows also have many opportunities to participate as teachers in the field of complementary medicine in undergraduate courses at Harvard Medical School and continuing medical education programs sponsored by the Division. Fellows develop clinical skills in integrative medicine through training courses and application of skills in an affiliated primary care integrative care clinic and the Division's integrated care center to be opened in one of the HMS affiliated hospitals in late Fall 2003. Each fellow's development is supervised by a principal mentor, preceptors, and an advisor at the Harvard School of Public Health. Mentorship will be provided by faculty in general medicine and integrative medicine at Harvard Medical School. ? ?
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