This proposal seeks funding to support up to nine post-doctoral fellows per year in a new program to train medical practitioners to conduct and evaluate clinical research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The program and the fellows it produces are expected to meet the growing need for qualified investigators capable of evaluating the safety and effectiveness of CAM therapies. The Training Program in which fellows will enroll is a collaborative effort among 18 faculty members at three established health institutions in the Twin Cities metropolitan area that have been collaborating for several years in CAM and CAM research, and that have considerable expertise in clinical research. The program is based at the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), which includes the internationally known Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research. Also participating at HCMC is the Alternative Medicine Division and Clinic, plus the P50 Center for Addiction and Alternative Medicine Research supported by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The second collaborating institution is the Northwestern Health Sciences University, formerly the Northwestern College of Chiropractic, a multi-program educational and research facility that has been a leader in Minnesota for almost six decades in complementary and alternative medicine. The third collaborating institution is the University of Minnesota, in which the fellows will earn either and MS degree in Clinical Research through the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health (SPH), or an MS or Ph.D. in Health Services Research and Policy, SPH. In addition, fellows are required to obtain a graduate minor in Complementary Therapies and Healing Practices, offered through the Center for Spirituality and Healing, at the University's Academic Health Center. Fellows will be required to complete a core didactic curriculum in research methods, including responsible conduct of research, and a CAM research project leading to a scientific paper to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. The duration of the training will be at least two and preferably three years. This new program expects to draw three fellows from the participating institutions in its first formal year, and expects to enroll three to five additional students each subsequent year, with enrollment stabilizing at 9-12 trainees enrolled each year.
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| Wesa, Kathleen M; Culliton, Patricia (2004) Recommendations and guidelines regarding the preferred research protocol for investigating the impact of an optimal healing environment on patients with substance abuse. J Altern Complement Med 10 Suppl 1:S193-9 |
| Wesa, Kathleen M; Grimm Jr, Richard H (2004) Recommendations and guidelines regarding the preferred research protocol for investigating the impact of an optimal healing environment on patients with hypertension. J Altern Complement Med 10 Suppl 1:S245-50 |
