As a part of a federal grant from the National Institute of Health National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), Georgetown is making strides towards integrating its medical school curriculum with complementary and alternative medicine practices. This integration is occuring directly through specific courses within the medical school, as well as through MS/MD 5-year track at GUSOM, which includes the CAM MS in Physiology graduate program.

This cutting edge integration includes innovative programs such as the Mind-Body Medicine Program. Mind-body approaches - including self-awareness, relaxation, meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, nutrition, physical exercise, art, music and movement - are among the best known and most widely used of the complementary, alternative or integrative approaches to healthcare.

Mind-body approaches are particularly important in another way. By their very nature they put high value on, and teach the power of self-awareness and self-care. In so doing, they help shape the new integrative model of healthcare - one in which treatment is balanced with teaching; in which prevention and self-care are given as much respect as procedures and pharmacological interventions.

In order for students to understand the potential of mind-body approaches, as well as apply them in clinical practice, we believe that they should experience these approaches themselves. It is not enough to hear about mind-body medicine and to read and comprehend the scientific basis for its efficacy. Rather, for students to appreciate their patients' capacities for self-awareness and self-care, students should experience and realize their own abilities.

To that end, the Mind-Body Medicine Program, supported by faculty, contributors, and facilitators alike, takes medical, graduate and nursing students through a series of exercises used to promote overall well-being, stress management, empathy, self-awareness and self-care. Each exercise focuses on achieving certain goals listed here.

Because it remains unclear how to qualify and quantify benefits gained from these experiences, there is also a research component to this integration. Using statistical and qualitative analysis, attempts are made to discover, qualify, and quantify these changes. Combined with the courses, the research will aid in fine-tuning the course to better serve those who partake in the experience of mind-body medicine.