The Family Medicine Residential Fellowship in Integrative Medicine is a full-time fellowship—50% of time is devoted to educational activities, and 50% to clinical activities.
Educational Requirements
- Completion of the Andrew Weil Center For Integrative Medicine (AWCIM) online educational modules, in a timely way (productivity and pace of completing these modules will be explained at the in-person Residential Weeks). The modules usually begin in February, just a few months before clinical start date of the fellowship.
- Presence and participation during three separate weeks of in-person training in Tucson, AZ, with the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. All fellows of the same class/fellowship cycle (from across the country) will be present at each of the three weeks. The weeks are spread out over the course of two years. The first week will happen in the spring (usually March or April), just a few months before clinical start date of the fellowship.
The above online modules, combined with the three in-person weeks in Tucson, total approximately 1,000 hours of time and coursework over the course of two years.
- Participation in monthly patient conferences during which fellows will present a specific patient case using an Integrative Medicine H&P format and solicit ideas for approaches to patient care from integrative faculty and other integrative practitioners of various backgrounds and expertise. These usually happen monthly, on a Friday (mid-day).
- Monthly Integrative Medicine Teaching Day presentations for the Alvernon Family Medicine residents/faculty in an appropriate integrative medicine topic. Experiential (hands-on) presentations are highly encouraged. These usually occur monthly, on a Thursday afternoon, 1-2 hours each.
- Completion of 1 Integrative Medicine H&P and Treatment Plan, provided to the director of the Fellowship or other Integrative Medicine faculty for review and discussion.
- We encourage fellows to utilize CME funds to participate in Integrative Medicine conferences or activities, or to learn the practice of an integrative medicine modality of interest.
Clinical Requirements
Fellows are expected to complete five clinical sessions per week. Each clinical session is half-day (eg, 8 am – 12 pm, or 1 pm – 5 pm). 5 clinical sessions equal 0.5 FTE (0.1 FTE represents 1 weekly ½ day session)
Weekly:
- 0.3 FTE of direct patient care or attending supervision for Family Medicine residents at the Alvernon Family Medicine clinic. For direct patient care, we allow 30 minutes per patient visit to encourage practice of Integrative Medicine concepts. When attending, we encourage Fellows to discuss healthy lifestyles and integrative resources as appropriate, with the residents.
- 0.1 FTE Integrative Medicine consults in the Alvernon Family Medicine clinic. There will be a 1-hour slot for a new patient encounters, and the rest of the schedule is generally reserved for follow-up on previous consults, with exceptions as appropriate. Follow-up visits are 30 minutes each.
- 0.1 FTE Integrative Medicine consult at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. These visits will be in the context of cancer survivorship, palliative care, or integrative oncology consults. We encourage the safe integration of evidence-based integrative practice to help our cancer patients thrive during and after cancer treatment.
When we have two Integrative Fellows in one year, Fellows might do 0.05 FTE (every other week) cancer center visits, and add 0.05 FTE to either direct patient care or attending at the Alvernon Residency Family Medicine clinic
Self-Care Goals for the Fellowship
Practice lifestyle recommendations from the Integrative Medicine modules in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and mind-body practice. We are hoping that the structure of our program allows our Integrative Fellows to slow down a bit from the fast-paced demands of Family Medicine and invest time into their own wellness.
Learn and experience integrative medicine modalities that appeal to you. We acknowledge that Integrative Medicine is a broad field, and there are many integrative practitioners and healers in Tucson that we can help connect you with to try various complementary modalities.
We believe that when physicians are taking care of themselves, they are better able to promote wellness to their patients and community. We also are hopeful that the regular practice of self-care will increase inspiration to practice integrative medicine and minimize physician burnout.