Yale Hosts its First Symposium on Combining Traditional and Alternative Medicine

Yale School of Medicine is hosting its 1st annual Yale Integrative Medicine Scientific Symposium April 2 to explore the best of conventional and complementary/alternative medicine.

The symposium is open to the public and includes continuing medical education (CME) credits for medical professionals.

The day-long program will begin with optional morning meditation or yoga stretch at 7:30 a.m., followed by opening remarks by Richard Belitsky, M.D., deputy dean of education at Yale School of Medicine.

Topics will include, among others: the history of complementary/alternative medicine in America; the effects of therapeutic touch on growth and differentiation of bone-making cells; therapeutic massage; yoga; increased cortical thickness linked to meditation; the psychology of illness and the art of healing; traditional Chinese medicine; acupuncture for post-operative nausea and low back pain in pregnancy, and potential applications of traditional Chinese medicine in cancer.

The conference is sponsored by Integrative Medicine@Yale, a new program designed to provide a forum for interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international collaboration, research, and education in complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine. The goal is to improve awareness and access to the best in evidence-based, comprehensive medical care available worldwide. The organization also hopes to optimize health and healing for patients and health care providers through open-minded exploration and rigorous scientific inquiry.

To register and view the conference program, please visit www.cme.yale.edu, or call the CME office at 203-785-4578. Registration is $125 for physicians, $100 for nurses and allied health professionals, $75 for non-Yale residents, fellows, and poster presenters, $50 for non-Yale students, and no fee for Yale residents, fellow and students.