Integrative medicine: bringing medicine back to its roots.

The United States health system is in crisis. Amidst unprecedented opportunities to transform healthcare for the better, American medicine faces threats from two directions. One is financial and cannot be solved by the profession alone. Health care technologies are more expensive, more people want access to them, and reimbursement mechanisms neither provide universal coverage nor reward improved care or prospective planning. The second threat is intrinsic to our practice and must be solved from within. Facing the pressures of economic and bureaucratic strains as well as the seduction of technology, conventional medicine has become separated from its roots of caring, engaging with patients and meeting their real needs. This has caused many to seek alternative approaches. Integrative medicine is a movement that addresses this latter threat by retraining physicians to understand their roles as healers. To do this they must incorporate the best of science and technology with the appropriate use of complementary approaches, always remaining mindful of the centrality of the therapeutic relationship and the healing power of nature. Through its focus on health prevention, and meaningful physicianpatient relationships, the Integrative Medicine movement can improve health care and the quality of medical practice, and perhaps reduce health care costs as well. In our view, it is essential that the leaders of American medicine consider adapting medical education to encompass the principles inherent in Integrative Medicine. Word Count: 226