Kligler Named 2010 Vice Chair for Academic Consortium

Article Outline

• America's Health Ratings
• IOM Summary of the Summit on Integrative Medicine Now Available
• Venice Family Clinic Joins the Bravewell Clinical Network
• Biography
• Copyright

At their 2009 annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, the steering committee members of the Consortium for Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine elected Ben Kligler, MD, MPH, to serve as the new vice chair for 2010-2011.

The Consortium works to advance the principles and practices of integrative healthcare within academic institutions and provides its institutional membership with a community of support and a collective voice for influencing change.

Leadership for the Consortium is designed to revolve every two years, with the vice chair replacing the chair and a new vice chair being elected from the membership.

Victor Sierpina, MD, professor of family medicine and Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston will step down on December 31, 2009, as the chair of the Consortium and Adam Perlman, MD, MPH, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, will assume the role of chair on January 1, 2010.

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• Ben Klingler, MD, MPH

Benjamin Kligler, MD, MPH, is vice chair of the Department of Integrative Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center. An associate professor of family and social medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and research director of the Continuum Center for Health and Healing, Dr Kligler is also co-director of the Beth Israel Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine. Dr Kligler is the author of Curriculum in Complementary Therapies: A Guide for the Medical Educator, and co-editor of Integrative Medicine: Principles for Practice, a textbook published by McGraw-Hill in 2004. He is also co–editor-in-chief of Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. Certified in Ericksonian hypnotherapy and acupuncture, Dr Kligler incorporates these and the use of botanical medicines into his primary care practice at the Center for Health and Healing.

Adam Perlman, MD, is the executive director for the Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where he is also an associate professor of medicine within the School of Health-Related Professions. Dr Perlman, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, has published multiple articles and book chapters on various aspects of complementary and alternative medicine and, in 2006, authored the book, Own Your Own Health—The Best of Alternative and Conventional Medicine for Pain, which was published by Health Communications Inc. In 2004, he was named the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Hunterdon Endowed Professor in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and in 2007, he was appointed chairperson for the Department of Primary Care within the School of Health-Related Professions. This department includes the Physician Assistant Program, Respiratory Care Program, and the Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

“I am proud to have been involved with the Consortium since its early days, and feel honored to have this opportunity to participate in leading the organization into its second decade,” said Kligler. “CAHCIM has made a significant contribution to advancing the field of integrative medicine, and I look forward to helping expand that contribution in the areas of education, research, and clinical care models as we continue our work.”

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America's Health Ratings 

According to the 2009 edition of the report, America's Health Ratings: A Call to Action for Individuals and Their Communities, the 10 healthiest states in America are Vermont, Utah, Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Colorado, Minnesota, Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island.

The rankings are based on 22 different determinants of health, which is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The study points out that, in addition to genetic predispositions to disease, health is the result of:

“These four aspects interact with each other in a complex web of cause and effect, and much of this interaction is just beginning to be fully understood. Understanding these interactions is vital if we are to create the healthy outcomes we desire, including a long, disease-free, robust life for all individuals regardless of race, gender or socio-economic status.”

Some of the determinants collected and ranked were as follows:

Also collected were the number of adults who had cholesterol checks and dental visits; the percentage of adults who consume five or more servings of vegetables and fruit a day; physical activity rates; teen birth rates; and the number of reported cases of cardiac disease, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and hypertension.

The full report and an interactive Web site that shows rankings by state and by categories can be found at http://www.americashealthrankings.org.

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IOM Summary of the Summit on Integrative Medicine Now Available 

At a special event on November 4, 2009, in Washington, DC, Institute of Medicine (IOM) President Harvey Fineberg, MD, PhD, thanked The Bravewell Collaborative for initiating and funding the Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public and presented the official Summary of the Summit to Bravewell President Christy Mack. Pointing out that integrative medicine presents an opportunity for change, the Summary states that our “current approach to health care is primarily focused on addressing immediate events of disease and injury, and does not always take into account the complex interplay of biology, behavior, psychosocial factors and how the environment shapes health and diseases.”

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• Harvey Fineberg, MD, PhD, President, Institute of Medicine

Noting that the Summit drew the largest and most diverse audience ever assembled at the IOM, Dr Fineberg thanked IOM Executive Officer Judy Salerno, MD, MS; IOM Senior Scholar Mike McGinnis, MD; and IOM Planning Committee Chair Ralph Snyderman, MD, for their hard work in convening the Summit.

In attendance at the dinner event were representatives from government, healthcare, education, advocacy groups, philanthropy, and major corporations, as well as private citizens. “This is the way it should be,” commented keynote speaker Mehmet Oz, MD. “Because it's going to take all of us working together to transform health care and create a culture of health and wellbeing in America.”

In his keynote address, Dr Oz stated, “American health care does not help people become or stay healthy and does not make it easy for people who are seeking prevention. This is why the information generated by the Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public is so important.”

The Summary of the Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public can be downloaded from the IOM Web site at http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Quality/IntegrativeMed.aspx.

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Venice Family Clinic Joins the Bravewell Clinical Network 

In September 2009, the Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Program at the Venice Family Clinic joined the Bravewell Clinical Network and BraveNet, Bravewell's practice-based research network focused on integrative medicine.

Located in Los Angeles, the Venice Family Clinic was founded in 1970 by Phillip Rossman, MD, and Mayer B. Davidson, MD. The clinic provides comprehensive primary healthcare, specialty care, dental care, mental health services, health education, and child development services to more than 23,500 patients, most of whom come from racially diverse populations, are low-income, and lack private health insurance. The spirit of volunteerism with which Venice Clinic was founded prevails today—more than 1,500 healthcare professionals volunteer their time and services, and hospitals, laboratories, specialty-care providers, and pharmaceutical companies make $11.3 million of in-kind contributions each year.

In 2006, the Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center was established at the Venice Family Clinic in Santa Monica as the nation's first health, wellness, and integrative medicine program offered at a free clinic. Directed by Myles Spar, MD, MPH, the integrative medicine program provides a chronic pain clinic and companion stress management program. Referrals to these programs can originate in any of the seven Venice Clinic sites. “Chronic pain is the most common complaint among Venice Clinic patients,” explained Dr Spar. “We use a variety of modalities, including acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic and mind-body interventions, and typically, our patients experience significant relief from their pain both in terms of severity and interference with life performance.”

With stress, depression, and anxiety the next most common complaints among clinic patients, the integrative medicine program also offers a mindfulness-based stress reduction program that has been modified to suit the needs of its constituency. Upon completion of the program, most patients experience reduced levels of stress and anxiety, and self-report less depression.

“We are delighted to be part of the Bravewell Clinic Network,” said Dr Spar. “And we are looking forward to conducting integrative medicine research and contributing to the attainment of BraveNet's goals.”

The Bravewell Clinical Network is composed of nine leading clinical centers that deliver integrative care. The Bravewell Collaborative formed the Bravewell Clinical Network in 2003 with the intent of helping the centers develop successful models of integrative medicine care and delivery that could be shared broadly with the field. Members of this network include:

For more information on the Bravewell Clinical Network, please visit http://www.bravewell.org. For information about BraveNet, please visit http://www.bravenet.dcri.duke.edu.