“The Hidden Wisdom of Integrative Medicine,” a two-day conference exploring complementary and alternative medicine, will be April 25-26, at the Embassy Suites-Old Market Hotel, 555 S. 10th St., Omaha. The conference is sponsored by UNMC’s department of internal medicine-oncology/hematology and NHS, in cooperation with the Center for Continuing Education.
Adam Perlman, M.D., M.P.H., will deliver the keynote address titled, “History of Integrative Medicine and Status of Centers.” Dr. Perlman is executive director of the Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (ICAM) and assistant professor in the School of Health Related Professions at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ); and assistant clinical professor of medicine in the department of medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY.
Topics of breakout sessions and other presentations will include: acupuncture for allergies; yoga for cancer; massage for health and well-being; healing touch; whole food eating: what do you know about foods; acupuncture for headaches and migraines; yoga for fertility and healthy pregnancy; chiropractic manipulation for lower back pain – a chiropractor’s viewpoint; and a panel discussion – body work for chronic illness – massage, visceral manipulation, cranio-sacral therapy, lymph drainage therapy.
“Things do not get better by being left alone,” said Dr. Perlman, who received his medical degree in 1994 from Boston University School of Medicine. “There are many complementary modalities that are effective and there are many that are not. There are many interventions that are safe and many that are unsafe. It is often difficult for patients to sift through a seemingly endless amount of information on various complementary therapies and determine which one might be safe and effective for what ails them.
“Unfortunately, it is clear that most patients do not divulge the use of complementary medicine to their physicians nor are many physicians open and willing to discuss complementary medicine with their patients. This needs to change.”
In August 1998, Dr. Perlman was asked to create a program in integrative medicine for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, a 10-hospital system in New Jersey and to direct the program at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center. After much debate, he said, the clinical center was named the Siegler Center for Integrative Medicine as opposed to alternative or complementary medicine. Integrative medicine means using an evidenced-based approach to integrate certain validated complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies with the high quality western medicine already provided at the institution. The Siegler Center opened in June 1999 and currently has more than 500 patient visits per month — the majority of whom are referred by their physician.
“Although many physicians may not welcome complementary and alternative medicine with open arms, most have recognized the need to educate themselves about it,” Dr. Perlman said. “It stems from an ethical obligation on the part of physicians to support their patient’s desire to pursue any potentially efficacious therapies and an obligation to steer patients away from ineffective or potentially harmful ones.
“CAM therapies must be put under the scrutiny of valid scientific methods, but one must also approach the area of CAM with open-mindedness. I have been at many conventional medical conferences and nonconventional or CAM conferences. In both settings, practitioners have displayed a prejudice. However, that prejudice comes from where all prejudice is born – ignorance and lack of understanding. There is no place for prejudice in the practice of medicine.”
The registration fee for the conference is $150 for healthcare professionals and $100 for the general public. Registration information is available at 402-559-5916 or online at www.unmc.edu/coned.