What is Integrated Medicine?

Integrated Medicine is a unique and creative attitude to health and healing of increasing importance in the 21^st century.

Combining an evidence based approach to Complementary / Alternative therapies with the provision of safe and effective treatments, Integrative Medicine seeks to encourage healing at the physical, mental and spiritual level.

The role of Integrated Medicine, however is not to reject conventional medicine, but rather to use it in conjunction with CAM, in order to provide cost-effective, accessible and beneficial treatments.

At the same time, Integrated Medicine places great emphasis on the relationship between patient and practitioner, promoting an open and holistic  attitude to health and sickness, that encourages the body's own healing response.

Acceptance of both conventional and non-conventional approaches to healthcare is on the core of Integrated Medicine, for it is within this framework that the therapeutic potential of both systems can be realized, and that true healing may take place.

To Establish an Institute of Integrated and Complementary Medicine at Hadassah Hospital

NMRU has actively sought to establish an Institute of Integrated and Complementary Medicine at Hadassah Hospital, in which it's current and future programs would be incorporated and expanded within a defined framework. 

In 2002 NMRU submitted a detailed proposal for an Institute of Integrated and Complementary Medicine to the management of Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, in which the following objectives were addressed;

1. To provide through high quality ethically approved research, evidence of the efficacy, safety, mechanism and cost effectiveness of alternative/complementary therapies, in order that they can be more widely integrated into conventional treatment.

2. To support the use of natural therapies, particularly mind-body programs, in order to encourage health and well-being of staff and patients at HMO, and to contribute to an overall improved working environment.

3. To promote educational programs and an informational network that will provide data and teaching on all aspects of complementary / alternative medicine for students, health care professionals and the public.

4. To act as a focal point for a global network of researchers, drawn from both local and regional institutes, as well as international centers for Complementary / Alternative medicine, in order to promote and share access to CAM resources and information. 

NMRU believes that the extensive facilities of HMO and the School of Medicine, which since 1994 have provided an important infrastructure for NMRU, would in the future support the academic development for an Institute for Integrated and Complementary Medicine.

Facilities at HMO include:

§         Two medical centers in Jerusalem with over 1000 beds, covering all medical specialties together  with Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Occupational Therapy, Public Health and Nursing.

§         A large pool of expertise in all fields with many international known specialists, state of the art diagnostic equipment, and the ability to carry out clinical trials, meeting the strictest GCP standards.

§         More than two thirds of Hadassah's 770 medical staff are engaged in research using high tech  laboratories and offering unique analytical services.

§         A growing interest and participation by doctors and scientists at HMO into all aspects of  complementary / alternative medicine, with the capacity for supervising students and research projects, as well as obtaining ethical approval for CAM research.

§         The presence of excellent library facilities and access to a variety of databases on conventional medicine and CAM.