An integrative medicine case exemplar: The perspective of a family physician credentialed in acupuncture

Abstract Although the meaning of Integrative Medicine differs by individual patients, their demand for a more inclusive and integrative approach to care that utilizes both conventional and complementary medicine modalities has been increasing. Integrative medicine is an attempt to fulfill this growing demand for more holistic approaches to healthcare. The perspective and exemplar of a dually credentialed—board certified family medicine physician/acupuncturist led to two possible scenarios to fulfill this need: 1) encourage clinicians to receive training in both conventional and complementary medicine to create more multi-credentialed clinicians (MCPs) and/or 2) foster inter-professional collaboration among providers. One advantage of establishing a system that encourages more MCPs is that it allows patients to receive conventional and complementary medical care from one individual, but the time and expense of producing these MCPs poses a significant challenge in creating a pipeline of these individuals. If collaboration among clinicians was facilitated to provide patients with an integrative approach to their health care, this would allow the clinician to specialize in their area of focus; however, differing opinions and perspectives about how to care for the patient may pose significant communication challenges in the delivery of effective integrative care. Both of these approaches have the potential to create more access to integrative medicine for patients. Generous funding sources that create platforms for integrative medicine healthcare, such as the ***** Foundation’s support for Integrative Medicine, allow university–based community healthcare systems to generate research data that support evidence-based systemic change.