TCM as a basis of inter-professional education for acupuncturists

4^th Global Acupuncture & Therapists Annual Meeting and International Conference on Holistic Medicine & Holistic Nursing

July 14-16, 2016 Philadelphia, USA

Jennifer Brett

University of Bridgeport, USA

Keynote: Altern Integr Med

Abstract :

Although classical East Asian medicine has a history of several millennia, with attendant cultural variations, in the twentieth century the Peopleâ�?�?s Republic of China developed a standardized self-limited approach known as â�?�?Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)â�?. This modern interpretation of the classical medical tradition embraced theories and methods that are amenable to a Western scientific and anatomical view of the body and its mechanisms while rejecting the more esoteric and mystico-religious aspects of the traditional approaches. Modern TCM has been practiced in the PRC since 1953 with a corpus of data recording its treatment efficacy within western medical diagnostic parameters. The rise of inter-professional education/clinics (IPE/C) coincides with the era of the rise of the idea of healthcare teams in medical education and delivery. US patients increasingly self-choose services of a team of community CAM and conventional medical providers as their choice for care. Hospitals and health centers are adding CAM professionals to teams. The UB Integrated Clinics model delivering interdisciplinary patient centered care will be described in this. She will identify critical teaching and care competencies that have been utilized at the University of Bridgeport, emphasizing the role of TCM in integration of acupuncture into a team care model. The presenter will explore how a model of team-based care that includes TCM at the University of Bridgeportâ�?�?s teaching clinic helps interns learn to work together for optimal patient care and discuss examples of strategies for inter-professional clinical collaboration in teaching clinics.

Biography :

Jennifer Brett, ND, Lac, is the Founding Director of the UB Acupuncture Institute. She graduated in 1987 from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine and graduated in 1988 from the Tri-State College of Acupuncture. She is currently the Chair of two Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM) Committees (CCAOM Distance Learning Committee and CCAOM Research Committee) and a member of the ACCAHC (Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care) Clinical Working Group.

Email: jbrett@bridgeport.edu