The mission of this institute is to educate future physicians on various evidence based integrative medicine modalities and to foster effective leadership skills to implement at their medical schools.
American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Foundation is seeking medical students with a strong interest in integrative medicine (IM) combined with the desire for leadership roles in IM to participate in the Leadership and Education Program for Students in Integrative Medicine (LEAPS into IM). This program evolved from the former NIH grant-sponsored Educational Development in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (EDCAM) Leadership Training Program (LTP) held at the Omega Institute. Medical student leaders from across the United States and Canada will be selected to participate in this intensive weeklong retreat developed in partnership by AMSA Foundation and the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine with the generous support of the Weil Foundation and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.
The leadership program will focus on IM education, leadership skills, and developing IM projects for each student to continue at their own school. Each student will be eligible to apply for a $250 grant to fund their project.
Selection criteria will be based on completeness of application, good academic standing in an accredited American or Canadian MD/DO program, diverse geographic representation of medical schools, and commitment to implementing IM leadership skills and action plans developed at the program.
Number of Spots Available: 30
Location: Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts
Program Fees
Applicants who are selected to participate will be expected to pay tuition fee based on the following fee schedule:
- Application Deadline: March 19, 2012
- Tuition: $250 payable upon acceptance into program
Tuition includes three daily meals from Sunday dinner through Friday lunch as well as 5 nights of accommodations at the Kripalu Center (same-sex double occupancy rooms). Please be aware that AMSA has worked hard to provide participants with a unique, enjoyable, and educational experience while keeping costs at a minimum. Participants will be responsible for all other meals and travel expenses, including airfare and/or ground transportation.
2012 Leadership Team
Connie Earl, DO is an osteopathic family physician in Sonoma County, CA. She believes that holistic, integrative care is just plain good medicine, and should be available to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic class or insurance status. Connie received her osteopathic medical degree from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she served an additional year as a teaching fellow in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM ) and Anatomy. After completing her residency training at the Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency (SRFMR) in 2010, Connie served as the Integrative Medicine Fellow at SRFMR; this fellowship is focused on providing integrative medicine for the underserved. During her fellowship year, Connie was instrumental in creating the 2011 Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4Us) Conference as well as an OMT clinic at the Federally Qualified Health Center affiliated with the residency. She is currently pioneering a new community health center satellite that will be delivering integrative care to the underserved in Forestville, CA.
Connie has worked as a doula, providing labor support and childbirth education to mothers and families; she organized national workshops on leadership, activism in medicine and integrative health care, including the 2004 EDCAM LTP (the former iteration of LEAPS); and believes in the power of community. Connie's professional passions include holism, reproductive health care, traditional healing modalities, natural childbirth and pregnancy, and physician wellness. She is passionately exploring the work-life balancing act, along with her loving partner, their son, their cat, their big overgrown garden, and a flock of chickens.
Bill Manahan, MD, is Assistant Professor Emeritus with the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center in Minneapolis. He is Past-President of the American Holistic Medical Association and author of the book, Eat for Health. He is on the editorial board for the peer-review journal, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, and for The Integrator Blog. He was the Founder and first Program Director of Minnesota's Rural Family Practice Residency Program. Dr. Manahan has served on numerous boards, councils, and coalitions for community-based programs addressing the healthcare needs of the underserved. Presently, he consults with physicians and clinics wishing to expand into more integrative and holistic practices.
Kathryn Hayward, MD is Associate Physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She practiced primary care internal medicine at MGH from 1992 until 2009, and then consulted with the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine until 2010. In 2004, she created a private integrative medicine practice, Odyssey Journey: A Collaborative Approach to Wellness, which brings together what she regards as the four disciplines that comprise integrative medicine (conventional medicine, movement, plant-based nutrition and mind/body disciplines). Kathryn serves as one of the Harvard representatives to the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) and is the founder and leader of the Collaborative Medicine Working Group at MGH. She is currently on a two-year leave of absence from MGH/HMS in order to pursue some projects in integrative medicine, and is delighted to have the time to have the LEAPS program be included in those endeavors. In July, she will be moving from Boston to Mallorca, Spain.
Rachael Maciasz is a medical student at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. She is currently between her third and fourth year in medical school and is doing research in palliative care as a Doris Duke Clinical Research Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. Rachael attended the Leaps 2011 program where she was re-inspired by IM practitioners, Leaps faculty, and fellow medical students to continue striving to be a healthy, open, forever-learning physician. She tries to incorporate Leaps lessons into her life including practicing self-care and fostering good relationships. She is interested in community preventative medicine, patient and clinician communication, clinical education, and medical education mentoring.
Mary P. Guerrera, MD is Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Integrative Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She received her A.B. cum laude from Mount Holyoke College and her M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Guerrera completed Residency Training in Family Medicine at the Maine Medical Center/Mercy Hospital Family Medicine Training Program in Portland, Maine. She has been actively involved in teaching medical students and residents since that time. Dr. Guerrera is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and an active member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. In addition, she is Board Certified in Medical Acupuncture and is a Founding Diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. She has also completed advanced training in Mind-Body Medicine. As a nationally recognized leader in Integrative Medicine, she serves on the steering and executive committees of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine and as past co-Chair of their education working group. Dr. Guerrera’s academic activities include membership on the School of Medicine’s Education Council and Committee for Undergraduate Medical Education. She is the course director for the medical school electives: ‘The Healer’s Art’ and ‘Mind-Body-Spirit Medicine.’ She served as Principle Investigator of the Educational Development for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (EDCAM) Project Grant awarded to her School of Medicine by the American Medical Student Association Foundation (2003-2007) and as founding Principle Investigator launching the LEAPS into IM (Leadership and Education Program for Students in Integrative Medicine) in 2010. Ongoing collaborative work includes sustaining and growing LEAPS into IM and continuing a national, multi-site Integrative Medicine in Residency (IMR) Project with the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine. She is frequently invited to present regionally and nationally, and has published scholarly work in her field. Recognized via an award from students and peers, she was inducted into the Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society in 2004. Dr. Guerrera maintains an active clinical practice within the Department of Family Medicine’s Residency Program.