New Integrative Medicine Consult Service Established
The NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
NCCAM has established an Integrative Medicine Consult Service at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. The new service, announced in May 2007, will provide integrative medicine support to health care providers and patients participating in research studies at the Clinical Center, the world's largest hospital dedicated solely to research.
Integrative medicine combines treatments from conventional medicine and CAM for which there is some high-quality evidence of safety and effectiveness.
CAM is not a new concept to the Clinical Center. Currently, the Pain and Palliative Care Service and the Rehabilitation Medicine Department offer acupuncture, Reiki, hypnosis, guided imagery, and massage therapy, as well as tai chi and qi gong training. The Pharmacy Department and members of NCCAM's intramural research program provide expertise on herbals and herb-drug interactions. The new service will coordinate these existing resources and develop further to meet the clinical and educational needs of Clinical Center staff and patients.
The service's major functions will include clinical consultation on CAM therapies, a CAM education program, and a research program embedded in NIH's clinical and translational research structure.
The director of the new service will be Patrick J. Mansky, M.D., a clinical oncologist and researcher at NCCAM.
"We are pleased with the creation of the Integrative Medicine Consult Service and the role we hope it will play in providing Clinical Center patients with the best possible integrated care," said Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., Acting Director of NCCAM. "Dr. Mansky's blend of clinical and research experience at the crossroads of CAM and conventional medicine makes him an excellent choice to lead this new service."
