FIRST PEDIATRIC INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE CONFERENCE:
"Incorporating Evidence-Based Complementary/Alternative Medicine into Clinical Practice"
Contact: Jean Spinelli, 520-626-7301 or [email protected]
DATES/TIMES: FRIDAY, FEB. 18, 4 - 8:45 P.M.
SATURDAY, FEB. 19, 8:30 A.M. - 8:45 P.M.
SUNDAY, FEB. 20, 8:30 A.M. - 6:30 P.M.
PLACE: The Westin La Paloma Resort, 3800 E. Sunrise Drive, Tucson
MEDICAL WRITERS/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS NOTE: Media are welcome to attend and cover this event, which is for health professionals only, not the general public. A copy of the conference program is available upon request from AHSC Public Affairs, (520) 626-7301. Speakers will be available for interviews prior to and immediately following the conference, as well as during breaks. To make arrangements, please contact Kate Jensen, (520) 626-7217, or email: [email protected].
--------------------------------------------------
Feb. 4, 2000
Increasing numbers of parents are asking pediatricians and family physicians about alternative medicines for treating their children's illnesses. Because of the growing demand for information about the safety and effectiveness of alternative therapies for children and how to incorporate them into pediatric practice, hundreds of pediatric health care professionals from throughout the world are expected to attend the first Pediatric Integrative Medicine Conference, Friday - Sunday, Feb. 18 - 20, at the Westin La Paloma Resort in Tucson.
Some of the country's leading authorities on pediatric integrative medicine will be featured speakers at the conference, which is sponsored by the University of Arizona College of Medicine, the Steele Memorial Children's Research Center and the Program in Integrative Medicine at the Arizona Health Sciences Center.
The UA developed the conference as a result of a major grant awarded in 1998 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Alternative Medicine to the UA Children's Research Center and UA Program in Integrative Medicine -- the first center in the country to be funded by the NIH to study alternative medicine in pediatrics. The grant provides $5 million over five years to conduct scientific studies on alternative therapies to treat childhood diseases that fail to respond to conventional therapies as well as to establish career development and training for physicians and scientists.
The conference was organized in cooperation with the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing, the Center for Holistic Pediatric Education and Research at Children's Hospital of Boston and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association Special Interest Group on Holistic Medicine.
Keynote speakers include:
-- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., and Myla Kabat-Zinn, B.S.N., R.N. Dr. Kabat-Zinn is executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass-Memorial Medical Center. Myla Kabat-Zinn is co-director of BirthDay, a Boston-area childbirth education organization. They are co-authors of "Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting." The Kabat-Zinns
will be luncheon keynote speakers, Saturday, Feb. 19, 12:45 - 2 p.m.
-- Kathi J. Kemper, M.D., MPH, associate professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School; director, Center for Holistic Pediatric Education and Research, Children's Hospital of Boston; and past president, Ambulatory Pediatric Association (APA). Dr. Kemper will discuss "Holistic Pediatrics = Good Medicine," Friday, Feb. 18, 7:45 - 8:30 p.m.
-- Deforia Lane, Ph.D., associate director, Ireland Cancer Center; director of music therapy, University Hospitals of Cleveland and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio; and author, "Music as Medicine." Dr. Lane will discuss "Music as Therapy," Sunday, Feb. 20, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
-- Andrew Weil, M.D., director, UA Program in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Weil will discuss "The Future of Pediatric Integrative Medicine," Saturday, Feb. 19, 7:30 - 8:15 p.m.
Fayez Ghishan, M.D., director of the Steele Memorial Children's Research Center, will be among the speakers giving welcoming remarks, Fri., Feb. 18, 6 - 6:30 p.m.
The conference will include courses to familiarize pediatric health care professionals with complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, presentations of current data and ongoing research, and hands-on demonstrations of popular alternative therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure, touch therapy and guided imagery.
Sessions also will address historical and scientific evidence regarding the mechanisms, effectiveness and safety of specific alternative therapies for children and adolescents; strategies for discussing with colleagues and patients the scientific evidence regarding the advantages and disadvantages of alternative therapies used by children and adolescents; effective integration of specific alternative therapies into pediatric practice; and developing a plan for continuing medical education and identifying resources regarding alternative therapies for children and adolescents.
The conference is supported by educational grants from the Arizona Elks, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH, the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing, the Center for Holistic Pediatric Education and Research at Children's Hospital of Boston, Canyon Ranch, and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association Special Interest Group on Holistic Medicine.
# # #
RSS