The British College of Integrated Medicine

The British College of Integrated Medicine was founded in 2007 and will run its first training in Integrated Medicine in January 2009. The aim of the College is to provide generalist and specialist trainings in Integrated Medicine to post-graduate doctors and nurses. The part-time training to M.Sc level provides a generalist IM approach and is aimed at giving doctors and nurses currently practicing within mainstream medicine the values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and personal development required to allow them to offer an Integrated Health approach within their current role. The specialist training which will be developed in time for the first College graduates in 2011, will be a full time PhD training for those wishing to make a career in the specialist practice, research, teaching or management of Integrated Medicine.

The goals of the College are:

To promote the delivery of Integrated Healthcare within mainstream medical settings by providing a generalist professional IM training to M.Sc level to doctors and nurses and by:

Defining the role and competencies of the generalist IM practitioner

Fostering understanding and development of the Integrated Healthcare model within mainstream medical settings

To establish Integrated Medicine as a medical specialty, by providing specialist training to PhD level to doctors and nurses and by:

Defining of the role and competencies of the specialist IM practitioner;

Setting up of a clinical governance framework and register for specialist IM practitioners

Supporting the establishment of IM career pathways

The Integrated Health Trust (IHT)

The British College of Integrated Medicine is owned by the Integrated Health Trust, a charity set up in 2007 to provide and model the gold standard in IM care, education, research and preventative healthcare. The charity has provided funds for the setting up of the College’s educational activities and will also seek to provide scholarship support to help trainees with the course fees. (See www.IntegratedHealthTrust.org) The setting up of BCIM by the charity fulfils one of the charity’s primary charitable objectives which is to provide first class IM education and information for doctors and nurses.