Americans spend about $34 billion annually on supplements. While prescription medications form the foundation of medical treatment, integrative health and medicine (IHM) combines conventional western medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as herbal medicines, acupuncture, massage, yoga, and stress reduction techniques, to offer patients specific health benefits.
The University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) IHM graduate certificate program addresses the need to train healthcare professionals in the safe and effective use of IHM. The program focuses on pharmacognosy – medicinal drugs obtain from plants or other natural sources – pharmacology, and using evidence-based skills to make recommendations to make recommendations that emphasize the evidence and make use of all the appropriate therapeutic approaches for the patient to achieve optimal health.
The IHM graduate certificate program is open to the following applicants:
- Physicians (MD, DO), physician assistants (PA), nurses (BSN, ANP, NDP), pharmacists (PharmD and Bachelor of Pharmacy), and dentists (DDS) who are licensed to practice in the United States or Canada.
- Pharmacy students enrolled in ACPE or CCAPP accredited Doctor of Pharmacy programs.