About The Aware Medicine Curriculum

Course Directors

Adam Rindfleisch, MD

Adam was born in Arco, Idaho, in a remote area where spirituality was a much a part of life as 40-below temperatures, earthquakes, and a mountain landscape so vast that many places still remain unexplored. After the town lost its long-time general practitioner, many people turned to various forms of complementary medicine, including a number of Adam's early mentors. When Adam was a sophomore at Albertson College of Idaho, his grandfather collapsed next to him during a football game. After some difficult end-of-life decision making, his grandfather died at the hospital shortly thereafter. This experience led Adam to add comparative religious studies to his undergraduate coursework, to add depth to his pre-med training. During his two years as a graduate student in England, Adam traveled to India, Nepal, and Thailand, which heightened his interest in Eastern religions and meditation. After medical school and residency, he resolved to help healers in training explore that 'something more' that allows for healing to occur at its most profound level. Spirituality remains an important aspect of his Integrative Medicine practice.

Luke Fortney, MD

Luke recently completed a two-year fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the Academic Integrative (AIM) Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. He has joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine. His exploration of meditation and spiritual practices in medicine began when he was randomly selected to participate in the UW's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program in 1999. There, he began to appreciate the mystery of life and the realization that happiness and compassion arise from the inner work of spiritual practices which are centered in present moment awareness. Since then, he has meditated daily and explored the interplay of spiritual plactices with health and wellbeing. This exploration has included Vipassana retreats, Centering Prayer retreats, Yoga meditation, and pranayama retreats, as well as various courses and seminars on alternative medicine and spiritual health. Luke's primary interest is in making spiritual practices accessible and adaptable to people at all levels. He is also working toward increasing awareness in medicine of the real-life, practical benefits of spiritual practices for individual and collective wellbeing.