The Academic Integrative Medicine (AIM) Fellowship was created in 2003 to tap into the array of educational resources available through the University of Wisconsin Integrative Medicine Program. This fellowship is one of the few worldwide that allows participants to combine academic and Integrative Medicine interests into one overall two-year fellowship experience. The purpose? To create national - and international - leaders in Integrative Medicine.

As part of the AIM fellowship, fellows are enrolled in the intensive online Integrative Medicine curriculum made available through the University of Arizona. Fellows have been supported in the past by a grant through the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine and through the support of an unrestricted educational grant offered by Standard Process, a Wisconsin-based supplement manufacturer.

A fellow enrolling in the 2007-2009 fellowship period will begin his or her Arizona training experience in January 2007 with an orientation week in Tucson. This will occur 6 months prior to formally beginning the University of Wisconsin Madison component of fellowship training. Online coursework begins that month as well. A fellow enrolling from 2008-2010 would begin the Arizona curriculum in January 2008. Participants in the Arizona fellowship are expected to attend a total of 3 one-week sessions in Tucson during their two-year training period. The online curriculum requires a time commitment of 6-8 hours a week for study and experiential learning. Topics include nutrition, Chinese medicine, manipulative therapies, mind-body techniques, supplements, energy medicine, spirituality, the philosophy of medicine, Ayurveda, Integrative Medicine and the law, and many others.

In addition to the various responsibilities outlined under the academic fellowship description (also described on the fellowship web page), AIM fellows:

• See patients for 1/2 day per week at the University of Wisconsin Integrative Medicine Clinic. The clinic is located at the University of Wisconsin Research Park Clinic at 621 Science Drive. Fellows are supervised by faculty with substantial experience with and interest in the integrative approach to patient care.
• Become board-certified with the American Board of Holistic Medicine.
• Choose one or two healing modalities of particular interest to them for more intensive training. Examples might include Traditional Chinese Medicine, manipulative therapies, mind-body modalities (including mindfulness, guided imagery, and/or hypnosis), dietary supplements, environmental medicine, or energy medicine. The curriculum is designed to allow significant time and flexibility for self-directed learning.
• Attend monthly Integrative Medicine All-Clinic Meetings.
• Participate in additional, Madison-based curricular activities, which are held two or three half-days monthly. These are geared in part to fellows' specific areas of interest.
• Attend weekly Department of Family Medicine seminars along with all other departmental academic and research fellows.
• Fellows have ample opportunity to publish, participate in curricular and research projects, and interact both formally and informally with the clinics' faculty and staff. A high level of academic productivity is encouraged and expected.
• Be assigned to the Odana Atrium, a new Integrative Medicine-oriented family medicine clinic scheduled to open in early 2007, for their continuity primary care practice. Fellows will see patients there for 3 half days weekly. They will precept residents at one of the residency clinics for 1 half day per week.
• Faculty members selected for fellowship participation will continue with their current continuity practices, with a job description to be negotiated with Department of Family Medicine leadership.

Salaries of fellows selected from among current Department of Family Medicine faculty would be subject to negotiation with Department leadership. Fellows starting the fellowship immediately after residency would begin at a fourth-year resident salary as set by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, with comparable benefits.