Weil Foundation Announces 2011 Grants

At its February 28, 2011 meeting the Weil Foundation Board reviewed grant applications for 2011. Nineteen applications were approved for a total of $614,000. These grants will support activities from July 1, 2011 until June 30, 2012.

The majority of the grants that were awarded to Residency programs (that train physicians for 3 or more years after medical school graduation) that participate in the Integrative Medicine in Residency Program (IMR). These residency programs are located in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, Georgia, Texas, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Arizona and Massachusetts.

The IMR program was developed by the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. IMR is a 200 hour in- depth online curriculum in integrative medicine that is designed for physicians undergoing residency training. The curriculum includes advanced training in nutrition including dietary supplements, prevention programs, stress reduction and exercise programs, alternative therapies and other integrative approaches to healthcare. Now in its third year, a total of 14 Family practice residency programs across the US are participating. The IMR program has won several awards for its innovative integrative medicine curriculum.

A grant was awarded to the Internal Medicine Residency program at the University of New Mexico. This is the first internal medicine residency program to enroll in the IMR program. It is the Weil Foundation’s hope that eventually integrative medicine will be part of the curriculum in all residency programs. When that becomes a reality all physicians entering clinical practice will have had training in integrative medicine and healthcare will be transformed!

In addition to these grants to support the Integrative Medicine in Residency program, a grant was made to the Consortium of Academic Health centers for Integrative Medicine to help support a summer program introducing medical students to integrative medicine. Grants were also awarded for medical student programs in Michigan, Arizona and Illinois. An additional grant was awarded to the Society for Integrative Oncology.

The Weil Foundation is very proud that since 1996 it has awarded more than $3 million dollars to support Integrative Medicine. Together with other organizations and supporters we hope that we can transform healthcare in the 21st century!

James E. Dalen, MD, MPH
Executive Director, The Weil Foundation.