As a global educational authority, the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine (AIHM) is an interprofessional community of healthcare providers, researchers and academics. We are singularly united by the common goal of advancing the knowledge, practice and policies that champion treating the “whole” person — mind, body, spirit, community and planet.

Inviting and unifying conventional, traditional and interprofessional practitioners, alike, AIHM remains grounded in the fundamental tenets of health: equity, diversity and justice. Driven to integrate care disciplines for improving patient, provider and practice outcomes, AIHM is a welcome home to all proponents of Whole Health.

A history of integrative health

As an academic, archival and community-building organization, our charter is to more holistically unify the diverse voices of traditional, complementary and integrative healthcare — known globally as TCIH. AIHM is the nexus where the latest evidence-based care models of conventional allopathic medicine, traditional healing practices, and complementary integrative health are explored, evaluated and seamlessly integrated toward the goal of prioritizing Whole Health — for the patient, the practitioner and the practice. Individuals and organizations that join AIHM are committed to the highest levels of scientific rigor in TCIH worldwide. United, we’re creating a healthier world for humanity and the planet. But we didn’t get here overnight.

Early leaders in holistic health

In the late 1970s, remarkable groupings of new energy and interest began to take shape in USA health and medicine. Within a few short years, from 1977-1983, new organizations and initiatives to advance the philosophies and practices of holistic doctors, holistic nurses, naturopathic doctors, licensed East Asian practitioners, chiropractic doctors, mind-body research in academic medicine, related herb and natural products industries, and others, were each independently founded.

Thirty-five years later, AIHM was created to provide the first, inclusive, unifying vehicle to advance the movement for the shared values and practices of each of these, then, separate interests.

In 1977, a group of visionary physicians, including Norman Shealy, Gladys Taylor McGarey, Bill McGarey, Gerald Looney, and Evarts Loomis gathered at Meadowlark in Hemet, CA, to lay the foundation for the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA). Norm Shealy became the first president of AHMA, and in 1978, the first meeting was held in Denver, CO. At the 1980 AHMA Conference, Norm and his wife, Chardy, met Charlotte McGuire, RN, and encouraged her to start a holistic nursing association. In 1981, Charlotte held the first national meeting of the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA). Over the next four decades, pioneers within AHMA and AHNA advanced holistic medicine and holistic nursing. Simultaneously, pioneers from naturopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine and East Asian medicine were advancing their professions in the USA.

Holistic physicians had another important organization, the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine (ABIHM). ABIHM was working alongside AHMA in developing certification for physicians.

In 2013, leaders from other licensed integrative health professions, including chiropractors, naturopathic physicians, licensed acupuncturists, and holistic nurses, joined to form the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine (AIHM).

AIHM unified, for the first time in history, all of the holistic and integrative health professions under one common and inclusive organization – holistic medical doctors, holistic nurses, naturopathic doctors, chiropractors, licensed acupuncturists and many more professions.

Transforming the future of healthcare for all.

The formation of AIHM represents the bridging of once disparate silos across health and medicine, which we are now seeing, in real time, more inclusively come together. AIHM is a call to action to guide and accelerate that change — to transform the way we think about health and healthcare by seeing and treating the patient as a whole. While that unifying and transformative work will always be ongoing, we celebrate the bridges that continue being built, the exciting progress we are witnessing every day and AIHM’s privileged role in fostering the impact we are all making together.

Today, the Academy remains a welcoming home to an ever-broadening international interprofessional community of healthcare practitioners, health seekers and health advocates, all connected by a shared holistic philosophy of prioritizing Whole Health care. Our community of passionate and purpose-driven professionals recognize the link between Whole Health and the social and cultural determinants that impact it. Unified in one voice and vision, we strive to better understand, demonstrate, educate and improve the essential quality of our most valued relationships — to our “whole” selves, to one another and to the planet we all share.

… and we invite you to join your voice and vision with ours.

Advancing the cause of Whole Health

Fast forward to 2021, AIHM merged with the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health. This truly represented a historic moment in the movement, because it formally brought together the integrative holistic MD community with the formal licensed integrative professions of integrative health — acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, direct-entry midwives and massage therapists. This merger also represented the coming together of individual clinicians, researchers, academics AND organizations, all with the one transformative purpose of advancing integrative health globally toward the greater goal of prioritizing Whole Health.

Timeline

Core Values

Relationship-Centered Care

True practioner/patient partnership respects patient autonomy and the insights of both parties. We teach by example, and practice grace, kindness and acceptance.

Optimal Health

We pursue the highest physical, environmental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the human experience, resulting in a dynamic state of being fully alive.

Whole Person

We view the person through the lens of Whole Health, where there is unity of body, mind, spirit and the systems in which they live.

Prevention, Wellbeing & Integrated Treatment

We promote health rather than merely managing symptoms of illness. We embrace a lifetime of learning, considering all safe and effective care options from a variety of healing traditions.

Innate Healing Power

We believe all people have innate healing powers in their bodies, minds and spirits. We help patients utilize these powers to affect the healing process.

Individuality

We focus patient care on the unique needs and nature of the person who has an illness, rather than the illness that has the person.

Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Committee

SEEKING EQUITY IN HEALTHCARE

Integrative and Whole Health refers to an approach to health that uses a wide-range of therapies to support health of mind, body, and spirit. We acknowledge that the context in which a person exists has a profound impact on their health. Structures of power within Integrative Health institutions in the United States perpetuate structural racism by not examining or addressing white-dominant leadership structures, membership representation, programmatic content, and advocacy engagement.

The Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Taskforce was created in June 2020 to serve as a catalyst for meaningful transformation towards racial equity in Integrative Health. The taskforce was made a standing committee by AIHM Board of Directors in February 2021. The recommendations of the BIPOC committee were accepted by the board.

“There is no social-change fairy. There is only change made by the hands of individuals.”

 ~Winona LaDuke

BIPOC Committee

Yvette Miller
Yvette MillerMD, ABIHM
BIPOC Committee Co-Chair
I. Jean Davis
I. Jean DavisPhD, DC, PA, FAIHM
BIPOC Committee Co-Chair
Darshan Mehta
Darshan Mehta MD, MPH
Rashmi Mullur
Rashmi MullurMD
Scarlet Soriano
Scarlet SorianoMD, ABOIM, FAIHM
Jessica Price
Jessica PriceMEd
Rachel Carlton Abrams
Rachel Carlton Abrams MD, ABOIM
Grace Alvarez Sesma
Grace Alvarez SesmaCultural Practitioner, Curandera, Ceremonialist
Sheila McKinney
Sheila McKinney PhD, MA

Unshakeable Commitment

We first recommend that the AIHM make a commitment, as an organization, to consider equity and racism when making all future decisions, and to dismantling previous policies that continue to contribute to inequity (including racial, LGBTQ, disability). This commitment needs to stem from a deep and abiding commitment to racial equity. Our institutional commitment must be grounded on the firmly held belief that all people are of equal value. An unshakable commitment to racial equity and ending discriminatory practices is fundamental to the integrity, strength, and effectiveness of the integrative health movement. We all agree that we are stronger, more vital, and more successful as an organization when we are transparent about our decision making, and when the diversity of our organization—in our leadership, our teaching faculty, our staff, and our membership—reflects the diversity of the human population. This isn’t a short-term “project.” It is an integral part of our values as an organization and of the embodied leadership we offer our community and the larger world. We are, by our nature, the optimal organization to speak to the two great interconnected crises of our time: Environmental collapse and Inequity in Health, Wealth, and Education. Integrative solutions which consider all factors that contribute to both of these crises are the only ones that will be effective in long-term change. And we must lead this change — starting with our own organization.

Team

Erika Cappelluti, MD, PhD, MA, FCCP, ABOIM, ABIHM
Erika Cappelluti, MD, PhD, MA, FCCP, ABOIM, ABIHM
Director of Fellowship & Education
Elizabeth “Liza” Goldblatt, PhD, MPA/HA
Elizabeth “Liza” Goldblatt, PhD, MPA/HA
Director of National & Global Projects
April Gruzinsky, MS
April Gruzinsky, MS
Director of Admissions
Bryan Hauf, MEd
Bryan Hauf, MEd
Director of Online Education
Sadielis Jimenez, ND
Sadielis Jimenez, ND
Membership Manager
Meghan Johnson
Meghan Johnson
Marketing & Social Media Manager
Andrea McCurry
Andrea McCurry
Associate Director Operations
Bill Meeker, DC, MPH
Bill Meeker, DC, MPH
Executive Director
 Stephan Nobs, CHTP
Stephan Nobs, CHTP
Chief Operating Officer
Amber O’Neil
Amber O’Neil
Education Coordinator
Jessica Price, MEd, NTP
Jessica Price, MEd, NTP
Associate Director of Fellowship

Board

Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS, ABOIM
Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS, ABOIM
Board Chair
Jean Davis PhD, DC, PA, MSCR, FAIHM
Jean Davis PhD, DC, PA, MSCR, FAIHM
Board Member, BIPOC Committee Co-Chair
Stacy Gomes, EdD, MAEd
Stacy Gomes, EdD, MAEd
Board Member
Sara Gottfried, MD
Sara Gottfried, MD
Board Member
Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABOIM
Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABOIM
Founding President
Dale Healey, DC, PhD
Dale Healey, DC, PhD
Board Member, ACIH Council Chair
Heidi Honegger Rogers, DNP, FNP C, APHN BC
Heidi Honegger Rogers, DNP, FNP C, APHN BC
Secretary
Scarlet Soriano, MD, ABOIM, FAIHM
Scarlet Soriano, MD, ABOIM, FAIHM
Board Member
JoAnn Yanez, ND, MPH, CAE
JoAnn Yanez, ND, MPH, CAE
Board Member, ACIH Voting Council Rep

Past Presidents

Bill Meeker, DC, MPH
Bill Meeker, DC, MPH
AIHM 2020 – 2023
Lucia Thornton, RN, MSN, AHN-BC
Lucia Thornton, RN, MSN, AHN-BC
AIHM 2018 – 2020
Brad Jacobs, MD, MPH, ABIHM, ABOIM
Brad Jacobs, MD, MPH, ABIHM, ABOIM
AIHM 2016 – 2018
Barbara Bakus, DO, ABIHM
Barbara Bakus, DO, ABIHM
AHMA 2015
 Daniel Friedland, MD
Daniel Friedland, MD
ABIHM 2015-2016, AIHM 2015-2016
Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABIHM, ABOIM
Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABIHM, ABOIM
ABIHM 2013-2014, AIHM 2015-present
Molly Roberts, MD, ABIHM
Molly Roberts, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 2011-2014
Patrick Hanaway, MD, ABIHM
Patrick Hanaway, MD, ABIHM
ABIHM 2009-2010
 J. David Forbes, MD, ABIHM
J. David Forbes, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 2009-2011
Wendy Warner, MD, ABIHM
Wendy Warner, MD, ABIHM
ABIHM 2007-2008
Hal Blatman, MD, ABIHM
Hal Blatman, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 2007-2009
Larry Palevsky, MD, ABIHM
Larry Palevsky, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 2005-2007
Lee Lipsenthal, MD
Lee Lipsenthal, MD
ABIHM 2005-2006
Karen Lawson, MD, ABIHM
Karen Lawson, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 2003-2005
Mark Hoch, MD, ABIHM
Mark Hoch, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 2002-2003
Scott Shannon, MD, ABIHM, ABOIM
Scott Shannon, MD, ABIHM, ABOIM
AHMA 2001-2002, ABIHM 2011-2012
Kathy Fry, MD, ABIHM
Kathy Fry, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1999-2001
Robert (Rav) Ivker, DO, ABIHM
Robert (Rav) Ivker, DO, ABIHM
AHMA 1996-1999, ABIHM 2003-2004
 Alan Gaby, MD, ABIHM
Alan Gaby, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1994-1996
Peter Albright, MD, ABIHM
Peter Albright, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1992-1994
Bill Manahan, MD, ABIHM
Bill Manahan, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1990-1992
Bernie Siegel, MD, ABIHM
Bernie Siegel, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1988-1990
Christiane Northrup, MD, ABIHM
Christiane Northrup, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1989-1990
Robert Anderson, MD, ABIHM
Robert Anderson, MD, ABIHM
AHMA 1986 – 1988, ABIHM 1996 – 2002
Hugh Riordan, MD
Hugh Riordan, MD
AHMA 1984-1986
Elmer Cranton, MD
Elmer Cranton, MD
AHMA 1980-1982
Gladys McGarey, MD, MD(H), ABIHM
Gladys McGarey, MD, MD(H), ABIHM
AHMA 1982-1984