Information for Medical Students, Center for Spirituality and Healing, Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota

Taking Courses:

 You are able to take one course per term outside of the medical school, as long as it does not interfere with your med school schedule.  You will be billed tuition for these credits, as they do not fall within your medical school financial aid package.  For further information on how to register, including tuition reimbursement opportunities, see the Med Student Handbook entry on Non-Med Registration.

 Contact Carla Mantel for further information: cmantel@umn.edu or 612-624-5166.

Graduate Certificate Program:

 The graduate certificate in Complementary Therapies & Healing Practices is offered through the Graduate School.  Medical School students can enroll concurrently in this program, with permission from Helene Horwitz, Associate Dean for Student Affairs.  The certificate program requires at least 12 credits (18 for the Health Coaching track), and students must submit application materials to both the Graduate School Admissions Office and the Center for Spirituality & Healing. For more information on the application process, contact Carla Mantel at cmantel@umn.edu or 612-624-5166.  You can also find further information about the graduate certificate here.

The Healer’s Art

This course is designed for first or second year med students, and is meant to develop a sense of personal and professional satisfaction and ongoing commitment to medicine.   The course takes a highly innovative, interactive, contemplative and didactic approach to enabling students to perceive the personal and universal meaning in their daily experience of medicine. It is a discovery-based model that draws on humanistic and Jungian psychology, as well as formational and cognitive theory to help students recognize and develop their potential as compassionate caregivers.

This course is offered starting in January.  Contact Carla Mantel at cmantel@umn.edu for further information.

Non-Academic Courses and Resources

 The Center for Spirituality & Healing offers other resources that can help you during your studies at the University of Minnesota.  These include:

• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Developed by renowned practitioner and author Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR teaches participants to intentionally deal and cope with stress, pain, illness and the demands of everyday life. 
• Stress Busters: Our weekly lunchtime meditation and relaxation group.  Dates have not yet been set for Fall 2007, but please check here for updates, or for further information.
• University Of Minnesota Student Mindfulness Club: This student organization offers further opportunity for weekly meditation and mindfulness practice.
• Taking Charge of Your Health: This online guide helps consumers navigate the healthcare system and learn to think about health holistically.  More in-depth explorations of complementary therapies for Health Practitioners can be found in our Online Learning Modules.

Suggested Courses

• INMD 7577 -- Offered in Minnesota
  Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  Elective for 3 & 4 year medical students
  3 credits
  Carolyn Torkelson, M.D.
  The primary objective of this course is to increase student awareness and understanding of complementary/alternatives medicine (CAM). Provide an overview of Holistic Medicine identifying CAM modalities useful for integration into clincial practice. Participants have the opportunity to witness complementary practitioners working in their own clinical setting.
  

• The Healer’s Art
  1 Credit
  This highly innovative, interactive, contemplative and didactic approach to enables students to perceive the personal and universal meaning in their daily experience of medicine.  It is a discovery-based model that draws on humanistic and Jungian psychology, as well as formational and cognitive theory to help students Recognize and develop their potential as compassionate caregivers.

• CSpH 5511
  Interdisciplinary Palliative Care: An Experiential Course in a Community Setting
  2 credits
  Eric Anderson, M.D.
  Multidisciplinary teams of course participants will partner with interdisciplinary community hospice teams and participate in the delivery of care to patients in a variety of settings. This course will also include a series of seminars, employing self-analysis and case studies to further the participants' appreciation of and expertise in palliative care.

• CSpH 5405
  Plants in Human Affairs
  This 4 credit graduate intensive, led by renowned ethnopharmacologist Dr. Dennis McKenna and ethnobotanist Kathleen Harrison, is taught amongst the tropical and rare plants of Hawaii.  The course will help participants to appreciate the process of ethnopharmacological drug discovery, the evolution of medicine and to develop a cross-cultural perspective on human interactions with drugs and toxins.