What will I learn?

You will discover a more satisfying and effective way to practice so you can love your work and have happier patients. You will learn critical skills, that you will apply to your patients and to yourself, so you can be the kind of doctor you dreamt of being when you were in medical school. When you add evidence-supported integrative symptom management to your practice your patients will feel better. And when your patients feel better, you feel better. The process of becoming an integrative physician requires that we fill up our own "cup" first. You will learn and practice techniques to fill up your cup.

How long will it take me to go through the recorded curriculum?

That is up to you! If you watch one lesson a week it will take you six months to get through them all. But you can certainly get through the whole program in a month or two if you're feeling motivated! The program is structured to give you practical tools that you can bring back to your practice immediately. 

Will I do the whole program on my own?

You don't have to! The Integrative Symptom Management Scholar program includes weekly group mentoring by Zoom with other physicians just like you. Your tuition gets you a year of weekly mentoring.

Because I realize that everyone has different needs, the recorded program is available without mentoring for those who want it. But I strongly suggest that you join us in the group - there is such power in community. I know that you can do it all alone, but you don't have to.

What if I can't attend the weekly sessions?

Of course I would love to see you at the live weekly sessions, but I know that schedules are complicated. Every session will be recorded so even if you can't make it to the weekly mentoring, you can still be part of the family! You can watch the weekly calls on replay and you will still interact with me and your colleagues in our private Facebook group.

I'm so busy. Do I have time for this?

I totally get it. You have to balance the fun and interesting things that you want to do with your charts and inbox and family responsibilities - it can feel overwhelming. This course is designed with this reality in mind. The weekly live online sessions will feed your mind and your soul - they will count toward your self-care time! You will have evidence-supported recorded didactic sessions that are available to you but not required to participate in the weekly sessions. So if you have time to watch the recorded curriculum it is there for you, but if you don't that's just fine. You can get back to it when you have more time. There is no pre-work for the weekly sessions. You can just show up, learn, connect and enjoy.

Doesn't this kind of practice take more time?

It can, but it doesn't have to. The integrative approach can fit into whatever kind of practice you have. You will learn how to weave new skills into the work that you are already doing. In fact, the tools that you will learn in this course can save you significant time with challenging patients. You will learn advanced communication skills to help you get the information you need and make your patient feel heard - in less time than you are probably spending now!

Is it expensive?

Learning new practice tools is an investment in your excellence as a clinician. Does it have a cost? Sure. But your continued growth and wellbeing as a physician are well worth the cost.

Since this is a CME program you may be eligible for reimbursement if you are employed, and you can take it off your taxes as a business expense if you are self-employed.

I have intentionally kept the price of the Integrative Symptom Management Scholar program low because I want it to be accessible to physicians in all specialities. When you add up the CME, additional clinical skills, supportive group of physicians and self care - you get a ton of value for a modest investment.

Will this be helpful for all specialities? 

No. Everyone is welcome, but not every speciality will get equal benefit. This program is targeted to physicians who care for patients with significant illnesses such as chronic pain, cancer, rheumatologic disease, neuropathic pain, multisystem trauma, etc. If you care primarily for healthy children or generally well adults this program is probably not for you. 

Module 1: Transformation: Becoming an integrative physician

Transforming into an integrative physician is about much more than knowledge. It involves a frame-shift in how you view health, wellbeing and your role as a health guide for your patients. We will explore the integrative model and how we, as human beings as well as physicians, can best contribute to the wellbeing of our patients and ourselves. We will explore mind-body medicine, body-based approaches, biofield therapy and complementary medical systems such as traditional Chinese medicine and naturopathy.

Module 2: Integrative Pain Management

The brain is a pain management organ. We will discuss how the brain impacts pain severity, why you must teach patients about central sensitization, and how to figure out if the patient's pain is coming from the periphery, the brain or the affective system (hint: it's usually a combination). You'll learn to see your patients' pain as a fun mystery to solve rather than a burden. We will cover cancer pain, neuropathic pain, and the management of chronic pain in patients with superimposed acute pain.

Module 3: A Humanistic Approach to Anxiety and Depression

Anxious people are sensitive and depressed people have deep feelings. You'll learn how to explain depression and anxiety to your patients, using both science and humanism, in a way that opens them up to accepting your help. And then you'll learn how to help them!

Module 4: Brain, Gut & Energy

When the gut or brain doesn't work as it should patients suffer, and both uncontrolled nausea and fatigue rob people of the enjoyment of life. With a thoughtful combination of medications and non-pharmacologic approaches your patients will be able to re-engage in a life that makes them happy. Happy patients make for happy doctors!

Module 5: Energy Medicine & Alternative Medical Systems

In this module you'll learn practical skills such as EFT (Tapping), the evidence for energy medicine and you'll learn about other systems of medicine, such as naturopathy.

While we will talk about patient cases every session, this week we will take a deep dive into the real-life complex types of patients that you see every day.  

Here's how it will work:

• You can join our Scholar Program at any time!
• You will get access to the entire recorded course right away and can start watching your modules. If you watch one a week, you'll finish in six months. If you want to get done more quickly, you can probably finish them all in about 8 weeks without too much stress.
• Our mentoring group will meet by Zoom once a week, with occasional breaks for holidays, etc. Our sessions will be on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm Eastern time (U.S.) and run for approximately 60-90 minutes.  
• The group sessions will be diverse and educational and healing and fun. Sometimes we will focus more on didactics, sometimes on learning practical skills, sometimes we'll discuss cases and sometimes we'll focus on you and your wellbeing. 
• Bonuses: you will get several bonuses including interviews with experts in the field created especially for this program. As I meet more fabulous people I'll add more bonus interviews!

Dr. Chiaramonte is a Board Certified Palliative Medicine physician and clinician leader and educator in the fields of Integrative Palliative Medicine and Integrative Oncology. She is a deeply experienced medical educator with a passion for physician wellbeing. Practicing and teaching integrative symptom management, a unique, skill-based, patient-centered style of medicine, has fueled her passion to help other physicians do the same.

The Professional Side:

• Founder of the Integrative Palliative Institute
• Former Division Chief of Integrative and Palliative Medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center
• Former Associate Director of the University of Maryland Medical School Center for Integrative Medicine
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - teaches Self-Care in Palliative Care Master's Degree Program
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maryland Graduate School - teaches Clinical Application of Integrative Medicine 
• Voted Top Doc by peers 2019, 2020, 2021 in both palliative care and complementary medicine categories

The Human Side:

When I began practice as a new family physician, I was surprised that many of my patients were suffering from symptoms that I couldn't fix with a pill. They were exhausted, but their thyroid and blood counts were normal. Their bodies ached but I couldn’t find a lesion. Their life felt flat even though everything was fine. I desperately wanted to relieve their suffering, but the skills that I learned in medical school weren’t what these patients needed. 

Once I started teaching patients my own wellbeing tools, I was surprised to find that many of them got better. As I taught them about the stress response, cognitive distortions, meditation, guided imagery, therapeutic arts, positive psychology, the importance of sleep and much more, their pain, fatigue and mood improved. Wow! This sparked my interest in Integrative Medicine.

The integrative approach to care spoke to me. It honored the whole person and highlighted the importance of stress management, sleep, healthy movement and nutritious food. It brought other healing systems to the party, such as traditional Chinese medicine and naturopathy, and encouraged community, creativity and positive coping skills. Integrative medicine seemed like the right approach. I did notice a subtle preference in the field for non-medical approaches, which I didn't love, but it didn't concern me at first.

Then my 12-year-old daughter fell off a horse and our world turned upside down.

There were months of disabling headaches. Brutal neck pain that kept her in bed all day. She could no longer read and had to leave school. Light was unbearable. Sound was too loud and language was confusing. Her world got smaller and darker until she could barely imagine her way out.

Ultimately it was a combination of medications, surgery, guided imagery, positive psychology, pain education, cognitive behavioral therapy, massage, neurofeedback, vision therapy, EMDR and creative arts that gave her her life back. I was the captain of that ship because none of her clinicians could put together a truly integrative symptom management approach.

This fueled my passion to mentor physicians to become the kind of physician that I wish my daughter had had. The thoughtful use of conventional medicine alongside complementary approaches, focused on supporting coping and symptom management, is the way to go! 

I created and led an integrative palliative medicine program at a community hospital to test the ideas on a larger population. It was beautiful and it worked.

Now it's time to spread this practice outside of my little world.

Come join me!