Duke Integrative Medicine
Duke Integrative Medicine
3475 Erwin Road
Durham, North Carolina, 27705
Adam Perlman, MD, Executive Director
Telephone: 866-313-0959
Website: www.dukeintegrativemedicine.org
Duke Integrative Medicine (Duke IM) has as its vision to lead the transformation of 21st century healthcare delivery. Duke IM works to achieve its vision through four strategic initiatives: the development and implementation of innovative models of clinical care; rigorous academic research; medical and professional education; and the translation of evidence-based clinical models and professional education into larger academic and medical systems nationwide.
Duke Integrative Medicine has its roots in the great tradition of collaboration, innovation, and synergy at the Duke University Health System. Chancellor Ralph Snyderman, MD, brought a vision that extended beyond the walls of the University, imagining a living laboratory that could hold answers to many of the most systemic challenges to the American health care system. In 2000, Dr. Snyderman’s vision was catapulted forward when he hired Tracy Gaudet, MD, to lead Duke into a new century. With an endorsement across the faculty of the health system, they began to build a state-of-the art healing environment executed by the masterful architecture firm Duda/Paine. The doors of Duke Integrative Medicine opened in November 2006.
Clinical care at Duke Integrative Medicine is designed to serve individuals across the health spectrum: people with chronic illnesses and conditions; those who have recently experienced a major health event such as a heart attack or the onset of cancer; and those people who wish to optimize their health. All care is provided on a consultative basis, meaning that the Duke IM physicians and therapists (acupuncturists, massage therapists, nutritionists, mind-body therapists, etc.) work with the patient’s primary care or specialty care providers. Patients may enroll in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction classes, and other ongoing programs and classes that address a wide variety of health conditions. Currently, Duke IM providers handle more than 1,000 patient visits per month.
The following is a summary of Duke IM’s accomplishments since its founding:
- Duke IM has designed and operationalized new models of care in a first of its kind clinical environment, demonstrating a new paradigm in health care and creating a new standard nationally. The models of care are based on a patient-centered approach, recognizing that the individual can be the single most important factor in the pursuit of optimal health. They include a personalized health plan, which is broad in its scope and inclusive of strategies for helping the patient implement his or her plan. They foster partnership between the patient and providers, emphasize disease prevention and health optimization, and instill the goal of whole person care in every aspect of treatment.
- Duke IM has created and delivered corresponding medical education spanning from premedical students to medical students, residents, and practicing health care professionals.
- Duke IM has developed and is now training health care providers from across the country in the Integrative Health Coach Professional Training Program. This course promotes a thorough understanding of the integrative health care model, develops effective integrative health coaching skills for use with individuals and groups, and enhances participants' skill sets, knowledge, and professional marketability. Other professional training programs include: Mindfulness Training for Professionals; Integrative Medicine in Professional Practice; and Yoga Teacher Trainings.
- Duke IM has grown its research portfolio significantly and its sister institution, the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), is the national coordinating site for BraveNet, Bravewell’s research network, studying the effectiveness of integrative models of care.
- Duke IM’s rigorous research program has investigated, among other studies, how integrative medicine interventions can reduce cardiovascular risks; how mindfulness can help people regulate their eating habits; the effect of mindfulness on sleep; the effect of mind-body interventions during pregnancy to prevent premature birth; and the impact of health coaching on patients with diabetes.
- The Duke IM facility has received the 2010 American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Design Award for Healthcare. Duke IM is also the first medical facility in the state of North Carolina to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for its environmental stewardship.
- In January 2011, Dr. Gaudet left Duke Integrative Medicine to join the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, DC, where she is the first Director of its Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. Adam Perlman, MD, succeeds her as Duke Integrative Medicine Executive Director.