The Osher Center is committed to providing education for the public, health science students and health care professionals.

Each year the UW Osher Center for Integrative Health funds small research projects conducted by University of Washington faculty members, fellows, and residents. The purpose of these grants is to stimulate scholarship in integrative medicine.  

A total of $10,000 will be available to fund up to three grant projects annually. The maximum available per grant is $5000. Grant funds are to cover research costs such as survey mailings or hourly research staff time. Funds are not eligible to be used to support faculty FTE.

Contact Dan Cherkin, UW Osher Center Director of Research dcherkin@uw.edu with questions. 

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Course Overview: The Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Washington is proud to offer the UCONJ 531 Mind-Body Medicine course. For nearly 20 years, this course has been one of the pioneering programs in the United States, based on the Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s curriculum. Robust data supports the value of participating in this course, particularly for medical students and graduate-level healthcare students, demonstrating significant increases in empathy and resilience.

Course Structure: UCONJ 531 is a highly interactive, experiential course held in person at the South Campus Center in Seattle. Please note that there is currently no option for Zoom or remote learning. Each session introduces a topic in mind-body medicine, providing students the opportunity to practice related skills. The course structure typically includes:

  • Guided Meditation: Start with a calming meditation to center the group.
  • Group Check-In: A brief discussion to share thoughts and set the tone for the session.
  • Topic Introduction: The facilitator introduces the topic of the week, tailored to the interests of the participants.
  • Group Practice: Engage in experiential exercises related to the topic.
  • Debrief: Reflect on and discuss the experience as a group.
  • Closing Meditation: End the session with a final meditation.

Topics Covered:

  • Guided Imagery
  • Spirituality
  • Moving Meditation
  • Dialogue with Symptoms
  • Guided Relaxation
  • Autogenics/Biofeedback
  • Journaling
  • Mindful Eating

Expectations and Requirements:

  • Daily Mindfulness Practice: Students are expected to practice mindfulness daily.
  • Reflection and Discussion: Respond to reflection questions and participate in online discussions between sessions.
  • Final Course Reflection: A reflective piece is required to receive course credit.
  • Attendance: Participation and attendance at all sessions are mandatory. Any absences must be pre-approved by the faculty.

Course Schedule: The course will be offered in Autumn 2024, with two section options:

  • Tuesday Evenings: 6:00 PM – 8:50 PM
  • Tuesday Mornings: 8:30 AM – 10:50 AM

Registration Details:

  • Capacity: Limited to 12-15 students per section.
  • Priority: Given to current health science graduate students.

For more information or to register, please contact: mindbody-course@uw.edu

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Fellowship

The Osher Collaborative offers specialized advanced training in integrative health with an appointment at an institution with an Osher Center. Visit the Osher Collaborative’s page for more information.

 The goal of the Faculty Fellowship is to develop highly skilled leaders and clinicians in integrative health. The interdepartmental Faculty Fellowship expands integrative health expertise, fostering an accessible and comprehensive network of integrative care, education, and scholarship. Over the course of the year-long program, scholars are encouraged to develop their individual interests in integrative health.

MD/DO, NP, PAC with a faculty appointment at the University of Washington; Volunteer faculty are not eligible.

Fellows are trained in integrative medicine clinics and other clinical sites with embedded integrative medicine services. These include primary-care, neurology, rheumatology, and pain relief clinics.

The integrative medicine fellowship focuses on non-pharmacologic strategies for the treatment of pain and other symptoms of illness, as well as health promotion and will build a foundation for increasing integrative primary care training within the UW Family Medicine Residency.

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The Healer’s Art is an elective interprofessional education (IPE) course for students from Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Social Work, Dentistry, Public Health and the MEDEX physician assistant program through the Center for Health Sciences Interprofessional Research and Practice (CHSIE).

Enroll in this course through your course catalogs for UW Health Sciences, for example, UW School of Medicine.

This course encourages the cultivation of humanism in medicine while strengthening a personal commitment to service as life’s work. It facilitates the student’s recognition of common issues related to resiliency, self-care, working with clinical teams, and supporting peers and caring for patients in a healing community with the recognition and appreciation of uncertainty, awe, grief and loss in the practice of medicine.

This course was created by Dr. Rachel Remen, MD, at the University of California at San Francisco Medical School over 25 years ago, and is taught in over a hundred health science schools nationally and internationally. The website for more information is http://www.rishiprograms.org.  

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