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    Saybrook University
   
 
  Mar 29, 2024
 
2016-2017 Academic Catalog and Student Handbook with Spring Addendum 
    
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2016-2017 Academic Catalog and Student Handbook with Spring Addendum [Archived Catalog]

College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences


Join the Integrative Healthcare Revolution

The College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences offers graduate degrees and certificate programs in Mind-Body Medicine and Integrative and Functional Nutrition.  The College is dedicated to a holistic, humanistic, and person-centered approach to healthcare and mental healthcare.

Today the general public is seeking a renewed healthcare system that is:

  • dedicated to the care of the whole person, body, mind, and spirit;
  • focused on life-style change and the acquisition of self-care skills;
  • dedicated to pursuing higher level wellness, versus solely treating illness; and
  • attuned to enhancing the individual’s quality of life.

The master’s degrees and doctoral specializations in the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences (CIMHS) offer a comprehensive and transformational education in the approaches to integrative medicine that are becoming increasingly central to conventional healthcare. The PhD specializations include healthcare systems, practice, research, integrative mental health, and integrative and functional nutrition. The various specializations are designed to prepare students for opportunities to practice, consult, teach, and research within the integrative healthcare field.

CIMHS is dedicated to the mission of transforming healthcare by emphasizing self-care practices and life style change, conducive to higher levels of health and well-being. The academic programs combine a cutting-edge curriculum with university-wide emphasis on student-centered learning. Throughout the curriculum, students will learn from dedicated CIMHS faculty. Several members of the faculty are world-renowned scholar practitioners who edit industry publications, lead professional associations, direct community health centers, conduct research, and develop protocols for treatments that support and complement those based on conventional, Western medicine.

CIMHS programs are designed for professionals in a variety of career fields who wish to enhance and expand their skills or pursue research in health and wellness. With this transformative education, students in the program will learn about mind-body skills, biofeedback and hypnosis, nutrition, health and wellness coaching, counseling, holistic health, chronic pain management, integrative and functional nutrition, and the integrative healthcare system.  This knowledge will prepare students to:

  • Apply humanistically informed research, practice, and education.
  • Develop an approach that emphasizes higher levels of health and wellness.
  • Understand the mind, body, spirit connection, and its role in health and disease.
  • Display innovative methods that stretch disciplinary and paradigmatic boundaries.
  • Cultivate a multicultural sensitivity toward diverse healthcare practices.
  • Acquire an understanding and mastery of applied research competencies that supports improvement and nurtures change in the healthcare field.

The accredited graduate degrees in Mind-Body Medicine and Integrative and Functional Nutrition are part of the fastest growing, most exciting, areas of healthcare. 

Hybrid Learning Model

The majority of the coursework is conducted online and at a distance, so students can live and work anywhere in the world as they engage with CIMHS faculty and peers. All classes include weekly online discussion forums, at least two videoconferences, and written assignments. In addition, there are two residential conferences per year.

Courses for graduate degrees in the CIMHS are offered during three semesters each year: fall, spring, and summer. Fall and spring semesters each have two 8-week terms (A and B); the summer semester has only one 8 week-term.

New students, starting in either fall or spring semesters are required to attend a one-time, day-long Residential Orientation (RO). During the RO, new students will be introduced to the College’s faculty, staff, and current students. The faculty will describe how to manage distance learning technology, review academic expectations, and discuss requirements for the initial term. 

Residential Conference Requirements for the CIMHS Programs

The fall and spring semesters begin with a five-day Residential Conference (RC). The dates of the residential orientation and residential conferences appear in the College’s academic calendar. The number of RCs required for each student vary by degree program.

Both the MS and the PhD degree programs include an experiential “mind-body-spirit integration seminar,” during the first residential conference. This seminar is conducted onsite during the residential conference.

Programs

Certificate

Other Courses