IHPC and ACCAHC Announce Growth and Change Within CAM Academic Consortium
(Burlington, VT) The Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium (IHPC) Board of Directors and the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC) Executive Committee today celebrated the work of Pamela Snider, ND, founding executive director ACCAHC, while also announcing Snider's transition with ACCAHC and replacement by John Weeks as ACCAHC'S interim executive director.
ACCAHC, initiated as a project of IHPC's Education Task Force, was created in 2004 following a recommendation of the National Policy Dialogue to Advance Integrated Health Care, to "Establish a national consortium of conventional and CAM educators." ACCAHC is comprised of representatives of the councils of colleges and accrediting bodies of the complementary and alternative health care (CAHC) disciplines that are fully regulated—acupuncture and Oriental medicine, chiropractic medicine, direct entry midwifery, massage therapy, and naturopathic medicine. It also includes representatives of traditional world medicines and emerging professions including Ayurvedic medicine, whole foods nutrition and yoga therapy.
In addition to supporting the creation of ACCAHC, IHPC convened the National Education Dialogue to Advance Integrated Health Care: Creating Common Ground, a three-day meeting of CAHC and conventional health care educators held at Georgetown Medical School in June 2005. The National Education Dialogue, both the 3-day event and its ongoing work, have been directed by John Weeks.
In her three years at the helm of ACCAHC Snider oversaw its growth from an idea in a few minds to an established interdisciplinary consortium of dues-paying members engaged in a number of ongoing projects. ACCAHC provides a unique opportunity for collaboration across the CAHC professions as well as with conventional medicine.
Snider's transition at ACCAHC—she will continue to serve on the ACCAHC executive committe—allows her to devote full time to directing the Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine Project, an international effort involving contributors from 6 countries creating a series of symposia and an in-depth textbook on the foundations, philosophy and clinical applications of naturopathic medicine.
John Weeks, who will serve as acting executive director of ACCAHC, has long been a leader of collaborative efforts in the field of integrated healthcare. He is also producer of the Integrator Blog News & Reports (www.theintegratorblog.com).
The Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium (IHPC) is a broad coalition advocating public policy to ensure all Americans access to safe, high quality, integrated health care. We endorse a healthcare system that includes conventional, complementary, and alternative approaches, as practiced by qualified providers working in respectful collaboration to offer effective patient-centered care.
NOTE: For more information on ACCAHC's recent growth and on this transition you may contact John Weeks directly (see above), watch the home page of IHPC: www.ihpc.info, or see a report from ACCAHC posted on the Integrator Blog at: http://theintegratorblog.com
Contact:
Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT:
(802) 658-8525
Executive Director, Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium
ihpc@iphc.info
John Weeks:
(206) 932-5799
Interim Executive Director, Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC)
johnweeks@theintegratorblog.com