Dr. Vince DeBono, vice president for academic affairs at National University, and Dr. Jennifer Illes, interim associate dean and clinical science instructor at National University’s Florida campus, have been accepted to present at the upcoming 2012 International Congress for Educators in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ICECIM) in Washington, DC this October. According to the ICECIM, the goal of this Congress is to advance the field of complementary healthcare and integrative medicine education through the sharing of best practices in the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of curricula and teaching methods; the strengthening of existing partnerships; and the development of new collaborations.

Their presentation titled, “Integrative Instructional Methods: The use of an encounter-based curriculum to foster inter-professional education,” demonstrates National University of Health Sciences unique inter-professional curriculum. The topic will focus on the use of encounter based curriculum (EBC) concepts utilizing Evaluation and Management (E&M) courses to instruct student from two distinct first professional programs (ND and DC) in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of patients.  EBC attempts to describe a clinical practice centered on evidence derived from clinical studies. It elevates the doctor-patient encounter as the prime subject of medical education. This is a timely matter not only for students, but additionally doctors of all health fields.

“We’re extremely enthused to have been selected by the Congress due to the large number of submissions received, and the competitive nature of the selection process,” says Dr. Illes.