Projects to Advance Integrative Health Equity throughout the Osher Center

Crowd-sourcing innovative ideas to nurture health and inspire well-being through cross-program collaboration to address health inequities.

Pathways to Health Equity: Training in Herbal Medicine and Integrative Practices

Submitted by Jenifer Matthews on November 5, 2024 - 10:29am Last revised by Marliese Warren on November 15, 2024 - 4:41pm.
Project Idea Status: 
Selected for 2nd Round

Project Leads: Jenifer Matthews, Kavita Mishra, Yvette Coulter, Candy Tsourounis, Ra Adcock, and Nate Williams 

Brief Project Description, including Feasibility and Anticipated Impact:

This two-part clinical & educational project advances health equity by fostering culturally respectful care and expanding awareness of integrative health practices, specifically herbal medicine and supplements. First, staff at the Osher Center can undergo training to increase their exposure to herbal medicine and supplements, enhancing their ability to support diverse patient needs. Second, UCSF pharmacy and medical students will participate in an Integrative Health-Pharmacy Elective: Supplements & Herbal Medicine Interdisciplinary Course, which emphasizes hands-on, interprofessional learning.

Briefly, through group discussions, case studies, and workshops, students and staff will work alongside each other and engage with guest instructors from biomedicine, integrative health, and East Asian and South Asian medicine. Topics like supplement safety, medication reconciliation, and the needs of specific populations—including cancer patients, children, and older adults—will be explored in depth. Through experiential learning with the Osher Center, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College, and community herbalists, we hope to connect students and the clinical team to local resources, empowering them to provide compassionate, culturally attuned care to diverse communities.

Proposed Budget: Total budget of $12,000 including Instructors Honorariums, Guest Lecturers/Tour Guides, Admin/Grant Management and Support 

Comments

Marliese Warren - November 5, 2024 - 1:10pm

Thanks so much for your submission.  Can you please include your proposed budget?  We only need the estimated total cost at this time.

Ariana Jostad-Laswell - November 7, 2024 - 12:41pm

This is an exciting idea! Would it be focused on herbs from East Asian medicine and Ayurveda, or more broadly? Who would the training be available to?

Jenifer Matthews - November 8, 2024 - 1:05pm

Thanks for the question-

We are hoping to draft a curriculum that includes an overview of herbs and supplements and our hope would be to foster an appreciation of herbal medicine (historical uses, herbal medicine/plants and dependence on a healthy planet/soil, and how when working with herbs requires a framework shift from traditional biomedical training). 

The curriculum will be focused on Western as well as Eastern herbs.

The training for this first round will target pharmacy and medical students, and we are working to see if we can include TCM students as well. 

Ariana Jostad-Laswell - November 19, 2024 - 11:29am

this seems like a great idea--especially if it's an opportunity to provide some financial support for curriculum development and teaching to herbalists who UCSF learners wouldn't typically have access to

Marliese Warren - November 14, 2024 - 1:22pm

Please provide additional details on how this project advances integrative health equity.

The review committee is unlikely to fund two proposals from the same author.  Please consider which proposal is most meaningful to you and only submit one.