Certificate in Integrative Medicine Outline

Learn from some of the top practitioners in the field of integrative medicine. Our certification program is an online, state of the art learning environment, complete with basic to advanced materials and case studies.

  • Create The Integrative Medicine Clinic of Your Dreams
  • Achieve Clinical Excellence
  • Improve Your Patient Outcomes
  • Increase Your Income
  • Active, Collaborative Faculty Directed Modules 
  • World-Renowned Faculty 
  • 100% On-Line Training
  • Clinical Forms
 

Refresh & Grow Your Knowledge and Skills as an Integrative Medicine Practitioner by Earning a Certificate in Integrative Medicine from the Golding Institute.

This program is specially designed to equip both the healthcare practitioner that is new to the practice of integrative medicine as well as the experienced integrative medicine practitioner. If you are seeking to break into this exciting field or reinforce your knowledge and learn the latest in evidence-based research then this program is for you. Whatever your level of expertise in integrative medicine, the Golding Institute and its faculty are here to assist you in any way we can.

This is a 10 module, 100 hour, 6-month certification program consisting of 7 required core modules. There are additional elective modules, 3 or more of which you can choose from based on your interests and needs. The certification program is delivered completely online. The ability to access and complete all of the program requirements from the privacy of your home or office enables flexibility in the pursuit of learning. Practitioners can engage with a state of the art program where the content is accessible, affordable and convenient.

We have designed the certificate program to be relevant and adaptable to all licensed health care practitioners including but not limited to: Medical Doctors, Osteopathic Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Acupuncturists, Nurses, Dieticians, Nutritionists, Naturopathic Doctors, Doctor of Chiropractors, Clinical Nutritionists, Dentists and Psychologists.

CPD credits are applied for with every course

Core Modules

The module’s reading material will cover relevant topics pertinent to cardiovascular and metabolic health. The articles included will cover the bigger picture of cardiovascular disease than the conventional LDL cholesterol-lowering approach. Endothelial dysfunction will be covered in great depth and the currently available tests will be eluded to so that as a practitioner, one can not only understand the concept of endothelial dysfunction but also how to diagnose and manage the condition. The metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance will be discussed in detail and the available medicines and nutraceuticals for the management of metabolic syndrome will be reviewed.

This module teaches functional neurology from a symptom basis as well as systems basis.  The most common neurologic complaints in clinician’s offices today include chronic pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), incontinence, dementia/memory difficulty, insomnia and mood disorders.  By utilizing peer reviewed literature that summarizes the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of these common disorders, learners will gain a thorough knowledge of the complexities of these clinical presentations.  The peer reviewed literature will discuss many of the traditional medical therapies that are utilized for these disorders.  

Discussions on the integrative nature of neurology and its intersection with gastrointestinal, endocrine, immune and urinary systems are included in the literature.  This sets the stage for the broadening of functional neurology to include immunology and endocrinology and integrates systems that continuously work together and cannot truly be separated in clinical practice.

A new approach will address optimal management of neurological disorders based on objective test outcomes. This offers learners new opportunities to optimize nervous system health.  This integrative and innovative approach includes diet and nutrition, nutritional supplements, lifestyle changes, amino acid therapy for neurotransmitter support, stress hormone balancing and immune system support.

Case studies demonstrate the integration and application of neuroendoimmunology and they summarize this new model of functional neurology.  Learners will easily integrate clinical applications from these case studies upon completion of this module.

This module will cover a natural medicine approach to infectious diseases, both in terms of treatments and prevention, prebiotics, probiotics and the implications on gut health and overall health, supplementation and natural strategies against, and management of HIV, Natural medicine approach to viral infections, and a natural medicine approach to parasitic infections.

This module will address areas of gastroenterology from an integrative medical perspective including: Anatomy and Physiology of the Digestive System, Normal GI Flora, Dysbiosis, Bacterial, Yeast, Parasitic, H. Pylori, Clostridia, Difficile, Small Bowel Overgrowth, Food Allergies and Sensitivities, Celiac Disease, Leaky Gut Syndrome, IBS, GERD, IBD and other GI Diseases, Functional Lab Testing, Clinical Analysis, Treatment Protocols, Importance of GI Health in Non GI-Diseases, Autoimmune, Skin Diseases, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Migraine Headaches, Autism, ADD, and ADHD.

It has become increasingly aware that most of us are not deriving our optimal intake of nutrients from diet alone. In this module, the reasons for this will be discussed, as well as the differences in recommended daily allowances and optimal daily allowances for vitamins and minerals. Various protocols using nutraceuticals and natural medicines (including scientifically verifiable doses) for different medical conditions will be covered in depth. The definition and types of nutraceuticals will be covered in great detail along with the definition and a short explanation of functional foods. The module presents articles discussing natural medicines. Case studies involving nutrition, lifestyle and nutraceuticals will be included as well as herb-drug interactions, vitamins, minerals, omega fatty acids and amino acids. Finally, this module looks at glyconutrients.

Optimization of health includes combating inflammation and ongoing detoxification in an ever-increasing environmental toxic load. There is overwhelming proof that we are exposed to environmental toxins, including heavy metals on an ongoing basis. This module is designed to teach the practitioner how to detoxify the body of this burden.

Detoxification is one arm of the functional and integrative medicine approach and the other modules are important to grasp to understand the fundamental principles of detoxification. Information covered in the modules on infectious disease, gut health, nutraceuticals and supplementation, nutrition and diet are thus important to grasp to fully understand this module.

Sometimes called Natural Medicines-CAM involves the use of natural substances to treat and prevent disease. CAM generally is more effective for preventive medicine goals such as reducing risk of heart disease, cancer, immune complaints, diabetes, menopausal symptoms, chronic inflammation, depression etc, than it is for acute conditions such as pain, fever, injury and infection, although CAM can be useful for these conditions too. CAM works via multiple health end-points rather than merely 1 or 2. Eg Fish Oil Omega 3 fats & co-enzyme Q10 work by improving entire cardiovascular health, rather than focusing on treating only hypertension or only cholesterol. Therefore we say that CAM “complements” the body, meaning it works with the body to improve health, thereby reducing risk of disease.

Elective Modules - Choose 3

This module will cover a wide variety of medical conditions and explore through applied case studies how to implement the integrative medicine model into practice. The module offers 20 cases which address a broad range of integrative diagnostics and therapeutics.

A sound knowledge of the immune system is of paramount importance to the Integrative Medicine practitioner due to the following factors that need to be both understood and implemented into practice:

  1. The incidence of autoimmune diseases is on the rise
  2. Gluten sensitivity (not only celiac disease states) increases the risk for “leaky gut syndrome” and autoimmune disease states
  3. Predominantly Th2 immune system responses are common with aging people and this leads to an increased incidence of allergies, autoimmune disease states as well as cancers
  4. Immune deficiency states, such as inherited immune deficiency states,  and acquired like HIV infection, need an integrated approach to manage best
  5. Gut flora is of great importance to maintaining immune system and overall health
  6. Only in Integrative Medicine can Gut health be addressed appropriately to restore overall immune quality and health
  7. Most disease states begin in  the gut and it is not surprising that the gut hosts the major part of our immune systems
  8. It is important to understand the differences in th1 and Th2 immune system responses and the cytokines responsible for each of them
  9. Certain “immune interventions” can be put in place with integrative medicine modalities to restore immune system health
  10. Understanding an Integrative approach to autoimmune diseases, asthma, allergies and aging per se will be learned in this module
  11. Inflammatory changes in the body begins in the gut and an approach to inflammation and an approach to immune surveillance is important.

Nutrition is a fast evolving science and practitioners are flooded with a lot of conflicting and unfounded nutrition information provided in the media, by nutritional supplement companies and even from poor designed published studies. Nutritionists themselves promote a wide variety of nutritional theories and clinical approaches, yet often conflicting. Many nutritional courses that are included in medical degree curriculums provide general but minimal theoretical information. They often offer insufficient applicable components for solving clinical problems integratively. At the same time, curriculums of standard nutrition degrees lack up to date information about the clinical applications of nutritional supplements and special diets. Their typical emphasis is on the “food pyramid” and a limited, very conservative set of nutritional interventions for hospital based nutrition.

This module is based on up to date scientific knowledge from the fields of biochemistry, human physiology, testing objective nutritional biomarkers, as well as food and nutritional supplements chemistry and toxicology. This module is designed to support practitioners in their ability is to utilize the most effective and safe nutrition interventions for disease prevention or reversal, while optimizing the patient’s vitality and performance. The information is structured to provide a well organized core of clinical nutrition solutions, a foundation that is easy to build on with updated information.

The goal of this module is to equip you with a basic understanding of genetics, but specifically nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics. Highlighting how genetic factors may predispose to disease, and how genetic variation interacts with diet and lifestyle to alter or impact the development or progression of chronic diseases. The field of nutrigenomics offers health professionals an important new tool in their assessment of risk, and in formulating their approach to disease prevention.

The genes we carry significantly impact our health and susceptibility to various diseases. The discovery of prognostic genetic markers is increasing at an astonishing rate, and continues to improve target identification, test accuracy, disease detection and treatment selection.

Nutritional genomics, which studies the genome-wide influences of nutrition, has far-reaching potential in the prevention of diet-related disease. It is highly likely that during this decade the nutritional supplement, food industries and healthcare companies will grow in response to advances in nutritional genomics research and its applications. Parallel to this growth will be impressive progress in understanding the specific influence of certain food components on metabolic pathways and on long-term risk for disease

One of the greatest technological accomplishments of the last 100 years has been the complete mapping of the human genome, first announced in 2003. This has given scientists a greater understanding of the mechanisms of health and disease at a molecular level, forever changing the face of clinical diagnosis and treatment.

The goal of this module is to organize and explain various tests that are available so as to make their use more applicable to medical education and clinical practice. There is a new standard of care emerging in medicine, and recent science in molecular medicine has challenged the fatalistic approach to the mere management of disease with the pharmaco-therapeutic approach.  The predisposition model recognizes that we all inherit genetic vulnerability, but it incorporates unfolding evidence that environmental and nutritional factors interact with our genome to produce a unique phenotype and the eventual clinical outcome.  In order to identify the causative determinants that must be addressed in clinical situations, an objective mechanism is required to explore those nutritional and toxicological factors that are contributing on a molecular basis to health outcomes.  Accordingly, laboratory testing to evaluate biochemical, toxicological, and nutritional status in individual patients is an absolute prerequisite in modern health care to adequately investigate and manage health problems, particularly in patients with complex problems.

The module will cover bio identical Hormone replenishment therapies (HRT), thyroid and adrenal gland disorders, misconceptions regarding compounding, and point out the evidence proving the safety, efficacy and purity issues related to bio identical HRT.

Certificate in Integrative Medicine

R50,000.00

Additional information

CPD

Yes

Case Studies in Integrative Medicine

$350.00

Integrative Clinical Immunology

$350.00

Nutrition and Diet

$350.00

Nutrigenomics

$350.00

Integrative Medicine Lab Testing

$350.00

Integrative Management of Fatigue

$350.00

Integrative Hormone Therapies

$350.00

Courses