Happy Birthday to Me

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of “the whole child,” I wanted to share with you reflections of the year past and some exciting developments for the year to come.

Yes, hard to believe, one year just flew by. Reflecting on the year gone by, I can think of many notable moments – for one, the resurrection of the Pediatric Integrative Medicine Conference last October in NYC. Now officially renamed Pangea, the PIM conference will be held this fall in Chicago, and under the direction of the Integrative Pediatrics Council, will hopefully continue for years to come. The Pangea conference is “a promotion of intentional dialogue, through which we hope to create new partnerships that support research and clinical practice. These conversations will be ongoing, requiring generosity, discovery and collaboration. Pangea provides a forum to discuss research, accepted practices and change, in order to foster comprehensive care for all children.”

The partnership among leadership groups has flourished. The International Pediatric Integrative Medicine Network (the IPIM listserv) has now well over 100 members from all over the world, and the Canadian PedCAM network, under Dr. Sunita Vohra’s direction, recently co-hosted the very successful North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine. The American Academy of Pediatrics provisional Section on Complementary, Holistic and Integrative Medicine (PSOCHIM) unveiled its new web site last week and is working hand-in-hand with other AAP Sections and Committees (mental health, nutrition) to improve children’s health on national level.

So what are some of the highlights of the year to come? Well, many of the big academic conferences happen in the fall – Pangea I noted already, and the AAP’s National Conference (also in October, in Atlanta) will feature talks by many of the PSOCHIM members. In November, I’ve been honored with an invitation to keynote along side several esteemed peers at the CAMEXPO West. This marks the first time that CAMEXPO has featured a pediatric track. More and more journals are expected to publish integrative pediatric content, and we are appealing to NCCAM to increase funding for pediatric research. I expect the Integrative Pediatrics Council will broaden its role, supporting clinical, research, advocacy and educational programming in children’s hospitals, academic centers and private offices/clinics across the world. It is time for a paradigm shift, and I am confident that the integrative pediatrics movement will help shape not only the future, but the present system of children’s healthcare.