AAP National Conference wrap-up

Back from the American Academy of Pediatrics‘ National Conference in Atlanta with a quick wrap-up of integrative pediatrics happenings there.

Though the NCE is actually still going on, all of the integrative pediatrics/CAM talks are done, and I’m happy to report there was quite a buzz about our Provisional Section‘s work. Kathi Kemper and Cora Breuner led a fun “Herbal Jeopardy” interactive seminar, Tim Culbert and Bill Zempsky spoke about state-of-the-art integrative pain management, Cora discussed supplement use in teens in another seminar, Sunita Vohra and I covered practical applications of CAM research, and I had the great privilege of running a CAM meet-the-expert session during the lunch hour on Saturday. Also, Kathi, Cora, and I taped a session for the AAP PREP audio series (an audio CME subscription series for pediatricians), a program on pediatric CAM to be released in 2007.

We met many pediatricians from across the world interested in developing or continuing an integrative practice. Our Provisional Section had a very productive business meeting yesterday in which we discussed clinical, educational and research activities to further the growing interest in integrative pediatrics. It looks like we’ll also see the number of academic PIM programs continue to expand across the U.S. this year. I’m looking forward to the next gathering, our annual Pediatric Integrative Medicine Conference (Pangea) in Chicago in less than 3 weeks. I encourage you all to join us there – it’s a wonderful chance to dialogue with like-minded folks from different disciplines and backgrounds.