In the early days of the winter of 1973, an English Land Rover made its way to Tucson and miraculously broke down. Not exactly for this serendipitous event, but for many other more cogent reasons, the unconventional young physician, Andrew Weil, decided that Tucson would be his home base. From this location, a virtual wild-west environment at the time, Weil began to explore the native healing traditions of the Americas, and it was here that he began to germinate the ideas that sprouted into a pioneering approach to Western medicine, now known as Integrative Medicine (IM).
IM, now an internationally recognized movement in healing in medicine and health care, is a natural development stemming from Weil's background as a botanist (Harvard University; Harvard Botanical Museum), a physician (Harvard Medical School), an avid student of indigenous medicine, and a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs which sponsored him to study alternative medicine, as well as medicinal and psychoactive plants, for the treatment of mental illness.
Combine these elements with an innovative, unconventional, creative and incisive mind that is Andrew Weil, and you end up with the acceptance of a new kind of medicine that uses an integrated approach to healing the mind and body. Weil's journey was not easy in the early days. But he was tenacious, persuasive, and highly critical in using accepted principles of medical science (based on statistical results and analysis) to prove that integrative medicine combining conventional medicine with the ideas and practices of healing traditions is a better way to treat the whole person. Arguably, this last element is the major driving force behind IM: to promote health and thus prevent disease in the first place.
Along the way, Weil has become the author of more than a dozen acclaimed books, numerous scientific papers, and many popular articles. These writings document his journey and expertise in the study of medicinal plants, alternative medicine, medical education reform, and public health approaches designed to deliver excellent care to people everywhere. In this CEAC Covering Environments Seminar, Dr. Weil will discuss the complexity of medicinal plants and how their use offers the possibility of a different and better pharmacotherapeutic model than the use of isolated compounds. His current thoughts on cultivation of medicinal plants for use in clinical settings will also be discussed.
Click here to register for the seminar.
October 28, Tucson