About Us Press Room Facts on the Center
AWCIM Brief History
1994: Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM) established.
1997: Residential Fellowship program began enrolling four physicians per year.
1997: Integrative Medicine Consultative Clinic developed at the University Medical Center.
1999: PIM, together with 8 other medical schools, founded the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. Renamed the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health, it has grown to 76 North American members.
2000: New mostly-online Fellowship program began enrolling 40 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. In 2010, the 1,000-hour curriculum with residential weeks expanded to 2 classes per year and has grown to 80 students per class.
2002–2007: PIM awarded a $1.3 million NIH T32 Research Training Program Grant for 20 Fellows, as well as a $5 million Center for Pediatrics NIH grant.
2004: Integrative Family Medicine national initiative was launched at 6 residency sites creating a joint family medicine residency/integrative medicine fellowship.
2004–2019: Conferences convened: Annual Nutrition & Health Conference [2004–2018] Environmental Health Meeting [2009] and Integrative Mental Health Conference [2010 & 2019].
2005: Bravewell Fellows Program awarded providing 88 scholarships over 6 years.
2005: Alumni Association founded.
2007: Jones-Lovell Endowed Chair in Integrative Rheumatology established – Dr. Andrew Weil recipient. Integrative Rheumatology offers full-tuition scholarships to fellowship for academic rheumatologists. 12 Jones-Lovell Rheumatology scholarships awarded thus far.
2008: PIM designated a Center of Excellence by unanimous vote of the College of Medicine deans and center heads, and confirmed by the University of Arizona Board of Regents, becoming the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.
2008: Integrative Medicine in Residency – National curriculum in integrative medicine launched in 8 family medicine residencies; currently more than 105 institutions have adopted the curriculum in 5 specialties – Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and OB/GYN.
2009: Oxford University Press began publication of the Andrew Weil Integrative Medicine Library, 17 volume textbook series to date.
2011: The Integrative Medicine Distinction Track (IMDT) was unanimously approved by the UA College of Medicine. To date, 10-15% of each medical class has enrolled.
2012: AWCIM opened the University of Arizona Integrative Health Center, a 3-year pilot project designed to provide world-class integrative primary care and study the model of care.
2014: The Integrative Health & Lifestyle (IHeLp) program launched to train licensed health professionals including nurses, dietitians, and therapists.
2014: The Institute on Place, Wellbeing & Performance established as a collaboration between AWCIM, the College of Medicine–Tucson, and the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.
2015: The Integrative Health Coaching program launched and in 2017 became one of the inaugural group to receive certification by the new National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching.
2015: AWCIM awarded a HRSA grant to establish the National Center for Integrative Primary Healthcare (NCIPH).
2017: My Wellness Coach – online mobile app designed to result in wellness for underserved patient communities.
2019: CanHEAL: Cancer Health Empowerment, Advocacy, and Learning pilot project launched AWCIM’s first free, in depth, online patient-centered toolkit for integrative cancer care.
2019: $15 million gift by Dr. Weil and the center renamed Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.
2019: In development Specialist-specific IMR programming will provide a short curriculum to residency programs in Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia, Surgery, and OB/GYN.
2020: Launch of the new Body of Wonder podcast featuring Dr. Weil and Dr. Maizes hosting conversations aimed at the general public on a variety of topics in integrative health.
2020: Swift and effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a resources web page including a webinar series, informational videos featuring Center directors, and links to articles describing the impact of integrative medicine.
2020: Creation of a new Clinical Mentorship to facilitate the professional growth of Fellowship participants as clinicians, integrating the application of the curriculum with expert-driven insight and guidance, inspiration, and collaborative learning with a mentor and their group.
2021: Launch of IMmersive: A Remote Self-Care Experience, a monthly webinar series featuring public self-care topics presented by faculty of the Integrative Medicine Elective Rotation.
2021–2023: Creation and ongoing presentation of the Integrative Medicine Summit, a 100% virtual integrative medicine CME conference.
2022: the University of Arizona breaks ground on a new building for AWCIM that will feature educational spaces and serve as a living lab for healthy work environments.