Founding Integrative Medicine Centers of Excellence: One Strategy for Chiropractic Medicine to Build Higher Cultural Authority

Chiropractic physicians are seeking a higher level of cultural authority within their communities and the United States health care system. This commentary suggests an innovative strategy that might expedite the attainment of professional authority while improving the training of chiropractic students and faculty. The authors propose the founding of integrative medicine centers of excellence by colleges of chiropractic that will employ clinical faculties comprised of allopathic, chiropractic, osteopathic, and naturopathic physicians. Initially, the health care facilities should offer primary care through an integrative medicine model. It is anticipated that these centers of excellence will require both government and private funding in order to develop research programs, provide high-quality patient care, and improve the medical training for students with residents programs.

Read article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2384195/

Why This Idea Still Matters

Editor's note, 2026: Since this commentary was published, many academic medical centers have opened integrative medicine programs, and collaborative models that include chiropractic care have expanded in settings such as the Veterans Health Administration and military health care. The core idea of the proposal, training students and faculty from different professions side by side while delivering coordinated patient care, continues to shape discussions about how chiropractic education and practice can integrate with mainstream health care. For background, see What Is Integrative Medicine?, Integrate Yourself with Mainstream Medicine and Giving Our Veterans the Care They Deserve.