Integrative Health Fellowship
The University of Wisconsin Academic Integrative Health Fellowship (UWAIHF) Program nurtures clinicians who are knowledgeable, compassionate practitioners of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual medicine that affects the health and wellness of individuals, health systems, and communities.
Fellows will refine skills in providing culturally responsive spaces where patients’ values, desires, and health goals are centered.
Our integrative health fellows learn from academic, experiential, and community perspectives consistent with the requirements of the American Board of Integrative Medicine about lifestyle approaches, botanicals and supplements, mind-body medicine, whole medicine systems, and the Whole Health approach to care.
Clinical Track – One Year/1400 Hours
The Clinical Track (CT) mission is to develop expertise in incorporating integrative health as a comprehensive approach to primary care and consultative practice. The CT provides the opportunity to develop a specific integrative health skill set or approach to care in which the fellow becomes independently competent within the one-year period.
Faculty Leadership Track – Two Years/2800 Hours
The Faculty Leadership Track (FLT) mission is to create physician leaders in the field of integrative health. Fellows in the FLT develop expertise in incorporating integrative health as an overall approach to primary care and consultative practice, with the additional expectations of deepening mastery of a specific skill set or approach to integrative care and pursuing academic and leadership in the field of integrative health. This track is appropriate for those seeking to teach and/or lead, to serve as faculty in an academic institution, or to establish an integrative health clinic.
Established in 2003, the overarching goal of the University of Wisconsin Academic Integrative Health Fellowship Program is to nurture clinicians who are knowledgeable, compassionate practitioners of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual medicine that affects the health and wellness of individuals, health systems and communities.
Seminars aim to refine skills to provide a culturally responsive space for patients’ values, desires, and health goals to arise and be centered in patients’ care.
Fellows learn from academic, experiential and community perspectives about a range and depth of modalities including lifestyle approaches, botanicals/supplements, mind-body medicine, whole medicine systems, and the Whole Health approach to care, consistent with the requirements of the American Board of Integrative Medicine®. Through this learning, fellows may serve as active partners with their community and other healing professions with an awareness of and respect for the culture and traditions from which these practices originate.
This program also strongly emphasizes the incorporation of self-care. We acknowledge the systemic causes of burnout in health care professions while exploring how to support clinicians’ senses of meaning, purpose, and resilience in their personal and professional lives.
Program Snapshot
Program Length: 1 year (Clinical Track) or 2 years (Faculty Development Track)
Start Date: July or August 1
Appointment Type: Clinical Instructor
ACIMH-recognized: Yes
Spots Available: 3
Moonlighting: Available
On This Page
Application Info
Eligibility Requirements
You must:
- Hold an MD or DO degree.
- Complete residency in family medicine or medicine/pediatrics with adequate primary care experience. You may apply while completing your final year of residency.
- Be a United States citizen or a lawful permanent US resident with a resident alien permit or green card. The Integrative Health fellowship does not sponsor J-1 or other visas.
Application Process
- Review eligibility requirements and submit the following documents through the UW–Madison job site posting:
- Curriculum vitae including specialty certifications and activities, especially those in complementary and integrative health (CIH) modalities
- Personal statement (1000 words or less), providing us with:
- A sense of who you are – e.g., interests, passions, a description of what gives your life meaning, and how you are caring for your own health
- Your reasons for applying for this fellowship
- Your past experiences with integrative health or CIH treatment modalities
- How you would like to use this training in your professional life
- Any other information you feel would be appropriate to share
- Short answer (500 words or less): How do you envision the practice of integrative medicine as an approach to care that may serve all people?
- Send an email to Program Coordinators Christina Swords (christina.swords@fammed.wisc.edu) and Denise Hix (denise.hix@fammed.wisc.edu) to inform them you’ve submitted your UW-Madison job site materials.
- Have your letter writers — or a third party, such as a program coordinator — send three letters of recommendation directly to Fellowship Coordinators Christina Swords (christina.swords@fammed.wisc.edu) and Denise Hix (denise.hix@fammed.wisc.edu). One must be from your current program director or current supervisor if in practice.
Interview Process
Selected candidates will be invited to virtual interviews. Candidates will attend up to six 45-minute interviews with current program faculty and fellows.
Key Dates
Applications Open: June 1, 2026
Interviews: Rolling
Deadline to Apply: November 1, 2026
Start Date: July 1 or August 1, 2027
Curriculum Highlights
- Clinical
- Based at Yahara Clinic Integrative Family Medicine
- Integrative health consults at Science Drive Medical Center or East Park Medical Center
- Group medical visits including Whole Health and Battlefield Acupuncture (Yahara)
- Consults at Wingra Family Medical Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center
- Call schedule and precepting
- Required for Faculty Leadership Track; optional for Clinical Track
- Precept in a UW Health residency clinic for one half day per week
- Choose between the medicine/pediatrics call schedule or the obstetrics call schedule
- Attend on the UW Family Medicine service four weeks per year
- Faculty supervision
- Meet once weekly with the UWAIHF directors to review curriculum and patient cases, cultivate community, and practice self-care
- Work alongside integrative health faculty at the Yahara Integrative Family Medicine Clinic
- Receive real-time feedback and support from a dedicated faculty member four times per year in the Integrative Health Consult Clinic
- Education
- Attend monthly Integrative Health Grand Rounds and a post-presentation gathering and debrief
- All fellows are expected to present at Grand Rounds at least once during their fellowship
- Participate in microskills learning sessions introducing skills that are easily incorporated into fellows’ clinical practice
- Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA)
- Cupping
- Gua sha
- Marma
- Mind-body therapies
- Participate in weekly seminars combining didactic and hands-on learning experiences led by integrative health practitioners
- Optional local specialty training
- OMT4MD
- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
- 8-week course offering teaching training
- The UWAIHF Program is American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM) approved. Completion of UWAIHF satisfies one of the eligibility criteria required by ABOIM to sit for the integrative medicine board certification exam offered by the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS). For more information on board certification in integrative medicine, see the ABPS ABOIM webpage.
- Attend monthly Integrative Health Grand Rounds and a post-presentation gathering and debrief
Program Leadership and Team
Current Fellows
Benefits
Moonlighting opportunities
Paid parental leave