Practicing integrative medicine for optimal health 
Integrative medicine focuses on treating and healing the mind, body, and soul to achieve the overall well-being of the person.
The aim is to understand the underlying cause of a condition and address it by integrating conventional (medication) and complimentary therapies.
A wide range of complimentary therapies, techniques or practices include acupuncture, Chinese herbal therapy, chiropractic therapy, culinary medicine, holistic and massage therapies among others.
The number of complementary medicine practitioners in the European Union is approximately 145,000 physicians trained in modern medicine along with one of the complementary medicine practices or methods of which 80,000 practice acupuncture.
To achieve the vision of integrative, or fusion, medicine in the US, the name of the American National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, established as an office in 1992, was changed to the National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health in 2014. In 2016, the center’s spending increased from $2 million to $366 million.
The World Health Organization also supports the integration of complementary and modern medical practices.
Through its latest strategy, 2014–2023, it aims to facilitate the integration of complementary and traditional medicine practices into national health systems by assisting and aiding member states in developing their national policies in this field.
The entry and support of integrative medicine services in Saudi Arabia aims to achieve one of the important goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which is to raise the quality of life in Saudi society.
The Federation of National Academic Centers for Integrative Medicine was also established in the US —which includes about 20 percent of all academic medical centers in the US — including prestigious universities such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and others.
It also extended to include universities in Canada, Australia, and Brazil among others.
There are many fellowship programs in the field of integrative medicine for doctors in the US, including the integrative medicine fellowship and the integrative family medicine fellowship at the Andrew Weil Center at the University of Arizona, and the clinical fellowship for integrative medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, which are affiliated with an integrative medicine center or companies.
There is another two-year fellowship offered by Weill Cornell University, and programs in the same field offered by George Washington University, the University of Wisconsin, and Ohio University.
There are also several training programs and fellowships in scientific research in integrative medicine, including those offered by the MD Anderson Oncology Center at the University of Texas.
All of these programs aim to provide knowledge to doctors to practice integrative medicine and to provide a distinguished medical service to patients.
The entry and support of integrative medicine services in Saudi Arabia aims to achieve one of the important goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which is to raise the quality of life in Saudi society.
In addition, to concentrating on sending several doctors for training in these fellowships, it also attracts investments in this field, whether domestic or foreign.
In a survey conducted by the National Centre for Complementary and Complementary Medicine in the Kingdom in 2019 that included participants from all over the country, 82 percent of the participants indicated their support for the establishment of complementary medicine clinics within primary health care centers, which supports the idea of integrative medicine.
• Saad Majdy Baslom is a highly experienced director with 10+ years of leadership and specialist experience in complementary medicine practice. Baslom holds a doctorate in Traditional Chinese Medicine, a master’s in Chinese Herbology, and a master’s in Acupuncture.
