Apr 29, 2014 05:26 PM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences is launching an online Interactive Medicine Program, school officials announced Monday.

The new program will include content related to prevention, self-care, nutrition, exercise prescription, dietary supplements, and wellness-based therapies. Additionally, a review of advanced predictive diagnostics, biotechnology, and systems biology will be included, utilizing proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics.

Integrative medicine is "the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing," school officials said in a statement.

The curriculum is designed to provide clinicians with the requisite skills to oversee a practice in integrative medicine, as well as balance the business, regulatory, and legal aspects of clinical care. Students will also be introduced to the role of technology in managing wellness and lifestyle.

Included in the curriculum is a focus on methods that healthcare providers can use to leverage technology for better patient care and decision making. Graduates of the program will learn to collect outcomes data in their practices and generate evidence-based research to inform the expansion of integrative medicine -a distinguishing feature of the program. They will also have the knowledge to make well-informed decisions, along with their patients, about treating disease, promoting vitality, and optimizing aging.

"Over the last decade, the field of integrative medicine has expanded rapidly. We know that almost half of the U.S. adult population has used some form of therapy related to integrative medicine over the last year and, for the first time ever, there is an American Board of Integrative Medicine," Andrew Heyman, M.D., director of the program, said in a statement.

George Washington University has assembled a prestigious faculty of experts from around the world, including Nobel Prize winners and NASA scientists, who will be teaching the most relevant and important concepts related to integrative medicine.

The University is now accepting applications to earn a graduate certificate in integrative medicine.

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