We strongly believe that integrative medicine is an approach to health that may be beneficial for all patients. Our team consists of specialty-trained integrative medicine physicians and providers, specially chosen for not just their skill, but also their personal desire to help heal our patients and community.

What is integrative medicine?

Integrative medicine is a philosophy and practice of how we care for patients and ourselves. Integrative medicine includes:

• Authentic medicine: It's what patients and providers believe in their hearts and minds is the right treatment, based on all current evidence and informed by their beliefs, values and experiences.
• Everyday medicine: It’s the way you live your life, the food you eat, the environment you live in, the relationships you maintain.
• Simply, medicine: It is using the best approach to help you not just treat disease, but flourish in your life.

While integrative medicine has been referred to as the “new” medicine, it is in many ways a return to principles of medicine from the time of Hippocrates: a focus on science-based practices while acknowledging the body’s natural healing capacity. By combining conventional Western medicine with time-tested, proven practices from around the world, we expand our care options for a variety of conditions and diseases. By remembering the core principles of healing and the need to care for the whole patient, we can better relieve suffering.

Who we are, and where we are going

The Osher Center for Integrative Health was founded in 1997 as Northwestern Memorial Hospital's official integrative medicine program. Since then our clinical program has grown to see thousands of patients every month; our research team investigates the benefits and mechanisms of how integrative medicine works; and we are the trusted "go-to" resource on integrative medicine for the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Medicine and the Chicago-area community. We are proud to be recognized by The Bravewell Collaborative as one of the leading integrative medicine centers in the country.

In April 2014, our program was named the Osher Center for Integrative Health in recognition of a generous gift from Bernard Osher. With this gift, our Center joined a family of integrative medicine centers—all affiliated with esteemed teaching hospitals and universities. In addition to our Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, additional Osher Centers are available at the following locations.

• University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
• Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
• Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
• The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden

Our vision for the future of individual care and ultimately, our healthcare system revolves around introducing new integrative care models into the mainstream. The Osher collaborative is working together to create innovative clinical models of care, advance medical education, and collaborate on research initiatives. We are dedicated to taking a leadership role alongside the four other Osher Centers for Integrative Health to make our mark on academic medicine, community outreach and public policy.

The Northwestern Medicine Osher Center for Integrative Health team invites you to experience a unique healing experience. We are dedicated to being your partner in achieving your goals.