Abstract

As healthcare faces the twin challenges of aging populations and rising chronic disease, there is an urgent need for leaders who can integrate the strengths of conventional biomedicine with Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM). Over the past three decades, the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine has embedded a sustainable, person-centered integrative model within UCLA Health, one of the leading academic medical centers in the United States. Demonstrating safety, effectiveness, affordability, and accessibility, a cornerstone of this success has been cultivating future leaders through education, mentorship, and experiential training.

This presentation highlights strategies from the Center’s experience in workforce development and international collaborations. Locally, the Center has created a robust educational pipeline that includes an undergraduate course, medical school electives, residency rotations, fellowships, and continuing education. These programs have produced a generation of integrative-minded clinicians who now serve as faculty, referring physicians, and program champions. Globally, initiatives such as the Shanghai community health worker training program, which reached more than 12,000 participants, and the Beijing-based international training for professionals from 18 countries, demonstrate how tailored curricula and strategic partnerships can disseminate the East-West model across diverse settings.

Key elements for success include aligning integrative practices with biomedical standards, fostering cultural competence, ensuring financial and regulatory sustainability, and building networks of mentors and collaborators. By sharing these approaches, this session aims to inspire educators, clinicians, and policymakers to create effective frameworks for training the next generation of integrative medicine leaders who can advance patient care, education, and research worldwide.