Project Background & Overview

The Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC, in partnership with the UC College of Medicine and with support from the Dean’s office, has received grant funding from the Weil Foundation to integrate a new longitudinal wellness thread into the medical school curriculum focused on integrative and lifestyle medicine. This thread will be integrated into existing required coursework for all first and second year medical students, transforming the way our medical school is positioned as a leader in advancing integrative and lifestyle medicine education and prevention for the next generation.

“The lifestyle and integrative medicine curricular thread will give all medical students a fundamental understanding of the impact that lifestyle choices and complementary practices (acupuncture, meditation etc.) can have on the prevention, treatment and reversal of chronic conditions, while also providing additional, optional offerings for students with a passionate interest in lifestyle and integrative medicine. Ultimately, all levels of interest from our learners will be met,” says Aaron Marshall, PhD, Curriculum Integration Co-Director

The integration of integrative and lifestyle medicine evidence-base into the curriculum will expand UC medical students’ breadth of core competencies and evidence-based treatment options to empower them to be at the forefront of an emerging value-based care and prevention model in the approach to chronic disease.

Curriculum Integration Leaders

This ongoing curriculum revitalization project is being led by an interdisciplinary team including:

Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, 
medical director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC and UC Health Integrative Medicine

Aaron Marshall, PhD,
associate professor and medical education faculty for the UC College of Medicine

Sian Cotton, PhD, 
center director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC and UC Health Integrative Medicine

Heather Christensen, PhD,
assistant dean, medical education for the UC College of Medicine

Kelly Lyle, MHA, MS,
education program director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC

Stephanie White, EdD, 
culinary medicine director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC

• Past: Pamela Baker, PhD, associate dean of medical education of the UC College of Medicine, Bruce Giffin, PhD, associate dean for medical education

Curriculum Integration Updates

2026 Update

In 2026, the Lifestyle & Integrative Medicine for Everyone (LIME) curriculum team will focus on incorporating nutrition competencies informed by the  2024 JAMA Consensus Statement. The nutrition curriculum improvement effort is supported and inspired by a call-to-action from the US Department of Health & Human Services, which requested implementation of a comprehensive undergraduate medical school nutrition education curriculum that meets a 40-hour equivalent minimum. The LIME curricular thread will advance its aim of teaching evidence-based dietary interventions as tools to prevent, treat and reverse non-communicable disease (termed Food is Medicine, FiM). Adding experiential learning opportunities (via the newly constructed teaching kitchen) is a goal of the LIME-FiM curricular thread. In addition (and separate from LIME), the teaching of the core discipline of nutritional science will also be upgraded in the MD curriculum. Click the button to learn more about the two-prong approach (core nutrition discipline plus interdisciplinary teachings such as FiM).

2025 Update

The Lifestyle & Integrative Medicine for Everyone (LIME) curriculum integration project, led by Aaron Marshall, PhD, associate professor, and Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, medical director, continued to integrate the longitudinal wellness thread into the medical school curriculum. Last academic year (24-25) saw the implementation of the first-year student LIME curriculum, with positive responses/feedback from learners. That feedback will inform this academic year, with a revised first-year student curriculum and the inaugural rollout of the second-year curriculum. Three of the newest medical student scholars in integrative health (a program funded by Stephen T. Turner, MD, COM’75), Ria Jindal, Marcus Grewal, and Aadi Pallerla, have been instrumental in creating the second-year curriculum and analyzing first-year evaluation data.

2024 Update

The Lifestyle & Integrative Medicine for Everyone (LIME) curriculum integration project, led by Aaron Marshall, PhD, associate professor, and Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, medical director, began work to integrate a new longitudinal wellness thread into the medical school curriculum for 1st and 2nd year students focused on integrative and lifestyle medicine thanks to funding from the Weil Foundation. The first LIME Retreat was held on September 29, 2023, and brought together course directors, students, and staff to gather ideas and synergize the projects goal of advancing integrative and lifestyle medicine education and prevention for the next generation, position the UC College of Medicine as a leader in the field. Since, two of the newest medical student scholars in integrative health, Adam Beucler and Katie MacVittie, have been instrumental in creating early versions of LIME learning materials and contacting key stakeholders throughout the college, advocating for LIME curriculum incorporation.