Mayo Clinic: The Science of Integrative Medicine - The Great Courses

Science of Integrated Medicine

The Mayo Clinic's The Science of Integrated Medicine - The Great Courses is available for purchase from the Great Courses, Amazon or from the Great Courses Signature Collection through Amazon Prime.

This course is a good complement to The Science of Natural Healing course. The instructor, Brent A. Bauer, MD, takes the class on a guided tour of the evidence based information for best practices in integrative medicine.

He covers the various dietary supplements with noting the concerns about side effects and the cross reactions with many prescription medications.

I was surprised that he was not a big proponent of yoga as a form of exercise. Studies that he cited only showed minimal benefit. The downside of yoga is the high rate of injury due to the awkward poses required for some of the more advanced classes. I discussed this with several people after I took this class and found many of them reporting yoga related injuries or chronic pain. Dr. Bauer recommended Tai Chi or Qigong instead as the list of benefits was extensive, in particular cardiovascular, with very little downside.

The Science of Integrated Medicine - 2 min.

Mayo Clinic Integrated Medicine Overview - 2 min. 

Mayo Clinic Radio - Integrative Medicine - 19 min. 

Dr. Bauer on Complementary and Integrated Medicine - 54 min.