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About UTMB Integrative Healthcare

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston's "CAM Project" launched in 2000 with support from an NIH R25 training grant, Evidence-Based Curriculum in Alternative Therapies. The project's PI, Victor Sierpina, MD, and Co-PI, Robert J. Bulik, Ph.D., had outlined a project to develop and implement a core CAM curriculum for medical and other health professions education at UTMB. From 2000 to its conclusion in 2006, the project team was very active – integrating complementary and alternative medicine into all four years of the medical curriculum, as well as into medical residencies and other health professions curriculum. In addition, opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to participate in CAM-related professional development activites was increased. A CAM Journal Club was created. Web-based cases were created. Elective courses for students wishing to engage in more extensive study were created. The curriculum generated is now an integral part of the UTMB medical and healcare professions' curricula.

In 2004 many of the participants in the original CAM Project continued their work, this time with support from an NIH R25 grant focusing on Mind-Body Medicine entitled Psychoneuroimmunology, Stress, and Healthy Aging in Hispanics (principal investigator - Victor Sierpina, M.D., co-investigators - Malcolm Cutchin, Ph.D., Arnie Ferrando, Ph.D., Diane Heliker, R.N., Ph.D., and Eric Smith, Ph.D.). The project, which actually contained four major studies, also launched a Mind-Body Scholars program, fostering interdisciplinary mind-body research through mentoring, training in research tools, techniques and writing skills. Mind-Body Scholars also receive seed funding to develop mind-body studies and seek further funding to continue their work. The program funded a total of 10 scholars in three separate rounds.

The group continues their work in integrative healthcare, developing new curricula for integrative studies, teaching, and conducting and collaborating on research.

The Integrative Healthcare Group

  • Victor Sierpina, M.D.

    Photo of Victor Sierpina, M.D.

    Contact: vssierpi@utmb.edu

    Dr. Victor S. Sierpina, MD, is Professor of Family Medicine with tenure at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He is the first designated W.D. and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine at UTMB. He graduated from the University of Illinois Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine as a James Scholar and completed Family Practice Residency at MacNeal Memorial Hospital in suburban Chicago. Since medical school he has integrated holistic medicine, alternative therapies, and wellness promotion in primary care. Dr. Sierpina is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Holistic Medicine. He was recently recognized as one of the Best Doctors in the USA in Family Medicine. He is recipient of two NIH grants supporting his educational and research efforts in integrative medicine.

  • Susan Gerik, M.D.

    Photo of Susan Gerik, M.D.Contact: sgerik@utmb.edu

    Dr. Gerik combines providing patient care with supervising medical students and residents in the care of patients admitted to the Children’s Center for Restorative Care, and the Children’s Center for Restorative Care Center outpatient’s clinics. She also assists with development of an evidenced-based curriculum in complementary and alternative medicine and offers a variety of presentations and workshops on the subject. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology at The University of Texas, Austin, Texas in 1990, and earned her Doctor of Medicine at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas in 1994. She completed her Residency, Pediatrics at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas in 1997 and joined the faculty after graduating.

  • Julie McKee, M.D.

    Photo of Julie McKee, M.D.

    Contact: jmckee@utmb.edu

    Dr. McKee is board certified in Family Medicine and Holistic Medicine. She practices in the Integrative Medicine Clinic within Family Medicine at UTMB. Her special interests include women’s health, pregnancy, lactation, herbal medicine, mind body interventions and the effect of spirituality on health. Dr. McKee enjoys teaching and often has medical students accompanying her in clinic. After she received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Kansas, she pursued graduate studies in Cell Biology and Curriculum and Instruction. She worked as an elementary school teacher for several years before entering medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch. After completing her residency in Family Medicine at UTMB, she joined as faculty.

  • Robert Bulik, Ph.D.

    Photo of Robert Bulik, Ph.D.Contact: rjbulik@utmb.edu

    Dr. Bulik is an Associate Professor and serves as Senior Medical Educator. He has his Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Wisconsin, and has researched, written, and presented at national and international conferences on synchronous and asynchronous distance learning, integration of technology into the curriculum, faculty development of teaching skills and self-directed learning. His primary responsibilities are in curriculum and faculty development. He sits on two first-year and two third-year committees. He is Co-Director of the NIH Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Grant, Co-Director for the HRSA Pre-Doctoral Training Grant, Co-Director of the AHEC Oral Health Grant, and sits on two Executive Committees for the TIF Grant and the Center for Telemedicine and Distance Education.

  • Rodger Marion, Ph.D.

    Photo of Rodger Marion, Ph.D.Contact: rmarion@utmb.edu

    Rodger Marion earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Kentucky with emphasis on communications, educational research, and computer science. He is Professor of Humanities and Basic Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch; Assistant Dean for Educational Technology, SAHS, UTMB; Fellow, Sealy Center on Aging, UTMB; Associate member of the Graduate Faculty in Preventive Medicine & Community Health, UTMB; Adjunct Professor of Health Informatics, School of Health Information Sciences, UT Health Science Center Houston; and a Fellow of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions.

  • Julie Trumble

    Julie Trumble received her Bachelor of Arts in English in 1992 and her Master’s of Library and Information Science in 1994 from the University of Texas at Austin. She became a member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals from the Medical Library Association in 2000. She is Head of Reference and Educational Services at UTMB’s Moody Medical Library.