Applications are now closed for the January 2026 cohort

Submissions to the September 2026 cohort will reopen early 2026, please keep an eye out for updates through our mailing list. 

Fellowship

Eligible MDs and DOs can apply to a 2-year remote fellowship option. The fellowship includes guidance from our faculty on establishing an IO consult clinic at your institution. Upon completion, fellows will be eligible to sit for the American Board of Integrative Medicine (https://www.abpsus.org/aboim) (recognition pending approval).  

The University of Michigan is offering an Integrative Oncology Fellowship program for MD/DO’s that builds on the IOS certificate. This fellowship includes participation in the one-year Integrative Oncology Scholars (IOS) certificate program which consists of monthly intensive training days, self-study, scholarly projects, and case discussions (see certificate page for details). 

The fellowship builds on this by adding additional content outlined in detail below.

The fellowship aims to train physicians in a holistic, patient-centered approach to cancer care, emphasizing bio-psycho-social-spiritual factors. Fellows will develop expertise in evidence-based integrative modalities such as nutrition, mind-body therapies, and physical activity, to support cancer patients throughout their journey. The curriculum includes structured didactics, clinical experience, and interdisciplinary collaboration, with the second year focused on developing independent integrative oncology clinics. The ultimate goal is to produce competent practitioners who integrate conventional and complementary approaches to enhance patient care and outcomes in oncology.

The IOS Fellowship Program is a two-year program that includes the 10-month long certificate program, general integrative medicine content, and the establishment of an IO consult clinic.  To qualify as a fellowship that enables graduates to participate in the American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM), the program must provide 1,000 hours of instruction, as outlined below.  

One of the most impactful components of the fellowship is the creation of a consult clinic at the fellow’s home institution.

Consult Clinic: Fellows will be required to start or maintain an integrative oncology consult clinic at their home institution for at least 4 hours per week, or 10% FTE starting at month 6 of Year 1 of the fellowship and continuing through the end of the second year of the fellowship. The integrative oncology consult clinic can either be a new consult service or an existing one if already established. A general oncology practice in which you incorporate integrative techniques would not meet fellowship requirements. One of your letters of recommendation for the integrative oncology fellowship must be from clinical/department/division leadership indicating that you have permission to start the integrative oncology consult service, that you have at least 10 percent of your time reserved for seeing patients in the integrative consult clinic in addition to the percent effort for the other fellowship activities. 

Year 1 Overview: This year includes the IOS Certificate Program which runs for 10 months and includes one 8-hour session per month. Preparation for this portion requires around 8 hours per month (~80 hours total over 10 months), with much of that time dedicated to developing the capstone project and associated pre-work for the monthly sessions. The program will also provide ~40 CME/CEs for oncology providers who attend the course and receive a certificate of completion.  In addition the fellowship component includes a weekly one hour virtual seminar that will run the length of the two year program that will initially focus on building the consult clinic noted above and then once the consult clinic starts will become a case based learning seminar to discuss cases seen in clinic.  There is self-directed learning anticipated around this seminar estimated at around 3-4 additional hours per week.

Year 2 Overview: This year continues the consult clinic weekly, the case based learning seminar once weekly, and adds in a 4-hour once weekly didactic session covering general integrative medicine content specific to the ABOIM board exam.  The anticipation of self-directed learning continues during this second year at around 3-4 hours per week.

Overall, we calculate approximately 20% effort needed for the overall fellowship program and require a letter of support to ensure you will be able to participate fully in these requirements.

The IOS Program and co-occurring fellowship is designed to be sensitive to the competing demands of full-time clinicians, educators, and researchers by making it flexible, personalized, and having a reasonable number of hours required to complete the course in any given month. The course is flexible by allowing scholars to complete their web-based modules, webinars, and readings and arrange for their integrative medicine practicums and interaction with their mentor at any time during the course. Scholars are also able to work on developing their long-term capstone project at their own pace providing that key benchmarks are met. Personalization occurs as all scholars choose the topic of their capstone project related to their clinical, educational, or research interests and investigate their own communities for choosing with which integrative medicine providers to partner with in their practicums. 

You must:

• Practice in the United States or Canada

• Be an MD or DO

• Have a current certification and licensure for the state(s) for which you practice

• Be engaged in an oncology-focused practice defined as an average of at least one oncology-focused clinic shift per week for the last 12 months in a hospital setting. Have the ability to create an integrative oncology consult practice at your current institution.

• Proposed Capstone Project (one page)

• Statement of Interest (one page), including:

1. A description of the integrative oncology resources currently available at your institution or clinic.

2. Examples of how participation in this course would enhance patient care, oncology research, or the education of other oncology providers.

• Curriculum Vitae

• Three Letters of Recommendation:

1. 1. Professional Colleague: One letter from a professional colleague.

   2. Institutional Support: A letter from your healthcare system, cancer center, or equivalent, confirming that you will be granted sufficient time away from clinical duties to complete the in-residence portions of the course. The letter should also indicate support to present your course experience and capstone project within your organization. Confirmation from the Program Director:

      1. • Supporting 20% time commitment to the fellowship

         • Supporting the development and implementation of an IO consult clinic

   3. Oncology Professional Mentor: A letter from an oncology professional at your institution who has agreed to review your capstone proposal and assist in identifying opportunities to share your experience within your institution.

• State licensure or certification

Each scholar is required to develop a self-directed capstone project, which may focus on an area of existing expertise or explore a new area of interest. The project can take the form of a clinical, research, or educational initiative, but it must be centered on integrative oncology.

The capstone project is expected to be substantial in scope, evolving over several months and incorporating the knowledge and competencies gained throughout the course.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to propose a tentative project idea. This initial concept will be refined through collaboration with course faculty and fellow scholars. Additionally, you will be assigned a mentor who will provide guidance on both the content and methodology of your project.

Each scholar is expected to have a draft of their project to present to the other scholars in their group and their faculty mentor by mid-course. Successful completion of the capstone project will be dependent on the project, but follows these general guidelines:

For educational projects: Curriculum is completed with clear competencies identified, mapped to learning activities and evaluation plan in place. The educational activity is approved by appropriate persons/bodies within the scholar’s home institution and a time is set for when it will first be offered and subsequent plans for future offerings.

For clinical projects: Scope, vision, goal of clinical project is completed along with a clear plan for what services would be offered, who will be offering them, where would they be offered, how credentialing and licensure will be dealt with along with payment/insurance issues; the identification of key institutional and/or community resources and initial approval of appropriate persons/bodies within the scholar’s home institution with clear timeline for implementation.

For research projects: Conceptualization, completion and submission of a grant application such as an R01 or K Award; Conceptualization and completion of a pilot research project including analysis of the data and presentation of results. This could be an analysis of an existing data set or collection of original data.

Examples of capstones

Educationally themed capstone

• Creation of an integrative medicine curriculum for nurses, advanced practice providers and other caregivers in both inpatient and outpatient oncology settings.

• Creation of an integrative oncology skin cancer focused curriculum for oncologists, dermatologists, etc. 

• Producing brief, evidence-based supportive care pocket guides for using integrative medicine to treat common symptoms that oncology patients experience 

Research themed capstone

• Researching the clinical benefits of using propolis to treat oral mucositis in patients receiving fluorouracil infusion for gastrointestinal cancers

• Does early, targeted training in autonomic nervous system self-regulation, as measured by heart rate variability biofeedback, mitigate the worsened course of oncology patients with high Adverse Childhood Experience scores?

• What are the predictors for benefits from a program of spirituality-based techniques (both cognitive as well as manual- touch, reiki, yoga, TEM) during and long after cancer treatment.

Clinically themed capstone

• Implementing oncology massage and reflexology as inpatient services

• Addition of an Integrative Oncology Pharmacy Services into Cancer Treatment Patient Education Visits

• Integrative Oncology Multi-Disciplinary Clinic for MedStar Baltimore Region Cancer Network

Will I apply separately to the fellowship?

If you would like to apply to the fellowship, we will prompt you to answer additional questions immediately following your application to the IOS Certificate program. This will be recorded as a single-application response.

I am currently a medical resident, am I still eligible to apply?

No, medical residents must have completed all residency requirements.

If I decide to apply to the certificate can I apply to the fellowship later?

Unfortunately, the fellowship activities begin in year one (during the certificate program) and cannot be completed later.