Pediatric Integrative Medicine Residency Elective

A Residency Elective in the LAC+USC Pediatric Residency Program

About the Elective

Integrative medicine is the combination of allopathic and complementary healing methods that are used in a holistic, collaborative, and patient-centered manner.

Pediatric Integrative Medicine (PIM)  incorporates elements of integrative medicine and takes into account the child’s lifestyle. It emphasizes the child-family-practitioner relationship and utilizes evidence-based therapies.

The field of PIM has grown because of:

  • Increase in pediatric chronic illnesses

  • Prevalence of stress-related disorders in children

  • Possible long-term harmful effects of prescription drugs on children

  • A need to focus on preventative health and wellness in children

  • Economic, time pressures on pediatric professionals

LAC+USC began offering the Pediatric Integrative Medicine in Pediatrics (PIMR) elective in 2018 to our pediatric and med-peds residents in their seconds year and beyond. The elective uses the PIMR curriculum developed by the University of Arizona, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

  • Upon completion, Residents will be able to:

    • Define integrative medicine, including the seven domains of integrative health

    • Describe common integrative health modalities and their applications

    • Apply integrative approaches to clinical problems

    • Quickly access evidence-based resources on integrative modalities

    • Apply integrative health principles to one’s own well-being

    • Better advocate for one’s own wellness, as well as the wellness of patients and colleagues

  • 80-hour online curriculum that covers:

    • Self-care and wellness

    • Mind-body-spirit medicine

    • Nutrition and physical activity

    • Dietary supplements

    • Whole system approaches to health

    • Clinical focus modules on topics like respiratory health, dermatology, environmental health, and neurology

  • Residents will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on experiential learning with practitioners of integrative medicine modalities, including:

    • Guided imagery

    • Narrative medicine

    • Meditation

    • Mindfulness-based practices

    • Nutrition/culinary medicine

    • Yoga

    • Acupuncture

    • Massage

    • Self-compassion practices

    • Sound and music healing

    • Spirituality and healing

    • Other

  • At the completion of the elective, residents earn a certificate in Pediatric Integrative Medicine through the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

Suraiya Simi Rahman, MD

Course Director

Dr. Rahman is a Pediatric Hospitalist with a Masters in Medical Education from the Keck School of Medicine. She brings a decade of experience in developing innovative curricula in Narrative Medicine, Physician Leadership, and Identity Formation. Supporting the growth of Resident Physicians through the Narrative Medicine portion of this elective is an opportunity to rehumanize the experience of medical practice as a dynamic and rewarding lifelong learning journey. Through a transformative educational framework, every resident will explore what it means to be a healer, the nature of healing the whole person, and what healing looks like for an individual, a family, and a community.

Rukmani “Roni” Vasan, MD

Course Director

Rukmani “Roni” Vasan, MD, is Associate Director of Graduate Medical Education at LAC+USC Medical Center and Associate Medical Director of Pediatric Primary Care Clinics. She serves on the GME Wellness committee, the DEI Committee & is trained at LAC’s Helping Healers Heal (h3) program. Her focus is on implementing wellness programs for the next generation of physicians to combat burnout. In addition to overseeing the program, Roni enjoys practicing Yoga, mindfulness, and self-compassion meditation. As a clinician, she furthers the health and well-being of the most vulnerable children in East LA by adopting these techniques in her outpatient practice with patients.

Marc J. Weigensberg, MD

Integrative Medicine Faculty

Marc J. Weigensberg, MD, is the Director of Pediatric Endocrinology at LAC+USC Medical Center. He is certified in the mind-body modality of Interactive Guided Imagery which he uses to help his patients reduce stress, improve lifestyle behaviors, and promote a state of wholeness and well-being. His integrative biomedical research has utilized guided imagery, narrative medicine, indigenous group processes, nature, poetry, music, and storytelling, to treat diabetes and reduce metabolic disease risk in children, adolescents, and young adults. He practices a collaborative, whole-person approach to health that incorporates attention to body, emotion, mind, and spirit in seeking true and complete healing.

Tobi Fishel, PhD

Integrative Medicine Faculty

Tobi Fishel, PhD, is an integrative clinical and health psychologist and the GME Director of Residency Wellness for LAC+USC Medical Center. She is the former co-founder and Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School. She also co-developed the Distressed Physician Course at Vanderbilt University which incorporates emotional intelligence, narrative medicine, and mindfulness. Alongside her work with the GME office, she teaches a trauma psychotherapy course in the School of Social Work at USC, is a consultant for integrative health centers and the VA system, and has a unique clinical practice for individuals and families struggling with trauma and chronic illness. The guiding principles in her work are authenticity, meaning, and connection and she encourages a deepening relationship with the innate gifts of one’s soul.