Introducing a holistic model of graduate study for fall 2017 at CIIS  

What if graduate school was no longer an endurance contest?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Global Medicine Hunter News

(SAN FRANCISCO) --- The US Labor Department reports that one of the fastest growing careers in the next decade will be health coaches or health navigators – professionally educated individuals who help others achieve a healthy lifestyle. 

What does it take to be a master's level health coach and integrative practitioner?  Sadly, much of graduate education has been fairly dysfunctional with incredibly high costs and near-impossible schedules for adult students with work and family demands. 

However, imagine starting your studies with yoga, tai chi and meditation. Then sharing breakfast prepared in an organic kitchen with locally sourced, sustainably-produced foods at a Northern California retreat center (EarthRise operated by the Institute of Noetic Sciences).  Then take part in three hours of rigorous academic study with your faculty and mentors, a two-hour lunch and hike in the hills, with a trip to the sustainable local farm that is part of the health ecology course. Next, engage in three more hours of rigorous study in the afternoon, dinner with faculty and peer learners, and an evening program of non-academic interests, such as, HeartMath™, sound healing, subtle energy medicine modalities, community activism and health advocacy, along with special demos and sharing multiple life skills and talents. 

Welcome to the proposed, newly revamped Master of Arts program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in Integrative Health Studies. Department Chair and Professor Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, ACC, responded to the numerous requests from students around the world who cannot afford to move to the San Francisco Bay Area, and yet are seeking the integral approach unique to CIIS and Integrative Health. According to Dr Jordan, "At this writing, we are waiting for final approval from our regional accrediting body, WSCUC, but all signs look positive that this may happen soon, and we will send out word as soon as we know."

Our mission is to make the Integrative Health  graduate program a global model of sustainability in higher education, with a supportive community of learners and faculty "breaking bread" together, a green retreat center for academic intensives, and a healthier way to approach graduate school in general. The M.A. degree program has won an award for "Academic Excellence" from the National Wellness Institute, and its health coaching certificate has been awarded an unprecedented 402 contact hours from the International Coach Federation.

For more information, contact Senior Program Manager Rachel Lefkowitz or Dr. Meg Jordan, Dept. Chair. (415) 575-6199 or rlefkowitz@ciis.edu