GW’s new Center for Integrative Medicine will fuse contemporary science with traditional healing when it opens its doors April 1.

“Twenty-first century medicine is all about re-assessment – and a new appreciation of what tradition has to offer,” said Dr. John Pan, the center’s director.

Stepping back to innovate, reviving ancient practices to achieve a breakthrough, the center will explore treatments like massage, acupuncture and Chinese traditional medicine techniques.

Patients will receive treatment ideas from a team of four medical doctors and four or five “alternative” medicine practitioners.

Pan said the medical community must recognize surging patient interest in traditional healing and “bring these practices into the mainstream to decide if they should be part of treating patients.”

Lack of scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of alternative practices has provided doctors an “excuse” to ignore them, Pan explained. So the center meticulously will document patient response to traditional treatments.

The center will open with five inaugural programs – back and spine care; cancer patient support; general wellness; gynecology and homeopathic pediatrics, which will concentrate on childhood asthma and allergies.

“We have to prove that we’re adding value to patient care,” Pan said. “To do the research, that’s the challenge.”

The center, to be housed at 2150 Pennsylvania Ave, is a GW Medical Center initiative – and is guided by an executive steering committee that pulls members from GW’s medical school, health care sciences department and Ambulatory Care Center physicians.

Education will be a major thrust of the center, Pan said. Medical students will have the opportunity for research work and integrative training, and students and doctors alike will be at the heart of conferences and meetings Pan said he plans to host at GW.

Dr. Scott Schroth, assistant dean of the medical school and member of the center’s steering committee, said plans are underway to create a two- to four-week elective program for medical students.

“It’s relevant for medical students to get a better idea of the field, and clearly there is a push to hold (alternative) practitioners to the same standards of proof as other medical practitioners,” Schroth said.

Center patients will complete extensive medical history forms and meet with a medical doctor on their first visit, Pan said.

“We may create a treatment plan that does not include anything alternative,” Pan said. “For example, if a patient has a tumor in the spine, we’ll send him to a neurosurgeon.”

Those who enter into integrative treatment will discover that “they need to be more pro-active as patients. Conventional medicine gives way to doctors writing prescriptions – traditional medicine may demand a lifestyle change,” said Rachel Mazzotta, the center’s administrative fellow.

Though the center now receives its financial backing from the GW Medical Center, Mazzotta said it will apply for research grants from the National Institutes of Health and pursue other avenues of funding.

“There’s more to the doctor-patient relationship than just the chart,” said first-year medical school class president Nehal Mehta.

Mehta said understanding the patient as a person makes for stronger care. GW doctors are trained to inquire about a patient’s spiritual beliefs, he said.

And alternative medicine is a natural partner to increased emphasis on the patient, Mehta added.

“I’ve been advised that as a new doctor, if you want to be on the edge of things, do a third-year rotation through alternative medicine,” Mehta said.