As the Health Funders Partnership of Orange County considered what its role would be in improving the health care needs of Orange County, it considered the question: How can this group of funders and health care systems change an entire health care ecosystem? It began with setting forth a new mission for community health. The next step was to design, develop, and implement strategies to translate this into reality. It was at this stage that the Samueli Foundation brought forward an innovative concept: to transform the way medicine is taught to medical and nursing students, which would then transform the way care is delivered to the medically underserved of the county. The Samueli Foundation convened community leaders to develop this plan. At its core, it changes how medicine is taught, incorporating principles of integrative medicine (IM) with the goal of creating an environment of health, wellness, and well-being through a curriculum redesign that adopts the philosophy of IM.
Changing the Community Conversation on Health Care in Orange County, California
