Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) and Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) have completed a merger of MUIH programs into NDMU, making NDMU the nation’s first comprehensive university to house a school solely dedicated to integrative health. Notre Dame of Maryland University’s School of Integrative Health (NDMU SOIH) has the potential to serve as a leader and innovator in health care education, according to the university.
At a signing ceremony to celebrate the school’s launch, NDMU President Dr. Marylou Yam and inaugural dean Dr. Christina Sax joined Maryland Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Sanjay K. Rai, Maryland State Senator Mary L. Washington (D-43), and Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry.
“The launch of the Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Integrative Health is a tremendous step forward in health care education and positions NDMU as a leader in health care education. Having conventional and integrative health programs alongside one another provides opportunities for interprofessional collaboration among faculty to advance the scholarship, research, and the practice of holistic health care,” said Dr. Yam. “The NDMU School of Integrative Health complements the University’s strengths in conventional health care degree programs and expands academic options for students.”
The merger of MUIH into NDMU adds a full array of more than 20 primarily online graduate-level integrative health and wellness degrees and certificates to NDMU’s already robust offerings of conventional health care programs. NDMU SOIH said that it will continue to offer the former MUIH’s programs in nutrition, health and wellness coaching, health promotion, herbal medicine, integrative health studies, ayurveda and yoga therapy. The merger also adds more than 500 formerly MUIH graduate-level students, increasing NDMU’s graduate student population by nearly 50 percent.
“When health care is done best, it involves professionals from multiple disciplines working together to provide patient-centered care,” said Dr. Sax, the school’s inaugural dean. “With the addition of graduate-level integrative health programs to NDMU’s already strong conventional health care education portfolio, there are endless possibilities for developing new and unique academic programs.”
For more information, visit www.ndm.edu.
