News in Brief

Society for Acupuncture Research Announces Call for Scientific Papers

The Society for Acupuncture Research's 12th annual conference will be held this October at the La Posada de Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As part of the conference, the Society is holding a call for scientific papers, which can be submitted for either oral or poster presentations.

Persons submitting abstracts must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Only e-mail abstract submissions will be accepted. Abstracts must be e-mailed to saracupuncture@yahoo.com no later than June 3, 2005. Abstracts submitted after that date will not be considered.
• Abstracts must be submitted using Times New Roman type, at a font size of 11 points or larger. All type must fit inside the box included in the abstract form.
• Authors and their corresponding institutions must be included, and the presenting author's name must be underlined. In addition, the author who will serve as the administrative contact must be identified accordingly.
• The title of the abstract must be in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Titles should be brief and indicate the content of the abstract; abbreviations should not be used in the title.
• The body of the abstract should be organized in the following order:
  1. A statement of the purpose of the study.
  2. A statement of the methods used.
  3. A summary of the results presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusions.
  4. A statement of the conclusions reached.
  5. A statement of sources of support for the research, including governmental, private, commercial and industrial sources.

A panel of experts will review all abstracts following the submission deadline. Prospective speakers will be informed during the week of August 1, 2005 as to whether their papers have been accepted for oral or poster presentation. Authors whose abstracts are chosen for presentation will be asked to confirm their plans for presentation with the Society. Presenters must also register to attend the meeting.

For more information, or to obtain an abstract form, readers can send an e-mail to the address above, or visit the Society's Web site (www.acupunctureresearch.org) and click the "SAR Annual Conference" link.

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Tai Sophia Signs Affiliation Agreement With University of Pennsylvania

After more than 18 months of discussions, officials from the Tai Sophia Institute and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have signed an agreement to work together on education, research and clinical activities related to complementary and alternative medicine. The collaboration will be co-directed by Tai Sophia President Robert Duggan, MAc, and Dr. Alfred Fishman, senior associate dean for program development at the School of Medicine, with additional input provided by a planning committee comprised of experts from both institutions.

One of the initiatives in the agreement calls for the creation of a master's degree program in complementary and alternative medicine, which is believed to be one of the first of its kind in the United States. The program will be offered at Tai Sophia and developed in collaboration with faculty from the School of Medicine.

The affiliation agreement also includes the establishment of an "optimal healing environment" program for cardiac patients at the Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia. Developed by practitioners from both institutions, the program is designed to integrate complementary and alternative health care practices with conventional cardiac care to help patients manage pain, anxiety and stress.

In addition, the two organizations will work together to develop postgraduate and continuing education programs. One component of the program currently in development will provide practitioners with information on herbal medicines and promote the use of online herbal databases.

Dr. Fishman explained the impetus for the affiliation agreement in an interview with the Philadelphia Business Journal.¹

"More than 50 percent of the people in this country use complementary medicine in one form or another, whether it's herbs, acupuncture, meditation, or some alternative form of treatment," he said. "People are looking for things beyond conventional medicine."

"We want to increase awareness," he added. "We shouldn't just be treating a human body that is sick as a broken down car."

Reference

1. George J. Penn, Tai Sophia prescribe alternative collaboration. Philadelphia Business Journal, March 11, 2005.