Back by popular demand, noted author and triple Board-certified physician Mark Pettus, MD will once again join the faculty of The American Meditation Institute (AMI) for a 32-credit hour mind/body medicine CME conference for physicians and other health care professionals, October 23-27, 2018 at the Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lenox, Massachusetts. Entitled “The Heart and Science of Yoga,” this 10th annual comprehensive training, accredited through the American Medical Association and Albany Medical College Office of Continuing Medical Education, is designed to help identify, prevent and relieve physician stress and burnout.
Presenter Mark Pettus MD currently serves as Medical Director of Education, Wellness and Population Health at Berkshire Health Systems, and Associate Dean of Medical Education at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. A featured speaker on a number of nationally broadcast television and radio programs, Dr. Pettus is also the author of “The Savvy Patient” and “It’s All in Your Head: Change Your Mind, Change Your Health, & Change Your Life.”
Through the analysis of recent clinical studies, Dr. Pettus’s lecture on “Epigenomics and Inflammation” details how reducing allostatic load–the physiological consequences of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened neural or neuroendocrine responses resulting from chronic stress–can relieve symptoms of physician and patient burnout. Pettus will examine the insight this new and unprecedented medical understanding gives us into the relationship between AMI MEDITATION, gentle yoga and diaphragmatic breathing and how our genes may express themselves.
According to Dr. Pettus, “We’ve left behind the genetic perspective in which everything is preordained; the belief that whatever the translation of your genetic coding is, will manifest over the course of your life, and ultimately, there’s very little you can do about it. To the contrary, current clinical research is now suggesting a very, very different picture, in which genetic predisposition is no longer considered destiny.”
The entire “Heart and Science of Yoga” CME curriculum is dedicated to providing quality, comprehensive and evidence-based education to physicians and other health care providers on Yoga Science as mind/body medicine. In addition to Epigenomics, topics this year will include a comprehensive overview and instruction on AMI MEDITATION, diaphragmatic breathing, mantra science, yoga psychology, alleviating trauma and PTSD, resiliency, mind function optimization, food as medicine, Ayurveda, easy-gentle yoga, lymph system detoxification and the chakra system as a diagnostic tool. New this year, dedicated courses on addiction and pain management, a frequent conference discussion topic and growing global issue, have been added to the curriculum.
The dedication, enthusiasm, and teaching methodology of the entire AMI faculty create a dynamic and interactive course for their students. Each faculty member is committed to the advancement and training of Yoga Science as holistic mind/body medicine. In addition to Dr. Pettus, other presenters will include Leonard Perlmutter, AMI founder; Anthony Santilli MD, board-certified in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine; Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, PhD, Director of Research for the Kundalini Research Institute, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Susan Lord MD, a private practice holistic physician focusing on prevention and treatment, and former course director for the The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s “Food As Medicine” program in Washington, DC; Jesse Ritvo MD, Assistant Medical Director, Inpatient Psychiatry, University of Vermont Health Center; Renee Rodriguez-Goodemote, MD, Medical Director of the Saratoga Hospital Community Health Center; Joshua Zamer, MD, Medical Director for Addiction Medicine at Saratoga Hospital Community Health Center and Chairman of the Department of Family Practice; Beth Netter MD MT, holistic physician and acupuncturist, Albany, NY; Prashant Kaushik MD, board-certified Rheumatologist; Anita Burock-Stotts, MD, board certified in Internal Medicine; Gustavo Grodnitzky PhD, Chair of the AMI Psychological Education Committee; Jenness Cortez Perlmutter, faculty member of The American Meditation Institute, and Lee Albert, NMT, acclaimed neuromuscular therapist and gentle yoga instructor.
According to AMI founder and conference director Leonard Perlmutter, “The interface of lifestyle, inflammation and allostatic load is where meaningful change can happen. The more consistently the therapeutic practices of meditation and yoga are incorporated into the daily lives of physicians and patients, most symptoms of stress related burnout and chronic complex diseases can be diminished or eliminated.”
2016 conference graduate, Janine Pardo, MD, a Board Certified Internist and Primary Care Physician practicing in Weston, Massachusetts positively commented, “This retreat has been the most influential factor in transforming my life and medical practice. It comprehensively provides critical information, and should be a medical school requirement.”
