Vinny Minichiello, MD, is a family physician and Director of the Academic Integrative Health Fellowship at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at University of Wisconsin–Madison. In his clinical practice, Dr. Minichiello treats patients with conditions such as chronic pain, diabetes, hypertension, anxiety/depression, and sleep disorders. “I see people with complex lives and complex stories,” said Dr. Minichiello. “In my practice, I approach family medicine through an integrative health lens. First, I learn what matters most in a person’s life, and then we work together to build an individualized care plan that makes sense for them.”  

As Director of the Academic Integrative Health Fellowship, Dr. Minichiello works to infuse health equity into the curriculum and keep the content relevant for fellows who will go on to incorporate integrative health into their clinical practice. His favorite part of the job is spending Thursday mornings with the fellows. In these sessions, Dr. Minichiello facilitates the group through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) micro-learnings on topics such as belonging and implicit bias, before moving into mind-body practices, group check-ins, and case presentations. He also supports skills-based experiential sessions on modalities such as acupuncture and gua sha. “Learners have shared that they appreciate the Thursday morning sessions because it’s a brave space for us to talk about DEI, to share lived experiences, to be seen, and to be heard.”  

Dr. Minichiello brings his passion for integrative health equity to his work on the Osher CollaborativeEducation Committee. Dr. Minichiello, along with collaborators, recently developed the Integrative Health Equity and Anti-Racism Tool (IHEART), an innovative instrument designed to incorporate DEI principles into integrative health education. The learning tool, which provides reflection questions tailored to the unique philosophy and topics of integrative health, addresses issues such as accessibility of integrative health therapies, cultural misappropriation, trauma-informed care, and weight inclusivity in integrative health training. “We noticed that these important topics are often covered inconsistently in integrative health training. Our goal is to implement the IHEART tool in the education activities across the Collaborative, which will then serve as a model for how this tool might be applied to all integrative health education,” said Dr. Minichiello. The team recently received a 2024 Weil Foundation grant to pilot this tool across the Osher Center sites.  

According to Dr. Minichiello, one of the most valuable aspects of being part of the Osher Collaborative is the informal mentorship he has received. “I still identify as an early career faculty member, so it’s been such a gift to connect with and learn from faculty at other centers,” said Dr. Minichiello. He also appreciates opportunities for multi-site collaborations. “It’s encouraging to see us publishing cross-site papers and presenting on panels together. We are seeing the impact of the work we are doing as a Collaborativeand transforming what the field looks like, together.”