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Certificate of Advanced Study in Complementary and Integrative Therapies

Certificate Level: Graduate
Admission Requirements: Bachelor's degree
Certificate Type: Graduate Certificate
Number of Credits to Completion: 12.0
Instructional Delivery: Online
Calendar Type: Quarter
Maximum Time Frame: 3 years
Financial Aid Eligibility: Not aid eligible

Program

The Certificate of Advanced Study in Complementary and Integrative Therapies (CIT) program is designed to provide practicing healthcare professionals with an evidence-based program in complementary and integrative therapies.

This graduate certificate program is applicable to a wide range of healthcare professionals including nurses, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, creative arts therapists, couple and family therapists, women's health practitioners, members of oncology organizations, members of the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) and more. Courses are offered wholly online in a dynamic and interactive learning environment.

What you'll learn

This interdisciplinary graduate program is designed to provide a strong foundation of knowledge in specific complementary and integrative therapies, which includes women's integrative health, clinical aromatherapy, mind–body therapies, spirituality, and bio-energy therapies.

Graduates of the program are equipped with the cultural and theoretical basis for applying complementary and integrative therapies while focusing on the skills and techniques of specific therapies. This knowledge allows them to assess, guide and evaluate patient use and to integrate CIT into their professional practice.

Program courses are taught by internationally-recognized leaders in Complementary and Integrative Therapies and faculty trained in both conventional healthcare and integrative therapies. The program content is congruent with the educational standards set forth by the AHNA and the Foundations in Clinical Aromatherapy course adheres to the educational standards (level one) set forth by the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA).

What makes the program unique?

  • Convenient format with courses offered wholly online.
  • Courses taught by internationally recognized leaders in their field.
  • Suitable for a wide range of health care students and professionals.
American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation, Inc. has endorsed Drexel University’s Complementary and Integrative Health Master's and Certificate Programs, which allows graduates of these programs to sit for the nationally accredited board certification in holistic nursing.

Admission Requirements

Degree:
  • Bachelor’s degre
  • Cumulative GPA of 3.0
  • If your GPA is lower, you're still encouraged to apply, but should ensure that relevant professional experience is included on your resume. You must also provide two professional letters of recommendation from either previous or immediate supervisors or former NP MSN

Standardized Tests:
N/A

Transcripts:
Official transcripts must be sent directly to Drexel from all the colleges/universities that you have attended. Transcripts must be submitted in a sealed envelope with the college/university seal over the flap. Please note that transcripts are required regardless of number of credits taken or if the credits were transferred to another school. An admission decision may be delayed if you do not send transcripts from all colleges/universities attended.

Transcripts must show course-by-course grades and degree conferrals. If your school does not notate degree conferrals on the official transcripts, you must provide copies of any graduate or degree certificates.
If your school issues only one transcript for life, you are required to have a course-by-course evaluation completed by an approved transcript evaluation agency
Use our Transcript Lookup Tool to assist you in contacting your previous institutions
If you attended a Diploma School of Nursing and the school was affiliate with a college/university, the official transcript must be submitted from the college for any non-nursing courses for which you received credit.

Prerequisites:
N/A

References:
Two letters of recommendation.

Personal Statement/ Essay:
Personal statement (no more than two pages and no less than one page double-spaced) that will give the admissions committee a better understanding of the following:

Why you are choosing this particular program of study;
Your plans upon completion of the certificate; and
How your current work experience will enhance your experience in this program.

Deadline
March 3, 2025

Interview/Portfolio:
Not required.

CV/Resume:
Required.

Licenses:
Nurses, physician assistants, and other healthcare professionals who hold licensure or a certificate: copy of license, eligibility for licensure, or certificate.

Clinical/Work/VolunteerExperience:
Specific work experience not required.

International Students:
International applicants, as well as immigrants to the United States and U.S. permanent residents whose native language is not English and who have not received a bachelor's degree or higher in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom, must show proficiency in English speaking as well as listening, writing and reading. American citizens born on U.S. military bases abroad may be waived from the TOEFL requirement after providing documentation of this status. Otherwise, applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

If you take the TOEFLiBT exam, you must have:

a minimum combined score for listening, writing, and reading sections of 79 plus a speaking section score of 26 or higher.
a minimum score of 550 or higher and a Test of Spoken English score (TSE) of 55 or higher.

Tuition and Fee Rates:
Please visit the Drexel Online Certificate of Advanced Study in Complementary and Integrative Therapies tuition page

Application Link (if outside organization):
N/A

Curriculum

This program is organized into four 10-week quarters per year (as opposed to the traditional two-semester system) which means you can take more courses in a shorter time period. One semester credit is equivalent to 1.5 quarter credits.

For Full List of courses, please visit Drexel Online.

Accreditation

MSA: This program is fully accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. www.middlestates.org

Program Outcomes

  • Practices within a legal and ethical framework of health care delivery.
  • Advances the role of advanced nursing practice in the health care system through scholarship, clinical experience and political involvement.
  • Demonstrates critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills in clinical decision-making.
  • Integrates multiple technologies and relevant theories into the organization and synthesis of health data required to develop plans of care for patients, families and communities.
  • Integrates culturally sensitive health promotion activities that contribute to the health and wellness of the community into clinical practice.
  • Demonstrates leadership in nursing and health care through involvement in the development of outcome-based standards of care and practice-based health policy issues.
  • Evaluates and modify the quality and effectiveness of clinical practice based on current research findings, standards of care and patient outcomes.
  • Contributes to the advancement of nursing, health care and humanity through communication, collaboration and education.

Nursing Program Mission and Values

The Nursing program faculty and staff are committed to educating nurses to embrace both the art and science of nursing, to integrate caring into practice, to think critically and practice competently, compassionately and safely in complex rapidly changing practice environments. The Nursing program supports administrators, faculty, staff and students in developing holistic evidence-based programs, which create healing and caring environments at all levels that reflect innovative education, interdisciplinary practice and research.

The highest goals of the program include demonstrating efficacy, quality and cost-effectiveness of evidence-based nursing interventions in promoting health, preventing disease, preserving human dignity, reducing health disparities and caring for the sick and injured.

All efforts in the Nursing program are designed to build nursing knowledge, enhance nursing practice, foster professional integrity, promote innovation, engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and ultimately improve the health outcomes of patients and families from diverse communities across the continuum of care.

The Nursing program is committed to excellence in nursing education through educational programs that are:

  • Authentic: We value a deep connection to others, appreciation of diverse opinions and respect for the other’s frame of reference. We value going beyond objective assessment to understand the context of the other, creative use of self and engagement in the artistry of the caring-healing process—the essence of Nursing.
  • Complex: We value complexity science by recognizing that our Nursing program is a complex, dynamic, unpredictable, emerging, self-organizing and adaptive system that cannot be reduced to the sum of its members. As such, we seek that administrators, faculty, staff and students develop skills to improvise, build on the innovations of others, develop positive interpersonal interactions, appreciate the reciprocity that our actions have on the larger system and ourselves and embrace surprise as an opportunity to learn, make sense of our dynamic reality and make a positive impact on the health of our clients.
  • Rigorous: We continuously review and redesign programs, courses, technology-infused learning systems and educational products for depth and quality with the learner's experience and background in mind.
  • Relevant: We continuously examine changing market forces, the progression of nursing knowledge and the best practices in health care and education to redesign educational programs. There is a strong commitment to population-focused care practice in diverse communities; therefore, we strive to ensure clinically relevant education and simulation experiences. Our faculty serves as excellent role models for developing clinicians.
  • State of the Art: We value the use of technological innovation and patient simulation scenarios which foster advanced and evidence-based interdisciplinary communication and teamwork, multiple patient management and crisis resource management skills, provision of culturally relevant care, decreased prevalence of errors and adverse events and a higher intellectual standard in both undergraduate and graduate nursing education.
  • Learner-Friendly: In consideration of the demanding, fast-paced lives of our students and nurse consumers, we offer high-quality educational programs in convenient and contemporary formats, including access to academic online courses with attention to user-friendly interfaces as well as resources to enhance academic success. In addition, the College of Nursing and Health Professions is committed to being a challenging and rewarding work environment for faculty, staff and administrators. Information and data on all aspects of the college’s operations are widely shared with faculty, staff and students and all are encouraged to participate in its decisions and activities.