Medicine is, in many ways, unimaginably different from that of even 50 years ago. We live in a time of tremendous cultural complexity. Different world views and traditional healing methods are converging on western culture creating new ways of looking at the world and enhancing new modalities in the practice of medicine.

The traditional biomedical model of western medicine stems from the Newtonian ideal of a materialistic universe where everything can be measured and quantified. Indeed the essence of materialistic science which arose in the 1800’s is based on reductionism, materialism and determinism. The biomedical model which is used by most of western medicine is in fact only one modality in a multiplicity of modalities of healing which are now coming more into fashion as now more and more of the population begin to use complementary and alternative medicine. These modalities include nutritional and environmental medicine, herbalism, acupuncture, homeopathy, musculo- skeletal medicine , and also mind body medicine.

Following World War 2 and the meeting of eastern and western cultures, naturopathic, herbal and nutritional medicine became more acceptable. Medicine also began to be seen as related to psychological wellbeing.

The dominant driver for such change is a new knowledge, and its translation into new ways of doing things. The first online International journal of Holistic medicine is an expression of the enormous changes occurring in Medicine

There are tremendous advances in complimentary and alternative medicine occurring in Europe and the United States, spearheaded by the Ivy League Harvard Medical School Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, and Cornell University’s Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, as well as the University of California in Los Angeles.

In addition, leading peer-reviewed medical journals have published supplements or special issues examining research and practice of CAM, including JAMA, the American Journal of Public Health, and Academic Medicine.

Additional studies by medical doctors now supplement the thousands of studies by CAM researchers and botanical scientists already published in scientific journals, bringing the issue of CAM as a group of parallel, much-practiced medical systems to the forefront despite the best efforts of opponents to these medicines. In the US, The Office of Alternative Medicine, currently operating as the National Center of CAM, has a budget of more than $150 million per year. While nowhere near the funds financing the pharmaceutical lobby, it is a recognition that complementary and alternative medicine is a valid and powerful force in directing efforts to find genuine cures for medical problems.

The International Journal of Holistic Medicine (IJHM) is a new peer-reviewed journal to meet the needs of scientists, practitioners, policymakers, and the patients and communities they serve in the Middle-East. It is born out of the growing need for the exchange of ideas and research results in the region. It will foster a knowledge base for caring for individuals, families, societies and communities. The Mission of the Journal will be to promote Holistic family medicine Globally. The journal will publish original clinical and educational research of interest to primary care specialties, practicing clinicians, residents and others involved in primary care and community medicine education. Faculty development and clinical research and methods will be also featured in the journal. It will include state of the art review articles based on evidence based medicine and teaching case reports. Reflections from editorial members, clinicians and policy makers will be included as well. Environmental health and control of environmental hazards will receive attention, in addition to the effect of war on health.

The aim of the journal will be to provide academically sound, clinically practical information for family and general physicians, in addition to the promotion of the specialty of Holistic family medicine in the Middle East Region.

The Journal will be published twice in the first year. The frequency will be once every three months in the second year, followed by once every two months from the third year onward. The International Journal of Holistic Medicine web site (http://www.ijhm.com) provides access to the online journal and the daily news for family doctors, the notice board, and the IJHM browser. The full-text online journal is available free to all. This encourages sharing new knowledge about Holistic primary care and health systems in all countries of the World.

The editorial and peer-review processes of the journal have full editorial autonomy from both organizational and commercial pressures. A prominent regional and international Editorial Board facilitates to direct the journal to achieve its mission and foster regional, and international participation.