Integrative Health Grand Rounds: "May the Forest Be with You: Relational Forest Therapy Group Medical Visits," w Stephanie Cheng, MD

Stephanie Cheng, MD, is a palliative care physician with a longstanding commitment to integrative medicine. She currently works at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, providing supportive care for patients with cancer, as well as the Osher Center where she facilitates group medical visits. Dr. Cheng has a special interest in holistic management of symptoms and improving quality of life through integrative approaches.  Dr. Cheng co-created innovative group medical visits that pair psycho-oncology and integrative palliative care for patients with advanced cancer. As a nature and forest therapy guide, she also pioneered a virtual nature therapy group medical visit program. She also offers a group on self-compassion and will be offering future group visits on qigong and narrative medicine.    

Dr. Cheng has a longstanding meditation practice and has completed trainings in chaplaincy (through the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies), mind-body medicine (through the Center for Mind Body Medicine), Awakening Joy (with meditation teacher James Baraz), and self-compassion (through the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion). She also completed a two-year program focused on illness, aging, death, and compassionate action from a contemplative perspective through Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center and the Metta Institute. Dr. Cheng has a background in anthropology, earned her medical degree at Oregon Health & Science University, then completed a family medicine residency at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine, with an integrative medicine focus, at George Washington University. She is passionate about planetary health and serves as a faculty affiliate at the University of California Center for Climate, Health, and Equity. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Nature & Health Special Interest Group of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.

At the end of this activity learners will be able to: 

1. Describe the history of forest therapy.

2. List three health benefits of forest therapy.

3. Explain the concept of group medical visits and their role in facilitating relational forest therapy experiences for patients.

Continuing Education:

In support of improving patient care, University of California, San Francisco Office of Continuing Medical Education is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

UCSF designates this live activity for a maximum of 10 AMA PRA Category 1 credit(s)^TM.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The credit maximum above reflects all Osher Center for Integrative Health Grand Rounds sessions in Fiscal Year 2024. Up to 1 credit may be claimed against any individual session.

CE for Acupuncturists:  This live activity is approved by the State of California Acupuncture Board for 1 hour of Category 1 CE course credit.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement:

Planners: The planners Shelley Adler, PhD, Selena Chan, DO, Anand Dhruva, MD, and Patty Moran, PhD, have no relationships to disclose.

Speaker(s): Stephanie Cheng, MD, has no financial relationships to disclose.