Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) and Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) have announced an agreement for NDMU to acquire MUIH – that would ultimately merge MUIH’s graduate-level programs in integrative health and wellness into a new School of Integrative Health at NDMU. MUIH will initially continue to operate independently of NDMU. During a transition period, NDMU and MUIH will remain separately authorized and separately accredited postsecondary institutions.
The acquisition transaction is expected to occur in early 2024, subject to receipt of regulatory and accrediting agency approvals and various other milestones, with the second-step merger of MUIH programs into NDMU anticipated to take place in late 2024 or 2025.
The expected ultimate merger of MUIH into NDMU would incorporate MUIH’s programs with NDMU’s already robust health sciences offerings. Established in 1895, Notre Dame is a non-profit, private comprehensive Catholic university that offers a wide variety of career-focused undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and certificate programs. The agreement would bring together two institutions whose missions and values focus on educating the whole person.
Following the expected acquisition and merger, NDMU will become the first comprehensive University in the country to have a school dedicated to integrative health. The School of Integrative Health at NDMU will ensure the continued education and development of integrative health professionals to further build and support the field of integrative health. The integration of MUIH as a part of Notre Dame will help foster the interprofessional understanding needed for the effective collaboration of integrative health and conventional health care fields in service of the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
“Offering programs in both traditional health sciences and integrative health is unique and will position NDMU as one of the nation’s most distinctive leaders in healthcare education,” said Dr. Marylou Yam, president of Notre Dame of Maryland University. “With the demand for all health professions expected to increase over the next decade, this opportunity to add integrative health programs ensures that NDMU will continue to educate innovative healthcare leaders and caregivers.”
Currently, NDMU’s professional health programs include bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing, a Doctor of Pharmacy, a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, a Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies and Maryland’s first bachelor and master’s degree programs in Art Therapy. NDMU will continue to offer MUIH’s online programs in nutrition, health and wellness coaching, health promotion, herbal medicine, integrative health studies, Ayurveda, and yoga therapy, as well as the campus-based acupuncture programs.
“MUIH is pleased to continue its pioneering graduate degree and certificate programs at NDMU in a new School of Integrative Health,” said Marc Levin, president of Maryland University of Integrative Health. “We recognize the value that NDMU brings in providing a home for MUIH’s outstanding integrative health programs and continuing to educate leaders and professionals to provide a holistic care to individuals, families and communities.”
MUIH is a leading academic institution focused on the study and practice of integrative health and wellness, and it is one of the few universities in the U.S. dedicated solely to such practices. Deeply rooted in a holistic philosophy, its model for integrative health is grounded in relationship-centered, evidence-informed care. Since 1974, MUIH has been a values-driven community educating practitioners and professionals to become future leaders in whole-person care through transformative programs grounded in traditional wisdom and contemporary science.
