WOODS & FORREST –
May 11, 2026 – Doctors spend years becoming experts in how the body works, how it can break down and how to recognize and treat various illnesses. Their training rarely involves what’s known as “nature-based medicine.”
Dr. Susan Abookire has made it her mission to change that. She’s developed an unusual addition to the courses taught in most medical schools, a voluntary two-hour session that challenges doctors and medical students to embrace the health benefits of spending time outdoors.
On a bright but chilly spring afternoon, she asked 11 doctors and medical students to get comfortable on the grass, beneath towering fir, spruce and pine trees, and close their eyes. These young clinicians had rushed to complete patient charts and brief colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston so they could cross the street to Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum to experience forest therapy.
