Pediatric palliative care is a field which focuses on caring for and treating the symptoms and distress typically associated with life-limiting illness. Integrative medicine is supported by evidence and aims to heal the whole person, including all aspects of one’s lifestyle. Therapies offered by integrative medicine often empower patients and families, allowing for a sense of control. This review addresses the merging of integrative medicine philosophy and modalities with the care given to children with life-limiting illness. We review an introduction to integrative medicine, trends in its incorporation in the healthcare setting, application to patients receiving palliative care and the management of specific symptoms. A case study is offered to illustrate these principles.
Background and Objectives: Nutrition is a foundation of health, yet there is a deficiency of nutrition training in graduate medical education. The purpose of this feasibility study was to assess the impact of a brief online clinical nutrition course on medical residents’ knowledge and attitudes related to the role of nutrition in clinical practice. Methods: Medical residents from two institutions took a 3-hour, online, self-paced and interactive clinical nutrition course that reviewed macronutrients, evidence-based dietary patterns, a rapid nutrition assessment, and motivational interviewing. We administered surveys of nutrition knowledge and attitudes at three time points: (1) just prior to taking the online course, (2) immediately following, and (3) 3 months after course completion. Results: Seventy-six residents enrolled in the study and 47 (62%) completed the online course and postcourse surveys. For residents who completed the study, the summated nutrition knowledge scores assessed both immediately after taking the course and 3 months later showed significant improvement (P<.001). Three months after completing the course, residents were more likely to believe it was their role to personally provide detailed nutrition information to patients (P=.045) and to endorse the view that a healthy diet is important for self-care (P<.001). The estimated time residents spent counseling patients on nutrition did not change after the intervention. Conclusion: This feasibility study demonstrated the potential of a 3-hour, online, self-paced nutrition course administered to medical residents to result in a significant and sustained increase in nutrition knowledge and positive attitudes about the role of nutrition in clinical practice.
Purpose: Undergraduate medical education is facing an increasing need to bridge the longstanding gap between basic nutrition knowledge and its application to patient care. In an effort to improve upon knowledge and confidence in this area, the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth Campus implemented a pilot curriculum to increase content and exposure in the dimensions of food, food systems, nutrition, and clinical application. Methods: Two classes of outgoing second-year medical students at the University of Minnesota Duluth Campus were surveyed about personal health, knowledge of nutritional topics, and confidence in implementing these topics in patient care. The control group consisted of outgoing second-year medical students (MS2s) during the 2019-2020 academic year (n=28) prior to pilot nutrition curriculum inception. The cohort group (n=29) consisted of outgoing MS2s from the 2020-2021 academic year who received the new pilot curriculum. Findings: Survey findings did not yield statistically significant differences in control versus cohort responses in students' personal health and knowledge of nutritional concepts. However, over 90% of the cohort group, versus 54% of control, agreed that they were able to discuss and recommend healthy dietary modifications to a patient with a chronic disease. The cohort group also reported higher confidence in talking with patients about dietary patterns (69% vs 39%), whole-food plant-rich diets (90% vs 50%), as well as working inter-professionally with other members of the healthcare team around issues of food and nutrition (97% vs 71%). Conclusion: Results demonstrate that the pilot curriculum increased medical student confidence in evaluating the multidimensionality of food, food systems, and nutrition content as well as the application of this content to patient care. This pilot curriculum may have relevance to other medical schools who are also wishing to bridge this long-standing gap in medical education.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.