Rationales for CAM Education in Health Professions Training Programs

Abstract

The authors review the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States. They then present and discuss the rationales used by the 15 National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine CAM educational grantees in their original proposals for incorporating CAM content into conventional health professions training programs. Fourteen of the grantees were from major U.S. medical and nursing schools, and one was from a medical student foundation. Awards were for five-year periods (with the exception of one three-year grant) from 2000 to 2008. Rationales for developing educational programs about CAM for conventional health professionals included (1) the prevalence and growth of CAM in the United States, (2) response to governmental, legislative, and other mandates, (3) need for enhanced communication between conventional providers and patients using CAM, (4) need to enhance safety of CAM use and interactions with conventional care, (5) CAM education's positive impact on broadening core competencies for conventional health care professionals, (6) positive impact on enhancing cultural competency, (7) need for better communication between conventional and CAM providers, (8) potential for improving health care coordination, (9) potential impact on increasing CAM research quality and capacity, and (10) potential for enhancing quality of care through informed CAM use. Integration of CAM with conventional health care requires educational venues that prepare conventionally trained caregivers with a sufficient knowledge base for assessing beneficial and detrimental interactions between CAM and conventional care approaches; development of criteria for making informed referrals to CAM practitioners; and enhanced research capacity.

Two-Thirds of Survey Respondents in Southern Sweden Used Complementary or Alternative Medicine in 2015

“…What economic consequences does CAM use have? What needs for education, pertaining to conventional [48,49] as well as CAM caregivers, can be identified? Do patients disclose their CAM use in clinical encounters with conventional health care [50,51], and if not, why?…”

Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine Education Into the Pharmacy Curriculum

“…17,18 Although schools offering elective CAM education report positive results, such as increased self-assessed knowledge and more positive attitudes towards CAM, 30,31 such outcomes pertain only to the students who chose to take the elective. Given that higher self-awareness, 24 improved core competencies for conventional health professionals, enhanced cultural competency, and patient centred care have been reported for health professionals with CAM knowledge, 25 CAM curricula development should focus on integrated CAM education rather than on standalone elective courses -a notion that is supported by an increasing number of academics. 20,25,33 Moreover, a clear comparison between different curricula is impossible because of the lack of an objective measure of knowledge or skills.…”

“…Given that higher self-awareness, 24 improved core competencies for conventional health professionals, enhanced cultural competency, and patient centred care have been reported for health professionals with CAM knowledge, 25 CAM curricula development should focus on integrated CAM education rather than on standalone elective courses -a notion that is supported by an increasing number of academics. 20,25,33 Moreover, a clear comparison between different curricula is impossible because of the lack of an objective measure of knowledge or skills. 32,42,43 That is, changes in perceived knowledge, skills, or both may not necessarily translate to actual changes in knowledge or skills.…”

“…21,23 The integration of CAM education into existing pharmacy curricula aims to increase the understanding and knowledge of CAM modalities by broadening students' horizons and instilling a greater acceptance and appreciation of patient choices to achieve better health outcomes. 21,24,25 A variety of educational programs have been evaluated internationally for their effectiveness in CAM training; however, evaluating CAM curricula is difficult. For example, the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States (NCCAM) awarded funding to 15 academic programs through the R25 Education Grant program to include CAM education into existing medical, nursing, and allied health curricula using a variety of approaches.…”

Tamamlayıcı/Alternatif Tıp ve Dermatoloji

“…TAT konusuna çok sıcak bakmayanların varlığının yanında bu konuların tıp okullarında eğitim müfredatına konması gerektiğini savunanlar da vardır. Gaylord ve arkadaşları, TAT kullanımının oldukça artması, konvansiyonel ilaçlarla etkileşimlerinin etkili bir şekilde kontrol edilebilmesi, TAT konusundaki araştırmaların bilimsel kalitelerinin arttırılabilmesi, kültürel iletişimde pozitif etkileşimin olabileceği gibi nedenlerle ABD'de tıp fakültelerinde eğitim programlarına TAT ile ilgili eğitimlerin de dahil edilmesi gerektiğini ifade etmişlerdir 47 . Almanya'da ise 2003 yılında tıp eğitiminde fakülte öğrencilerinin eğitim programına yasal olarak dahil edilmesine rağmen, TAT kullanımına yaklaşım hala çok tutucudur.…”