Teaching Acupuncture to Medical Students: The Experience of Rio Preto Medical School (Famerp), Brazil

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine, and in particular acupuncture, has been practised and taught in recent years in many universities in the Western world. Here, we relate our experiences since 1997 in teaching acupuncture to medical students at Rio Preto Medical School (Faculty of Medicine of São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP)), Brazil. Classes are given in the third and fifth years. The main goals of understanding the mechanisms of action and being able to recognise patients who may benefit from treatment and referring them have been well achieved, scoring 3.6 and 4.1, respectively, on a scale of 1–5. Also using that scale, medical students believe that acupuncture is important in the curriculum (4.6), course time is not sufficient (2.7) and they would like more information (4.6). To overcome these concerns, many students join an undergraduate study group (Acupuncture League) where they have more time to learn. We also describe the presence of foreign medical students who, since 2000, have enrolled in a course of 150 h in an exchange programme.

Medical student attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in medical education: a critical review

“…21 articles met the selection criteria to be included in the final review. Most studies of medical student perceptions showed that medical students: thought increased CAM knowledge was of importance for their future as physicians (22); wanted to advise and refer patients (and in some cases personally provide the CAM services as formally qualified medical personnel) (28) (25); felt that CAM had not been covered adequately in their curriculum (and therefore wanted CAM content introduced or expanded) (10,16,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25); and, as a student body, felt that they had too little consultation with CAM practitioners compared with other health students. Although variability existed, medical students also: had generally positive student attitudes towards CAM and its effectiveness (15); thought being able to discuss their future patients CAM use could enhance patient/physician communication (16,18,21); desired the opportunity to formally learn and create their own opinions of different CAM modalities (16); wanted to receive a basic knowledge of the most frequently and most important CAM modalities (16).…”

“…There was a high preference for evidence-base as a pre-requisite to inform CAM inclusion in medical curriculum, with eighteen papers highlighting this strong preference among medical students, clinicians and faculty (10,12,13,15,19,20,23,24,(28)(29)(30)33). This preference was not absolute, with 41% of Singaporean medical students also suggested that they would accept CAM based on long-standing traditions (such as TCM), even if it had not been tested in a scientific way (15).…”

“…the discussed exponential rise in CAM use amongst patients; poor, minimal or no medical student knowledge of CAM; and confusion as to appropriate referral practices and subsequent poor CAM referral skills, medical student interest and curiosity in learning CAM (especially in the pre-clinical years of medical school) and to decrease possible communication deficits around their future mainstream medicine patient's CAM use (8,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). In addition to improving medical student knowledge of current CAM practices, CAM familiarization courses and externships also appear to lead students to new attitudes and perceptions towards CAM (20,21,24,26).…”

“…While in Australia (8), Hong Kong (13), and the UK (12) it appears to be minimal (with less than five hours over an entire medical degree), in other countries such as Brazil (20) and South Korea (10), CAM familiarisation is far more substantial, and may incorporate practical integration of CAM therapies. For example, the Brazilian program provides a long term pathway in the form of a 5760 hour medical residency in Chinese Acupuncture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), for those biomedical students who wish to take their training further (26).…”

O Ensino da Acupuntura na Escola Médica: Interesse e Desconhecimento

“…Além disso, o interesse mostrado pelos estudantes investigados nesta e em outras pesquisas pode ser explicado pelo fato de que a acupuntura está cada vez mais legitimada. É reconhecida como especia- 30,31 . Seria interessante, portanto, conduzir estudos para identificar o impacto da PNPIC, que prevê esta ação em suas diretrizes.…”