Complementary Medicine in the Medical Curriculum

First year medical students' perceptions and use of complementary and alternative medicine

OBJECTIVES

To explore First Year medical students' rating of CAM therapies following a core teaching session. To determine the influence of student gender and previous experience of CAM and therapist/teacher gender and professional background on ratings.

DESIGN

Survey; self-administered questionnaire following a teaching session.

SETTING

First Year medical students Behavioural Science module CAM teaching session, University of Birmingham Medical School, UK.

RESULTS

One hundred and fifty (71.0%) students completed a questionnaire. 56 (37.3%) students had previous experience of CAM, particularly where a family member already used it (P = < 0.001). Aromatherapy (29/56, 51.7%) and homoeopathy (17/56, 30.3%) were the most common therapies listed. Females were more likely than males to have used aromatherapy (P = 0.038) or reflexology (P = 0.007). Students using aromatherapy were more likely to have self treated (P = 0.01). Of 82 episodes of CAM use, most (67/82,81.7%) were stated to have been helpful. Hypnotherapy (P = 0.003) and aromatherapy (P = 0.015) were most helpful. Following the teaching session students rated therapies observed on a 10 point scale, 1 (extremely sceptical) to 10 (totally convinced). All were rated above the mid-point; highest rated was chiropractic (median score = 8), lowest, reflexology (median score = 5.06). Students who had previously used hypnotherapy gave it higher scores (P = 0.018). Students whose family used CAM were more likely to rate aromatherapy highly (P = .027) and to give homoeopathy a low score (P = 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

A short CAM teaching session early in the curriculum can inform students about the relationship of CAM with current medical practice. It can be used as a 'taster' prior to selection of Special Study Module choices in later years.

Personal and professional beliefs and practices regarding herbal medicine among the full time faculty of the newark-based schools of the university of medicine and dentistry of new jersey

Background: The use of alternative and herbal medicine is increasing among the general population in the United States. The use of herbal medicine by health care professionals has not been documented. Health care professionals tend to base personal and professional practices on scientific research and facts. This population interacts with the public and with health care students. Therefore, personal and professional practices will impact these audiences. Methods: A survey was distributed to all faculty members of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey via interoffice mail. A total of 904 surveys were sent. Statistical analyses included descriptive analysis of personal and professional practice regarding herbal medicine and chi(2) analysis of the relationship between personal and professional practices regarding herbal medicine. Significance was set at alpha <.05. Results: The overall response rate was 51%. Approximately one-third (29.6%, n = 134) of the population reported personal use of herbal medicine, 22.1% (n = 42) of the population who provide patient care recommend herbal medicine, 9.4% (n = 36) of those involved in teaching include herbal medicine in coursework, and 1.1% of the population were involved in research on herbs. Respondents who use herbal medicine were more likely to recommend herbs to patients (p <.0001); likewise, users of herbal medicine were more likely to teach students about herbal medicine (p =.001). Conclusions: The results support the hypothesis that personal beliefs and practices do impact professional practices within the clinical and academic settings of the university.