EDUCATION RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Lu T.
The effectiveness of an integrative curriculum in preparing
future physicians to respond to patients' needs for, and questions regarding,
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine Tlu1@lumc.edu
PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to determine
whether Loyola's model CAM curriculum in fact trains our medical students
to be better prepared to: (1) discuss herbs, vitamins, and minerals
with their patients; (2) discuss nutrition with their patients; (3)
discuss various CAM modalities such as acupuncture, homeopathy, biofeedback,
massage therapy, stress management and osteopathic manipulative therapy
with their patients.
METHODS: Medical students complete a CAM curriculum
of courses carefully woven into the existing four-year curriculum. As
students completed each CAM course they were surveyed as to their preparedness
in the three objectives stated above. To establish a baseline, they
were additionally surveyed before each CAM course permitting us to measure
the progress and to determine the immediate impact and the effectiveness
of the course in realizing those objectives.
RESULTS: 636 medical students returned their
pre- and post-course questionnaires. Of those 636, 28% were first-year
for the IPM1 course, 40% were second-year for the Pharmacology and Therapeutics
course, 32% were third-year for the IPM3 course. The overall composite
scores for each class and between the classes will be looked at to determine
the students' level of preparedness throughout the four years of training.
In addition, the scores before the course and the scores after the course
for each of the three questions asked and for each individual CAM modality
will be analyzed for statistical significance. Preliminary results do
support the hypothesis that each CAM course increases the students'
preparedness to discuss and recommend CAM modalities to their future
patients. Because of the shear volume of data collected and the survey
is on-going, the final data have not been fully analyzed. The findings
will be reported at a later time. There has been little research into
how effective integrative CAM programs can help prepare future physicians
to recommend CAM modalities and discuss with their patients topics such
as nutrition, herbs and herb / drug interactions, and other CAM therapies.
This study will help measure the benefits -- to physicians and patients
alike -- of improved training and awareness regarding CAM.
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