Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is growing in popularity among patients traditionally seen in an allopathic setting. A literature review and information search was conducted to determine the trend in demand for and the availability of CAM in the United States. The results of major surveys show that there is an increase in the use of CAM in the United States. The best predictor of CAM use is higher level of education. In addition, findings reveal that the field of CAM is poorly researched. Many studies in CAM therapies have flaws, such as insufficient statistical power, poor controls, inconsistent treatment, and lack of comparisons. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, has declared their top strategic priority to be investing in research. Currently, more than 70 medical schools offer some type of training in alternative medicine, although there are few guidelines for curriculum and there is considerable heterogeneity in content, format, and requirements among CAM courses. As patients have greater access to information, their needs and values change. They become more involved in their overall health care and are taking a more natural and holistic approach to achieving well-being. Health care practitioners, both allopathic and alternative, must be well informed. There is an imperative to make CAM research a high priority. Valid and reliable empirical data must document the clinical efficacy and safety of CAM practices. In order to integrate CAM into the mainstream, there must be a coordinated effort among all the entities involved. Physicians need to be familiar with proven CAM therapies in order to advise patients about these modalities and the potential benefits and limitations. CAM practitioners should be licensed and regulated in scope of practice to provide a high standard of care, and be sufficiently educated in conventional medical science(s) in order to recognize how, where, and why their respective complementary practice is most effective for integration.

In light of the increased utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in recent years, there is an increased possibility that CAM approaches could prove to be important factors in public health, particularly if used within an integrative framework together with mainstream medicine. There exists a defined need for research to explore the integration of conventional health care and CAM approaches, as well as define mechanisms of CAM-based therapies to facilitate such integration. Essential to these goals is the accumulation of a database derived from outcomes-based clinical and basic science investigations. We posit that that CAM clinicians need to be more thoroughly trained as researchers, skilled in developing and recording results of pragmatic studies that could provide credible evidence for the use of CAM in the public sector health care. It is proposed that this may be best achieved through a three-tiered system in which (1) clinician-scientists of both mainstream and alternative disciplines recognize the value of research designed to foster such integration; (2) educational and health care institutions must develop academic and clinical training programs that examine and delineate each disciplines' respective strengths and weaknesses; and (3) such programs are attractive to, and receive continued extramural subsidy. In the broadest sense, such a paradigmatic approach to CAM integration could create a common basis for scientific dialogue, encourage exchanges between medical communities, and establish policies for the development of a true multidisciplinary health care cooperative that is consistent with the current public health model.

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The purpose of this review was to examine sport officials' motivation and passion to become and remain a referee in today's sport climate. There are endless accounts of misconduct towards officials from participants, coaches, parents and fans. This review examined the research evidence that explained why officials continue to work in their sport and tried to determine what motivations were factors in their continued service.Additionally, this review wanted to see how passion played a role in the officials' desire to become and remain a sport official. The findings were clear as officials often became involved with officiating or continued to officiate 'for the love of the game'. Once they became involved they continued to officiate because of their feelings of commitment to the sport and because of the relationships that they had developed with other officials, athletes and other members of the sporting community. This review pointed out that sport officials are concerned about maintaining enough officials to continue sport. The authors suggested that once recruited, new officials should be evaluated and mentored so that these young officials have time to develop their feelings of commitment and relatedness.