Barriers, Strategies, and Lessons Learned from Complementary and Alternative Medicine Curricular Initiatives

Abstract

Fifteen U.S. academic programs were the recipients of a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine R25 Education Grant Program to introduce curricular changes in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in their institutions. The authors describe the lessons learned during the implementation of these CAM education initiatives. Principal investigators identified these lessons along with discovered barriers and strategies, both those traditionally related to medical and nursing education and those unique to CAM education. Many lessons, barriers, and strategies were common across multiple institutions. Most significant among the barriers were issues such as the resistance by faculty; the curriculum being perceived as too full; presenting CAM content in an evidence-based and even-handed way; providing useful, reliable resources; and developing teaching and assessment tools. Strategies included integration into existing curriculum; creating increased visibility of the curriculum; placing efforts into faculty development; cultivating and nurturing leadership at all levels in the organization, including among students, faculty, and administration; providing access to CAM-related databases through libraries; and fostering efforts to maintain sustainability of newly established CAM curricular elements through institutionalization and embedment into overall educational activities. These lessons, along with some detail on barriers and strategies, are reported and summarized here with the goal that they will be of practical use to other institutions embarking on new CAM education initiatives.

Integration of complementary and alternative medicine into medical schools in Austria, Germany and Switzerland – Results of a cross-sectional study

“…The reason for the discrepancy between the number of CAM courses offered in Europe and the US is unclear and may be due to the growth of interest in CAM since the pioneering publications of Eisenberg [1,24] or the result of increased funding for CAM education in the US. In 2001, the National Center for CAM R25 Education Grant Program funded 15 US academic programs, generally in the range of $1.5 million [25,26]. Additionally, the deans of US medical schools signalled their understanding for the need to change medical education by integrating CAM [20].…”

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

“…34 Most significant among the barriers were issues such as the resistance by faculty, the curriculum being perceived as too full, presenting CAM content in an evidence-based and even-handed way, providing useful, reliable resources and developing teaching and assessment tools. 35 These barriers and strategies can prove useful for health education professional education programs embarking on new CAM education initiatives. In order to implement real change, health education professional preparation programs must: (1) take the long view, making CAM education part of the entire continuum of health education; (2) ensure that faculty are prepared to integrate instruction; (3) change student assessments to reflect new educational objectives; and (4) reallocate resources to support a changed curriculum.…”

CAM and Medical Education

“…13,14 Successful implementation of CAM into medical-school curricula should include integration of CAM content into existing curricula; identification of existing faculty members with significant understanding about CAM to help train students; training faculty members to teach CAM content; ready access to CAM-related databases through libraries; evaluation tools for continued feedback and improvement of CAM coursework; ability to sustain newly established CAM curricular courses or programs; collaboration with other institutions; and more. 13,14 …”