Essentials of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Medical Students and Residents: A Web-Based Course for Self-Instruction

Abstract

Because physicians are increasingly seeing patients who use CAM therapies, they need to be aware of the potential harm some of these therapies pose. The objective of this project was to develop brief, self-contained lessons that teach the fundamental concepts of CAM and the use of herbal medicines. Each PowerPoint® lesson presents basic information about major aspects of CAM, which can usually be completed in less than 30 minutes. The course will be made available via ANGEL, an internet-based course presentation and management system. To assess understanding of the material, students have the option of taking a brief online quiz at the conclusion of each lesson. The first six lessons comprise a general overview of CAM that exposes the student to a broad variety of “popular” CAM topics: Introduction, Alternative Medical Systems, Mind-Body Interventions, Manipulative Therapies, Energy Therapies and Biologically-Based Therapies. The last four lessons focus on herbal remedies, their uses, actions, and precautions: Pharmacological and Clinical Aspects of Botanicals, Botanical and Herbal Medicines, Herbal Medicines and Drug Interactions, and Patient Education and Advising. This course simply presents information and neither promotes nor condemns the use of CAM. The intent is to expose physicians-in-training to CAM information in a self-paced, time-efficient manner that will enable them to practice safe and effective medicine in a population that typically uses one or more forms of CAM.