Another Reason to Teach Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Aims: To ascertain whether studying Complementary and Alternative Medicine, in any capacity, can influence attitudes to patients, over and above simply learning the subject in question.
Study Design: Pilot study using Questionnaires before and after two different courses of study.
Place and Duration: Magdeburg University, Germany; Oxford Deanery School of General Practice, England.
Methodology: Ten attitudinal statements were scored before and after the teaching of two different CAM courses, one at Magdeburg University, Germany and one at High Wycombe Hospital, England, part of Oxford Deanery. Twelve medical students participated in Germany and six junior doctors in England.
Results: Significant changes (P = .02 for the Magdeburg Course; P = .03 for the Oxford Course) were demonstrated in both groups, in that participants moved away from a purely biomedical view of patients towards more holistic, patient-centred attitudes.
Conclusion: This finding adds another reason why teaching Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) to trainees is a valuable thing to do.x