Comparative survey of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) attitudes, use, and information-seeking behaviour among medical students, residents &amp; faculty

Désirée A Lie,John Boker

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-6-58

Abstract

BackgroundThere is significant and growing national interest for introducing Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) instruction into allopathic medical education. We measured CAM attitudes, use, and information-seeking behaviors as a baseline to evaluate future planned CAM instruction.MethodsCross-sectional and longitudinal survey data on CAM attitudes, modality use, and common information resources was collected for (a) medical students (n = 355), (b) interns entering residencies in medical and surgical disciplines (n = 258), and (c) faculty from diverse health professions attending workshops on evidence-based CAM (n = 54). One student cohort was tracked longitudinally in their first, second and third years of training.ResultsCompared to medical students and interns, faculty who teach or intend to integrate CAM into their instruction had significantly (p < .0005) more positive attitudes and used CAM modalities significantly (p < .0005) more often. Medical students followed longitudinally showed no change in their already positive attitudes. The 3 survey groups did not differ on the total number of CAM information resources they used. Each group surveyed used about two out of the five common information sources listed, with the Internet and journals most frequently cited.ConclusionStudents, interns and a selected faculty group demonstrate positive attitudes toward CAM and frequently use various CAM modalities. CAM instruction should therefore be focused on acquiring knowledge of available CAM modalities and skills to appraise evidence to appropriately advise patients on best approaches to CAM use. Trainees may benefit from exposure to a wider array of CAM information resources.

Highlights

There is significant and growing national interest for introducing Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) instruction into allopathic medical education
Rates of CAM use by medical students [1] were found to be higher than reported in the US general population in 1998 [2,3] and 2004 [4]
The first, the Integrative Medicine Attitude Questionnaire (IMAQ), compared internists attending a conference on holistic medicine to those attending an annual general professional meeting [8]

Summary

Introduction

There is significant and growing national interest for introducing Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) instruction into allopathic medical education. Rates of CAM use by medical students [1] were found to be higher than reported in the US general population in 1998 [2,3] and 2004 [4]. A further complication is the absence of reliable, practical, and valid measures of CAM learning outcomes. Validation studies for two CAM attitude measures recently were reported. The second, the CAM Health Belief Questionnaire (CHBQ), was validated by including the IMAQ and using three cohorts (n = 272) of medical students at one institution [1].

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