Complementary and Alternative Medicine Offers of Teaching Practices for General Medicine

Abstract

Germany's new medical licensure act has increased the importance of general practice in academic medical education. This study gives an overview of complementary and alternative medicine in general teaching practices in Germany and their adherence to evidence-based criteria which is required in order to qualify as a teaching practice. After a systematic search for German teaching practices, we assessed their diagnostic and therapeutic offers via their websites. We calculated the various frequencies of treatments and differentiated between evidence-based complementary medicine and alternative medicine with little to no evidence. Of 4102 practices, more than half offered complementary and/or alternative treatment. Most of those were treatments approved of by the German medical association. Alternative medicine was offered by 18.2% of the practices. Collective terms and conflicting evidence complicate the classification of treatments. Teaching practices offering non-evidence-based treatment raise the question whether recruitment of additional teaching practices stands at odds with the quality of medical education. Explicit offers of alternative treatment should disqualify a teaching practice as such. Controversial treatment may be taught academically and during residency with a focus on evidence-based guidelines and communication skills in order to prepare young medical practitioners for talks with their patients about the subject.