Pharmacy and Osteopathic Students' Perceptions of Alternative Therapies

Abstract

ABSTRACTAlternative or complementary medicine includes over a hundred therapies generally not taught or well documented in the United States. These alternative practices can be used in place of, or in concert with, conventional Western therapies. The popularity of alternative forms of health care continues to rise, and coverage of them in the lay literature increases. Given patient acceptance of alternative therapies, Western medical practitioners may be more effective if they are knowledgeable of these therapies and are able to address patients' questions, concerns, and beliefs. In this study, pharmacy and osteopathic students were surveyed as to their self-assessed knowledge and perceived usefulness of 20 therapies. In general, widespread knowledge about the therapies in either profession was not common. Students appeared somewhat uncertain about usefulness, rating the therapies as neither useful nor useless. The professions differed in their knowledge and perceived usefulness of biofeedback and holisti...