Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

9-2-2009

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of an experiential Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) education session in changing medical students beliefs, attitudes, and comfort level with CAM. DESIGN: Students attended a 3 hour class on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction with a trained provider, and completed a Likert scale survey of their agreement with various statements about CAM both pre and post-session. ASSESSMENT: Changes in agreement with 7 of the 10 items reached statistical significance, including increase in students' subjective level of knowledge about CAM, decrease in the belief that CAM is too controversial to discuss with patients, increase in perceived ability to find information about CAM, and increase in support for the inclusion of CAM in the medical school curriculum. CONCLUSION: A CAM experiential session was effective in changing students' beliefs and attitudes, and improved their comfort levels with CAM. Similar sessions could be a valuable addition to the medical school curriculum.'

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