First year medical students' perceptions and use of complementary and alternative medicine

doi:10.1054/ctim.2002.0501

Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Volume 10, Issue 1, March 2002, Pages 27-32

https://doi.org/10.1054/ctim.2002.0501 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives: To explore First Year medical students' rating of CAM therapies following a core teaching session. To determine the influence of student gender and previous experience of CAM and therapist/teacher gender and professional background on ratings. Design: Survey; self-administered questionnaire following a teaching session. Setting: First Year medical students Behavioural Science module CAM teaching session, University of Birmingham Medical School, UK. Results: One hundred and fifty (71.0%) students completed a questionnaire. 56 (37.3%) students had previous experience of CAM, particularly where a family member already used it (P=<0.001). Aromatherapy (29/56, 51.7%) and homoeopathy (17/56, 30.3%) were the most common therapies listed. Females were more likely than males to have used aromatherapy (P=0.038) or reflexology (P=0.007). Students using aromatherapy were more likely to have self treated (P=0.01). Of 82 episodes of CAM use, most (67/82, 81.7%) were stated to have been helpful. Hypnotherapy (P=0.003) and aromatherapy (P=0.015) were most helpful. Following the teaching session students rated therapies observed on a 10 point scale, 1(extremely sceptical) to 10 (totally convinced). All were rated above the mid-point; highest rated was chiropractic (median score = 8), lowest, reflexology (median score = 5.06). Students who had previously used hypnotherapy gave it higher scores (P=0.018). Students whose family used CAM were more likely to rate aromatherapy highly (P=.027) and to give homoeopathy a low score (P=0.003). Conclusions: A short CAM teaching session early in the curriculum can inform students about the relationship of CAM with current medical practice. It can be used as a ‘taster’ prior to selection of Special Study Module choices in later years.

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Regular ArticleFirst year medical students' perceptions and use of complementary and alternative medicine

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First year medical students' perceptions and use of complementary and alternative medicine