Benefits of CAM training in pharmacy curricula
Dr. Evelin Tiralongo at Griffith University’s School of Pharmacy in Australia reports that integrating CAM education into a pharmacy curriculum rationalized rather than marginalized students’ attitudes.
The findings come from a survey of more than 100 pharmacy students in their second, third, and fourth year of training.
And the results.
- Students who were more positive toward CAM at the start of their studies became more careful in their assessment of CAM therapy.
- Those who were more negative at first realized that some CAM therapies are based on significant evidence.
- Overall, 96% of pharmacy students believed they should be equipped to advise patients about CAM.
- And, 90% said it should be a core part of their education.
The bottom line?
“CAM education encouraged students to look for evidence of effectiveness, evaluate that evidence, and then make informed decisions in the best interests of their patients,” concluded Dr. Tiralongo.
So much of what healthcare professionals think they know about CAM is based on hearsay from ill-informed sources. Shedding light on an issue does more to foster informed decisions than anything else we can do.
Dr. Tiralongo presented this research at the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association conference and the Association for Health Professional Education. Looking forward to the publication.
12/16/07 17:23 JR
