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Journal of Medical Education

Abstract

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has become increasingly popular among healthcare practitioners and patients in both Europe and America. In Chinese communities, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the most widely used CAM. Objective: This study aimed to examine whether TCM course experience affected medical students' TCM knowledge, attitudes, and desire for taking further TCM courses. Method: Questionnaires were used to evaluate attitudinal differences regarding TCM among 240 fifth-year medical students from two medical schools in Taiwan at which TCM courses were required in one and elective in the other. The determination of attitudes toward TCM and students' preference for TCM course format among students from the two schools. Results: Knowledge of and attitudes toward TCM were found to differ among students from the two medical schools. Students from the TCM-required school had more positive attitudes toward TCM and deeper knowledge of TCM than TCM-elective students. Most students, whether from the TCM-required school (66%) or the TCM-elective school (77%), preferred that TCM courses be offered as electives. The most common reasons for this recommendation were: ”TCM has an entirely different theoretical basis from Western medicine,” and ”The Western medicine curriculum load is already too heavy to require TCM coursework” Conclusions: The experience of TCM instruction significantly improved students' knowledge and attitudes relative to TCM. However, the heavy Western curriculum load and the difference in philosophical basis between TCM and Western medicine causes students to prefer that courses on TCM be offered as electives.

First Page

122

Last Page

132

DOI

10.6145/jme.201209_16(3).0003

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