TY - JOUR
T1 - From the “what” to the "how"
T2 - Teaching integrative medicine-related skills to medical students during COVID-19
AU - Samuels, Noah
AU - Shaham, Dorith
AU - Schiff, Elad
AU - Ben-Yehuda, Dina
AU - Finkelstein, Adi
AU - Lesser, Lior
AU - Bergel, Michael
AU - Reis, Shmuel
AU - Ben-Arye, Eran
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Objective: To examine the impact of an integrative medicine (IM) course on self-perceived IM-related communication and research skills. Methods: A 3-day mandatory “hybrid” (online and in-person) IM course was held within COVID-19 restrictions for 161 pre-clerkship medical students, with workshops facilitated by mentor healthcare professionals (IM and non-IM) and student-directed tasks. Self-perceived levels of 6 IM-related skills were scored (from 1 to 5) for history-taking; communicating with patients with “alternative” health-beliefs; referral to IM consultations; assessing risks/benefits; and working with non-medical IM practitioners. Results: 137 students (85.1%) completed pre-/post-course questionnaires, with overall scores improving from pre-course (1.98 ± 0.92) to post-course (3.31 ± 0.63; p < 0.0001), for the entire group and student subgroups (with vs. without prior IM experience). Multivariate analysis found no association between age, gender, primary language or prior experience with IM and improvement in skill scores. Conclusions: The IM course increased self-perceived skill levels, reflecting the course curriculum and workshops. Further research needs to explore the application of these skills during clinical training. Practice implications: Teaching medical students about IM in a course comprising communication and research skills was shown to be feasible and effective. The application of IM-related skills needs to be evaluated during the clinical clerkship.
AB - Objective: To examine the impact of an integrative medicine (IM) course on self-perceived IM-related communication and research skills. Methods: A 3-day mandatory “hybrid” (online and in-person) IM course was held within COVID-19 restrictions for 161 pre-clerkship medical students, with workshops facilitated by mentor healthcare professionals (IM and non-IM) and student-directed tasks. Self-perceived levels of 6 IM-related skills were scored (from 1 to 5) for history-taking; communicating with patients with “alternative” health-beliefs; referral to IM consultations; assessing risks/benefits; and working with non-medical IM practitioners. Results: 137 students (85.1%) completed pre-/post-course questionnaires, with overall scores improving from pre-course (1.98 ± 0.92) to post-course (3.31 ± 0.63; p < 0.0001), for the entire group and student subgroups (with vs. without prior IM experience). Multivariate analysis found no association between age, gender, primary language or prior experience with IM and improvement in skill scores. Conclusions: The IM course increased self-perceived skill levels, reflecting the course curriculum and workshops. Further research needs to explore the application of these skills during clinical training. Practice implications: Teaching medical students about IM in a course comprising communication and research skills was shown to be feasible and effective. The application of IM-related skills needs to be evaluated during the clinical clerkship.
KW - clinical skills
KW - communication skills
KW - integrative medicine
KW - medical students
KW - mentors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119180708&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2021.10.022
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2021.10.022
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C2 - 34756637
AN - SCOPUS:85119180708
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 105
SP - 2256
EP - 2263
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
IS - 7
ER -
