At the conclusion of medical school, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate skills of self-awareness and self reflective practice.
A. Reflect upon the importance of self-awareness and reflection in order to provide care for others (attitude).
B. Demonstrate the practices of self awareness and reflection (skill).
2. Recognize and anticipate how their own culture and spirituality, as well as the patient's, may impact clinical care.
A. Recognize the diversity of personal, cultural and spiritual perspectives which shape the meaning and impact of disease.
Recognize how, for both physician and patients, this diversity:
Defines disease
Determines appropriate diagnosis and treatment
Influences the understanding of healing (awareness)
B. Interview to comprehend how a patient wants their religious and/or spiritual beliefs and community to be seen as resources for strength and recovery. (skill)
C. Interview to determine how a patient's spiritual orientation affects his or her presenting problems and perceived needs (skill)
D. Refer appropriately to chaplains, clergy and/or traditional healers for spiritual care (skill).
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the range of healing systems and practices in common use, including their historical and cultural context, diagnostic approaches, diagnostic categories, scientific rationale and other supporting evidence:
1. Manual Therapies (massage, chiropractic)
2. Culturally-based healing traditions (Oriental Medicine, Ayurvedic, Native American, Hmong).
3. Natural Products as modifiers of human physiology (herbal medicines, dietary supplements)
4. Mind-body therapies (e.g. self-hypnosis, guided imagery, biofeedback, mindfulness-based stress reduction).
5. Subtle energy therapies (e.g. healing touch, therapeutic touch, Reiki, homeopathy).
6. Spiritual and faith practices (e.g. religious rituals, shamanic healing).
4. Create an environment where patients openly discuss their use of CAM therapies.
A. Explain the importance of learning about various CAM methods that a patient uses to treat current conditions and/or maintain their health (attitude).
B. Discuss communication/counseling skills that can be used to increase a patient's comfort to talk (knowledge).
C. Interview to identify the utilization of CAM practices by their patients (skill).
5. Demonstrate use of available data to counsel patients regarding therapeutic options for a given condition.
A. Identify what constitutes evidence and the standards for evidence across worldviews (knowledge).
B. Recognize the strengths and limitations of biomedicine as one worldview.
C. Apply principles of evidence based medicine to CAM (skill).
D. Identify, access and evaluate informational resources on CAM (skill).
E. Demonstrate the ability to assist patients in making decisions on the use of CAM therapies.
6. Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with other health care professionals, including CAM practitioners.
A. Demonstrate a collegial attitude towards CAM practitioners (attitude).
B. Demonstrate knowledge of when it is appropriate to refer a patient to a CAM practitioner (knowledge leading to skill).
C. Identify resources to help patients find CAM practitioners (skill).
D. Demonstrate the ability to incorporate the expertise of CAM practitioners into an integrative treatment plan (skill).
7. Demonstrate knowledge of the importance of self-care and the ability to role model self-care.
A. Identify how their own attitude toward self-care affects their role in promoting wellness for patients and treatment recommendations (attitude).
B. Recognize the documented mind-body-spirit relationships in illness and health (knowledge).
C. Learn at least one self-regulation technique that exemplifies the impact of the mind on the body (self hypnosis, imagery, autogenic feedback, relaxation response, mindfulness meditation, etc.) (skill).