Robert J. Bulik

Barriers, strategies, and lessons learned from complementary and alternative medicine curricular initiatives

Fifteen U.S. academic programs were the recipients of a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine R25 Education Grant Program to introduce curricular changes in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in their institutions. The authors describe the lessons learned during the implementation of these CAM education initiatives. Principal investigators identified these lessons along with discovered barriers and strategies, both those traditionally related to medical and nursing education and those unique to CAM education. Many lessons, barriers, and strategies were common across multiple institutions. Most significant among the barriers were issues such as the resistance by faculty; the curriculum being perceived as too full; presenting CAM content in an evidence-based and even-handed way; providing useful, reliable resources; and developing teaching and assessment tools. Strategies included integration into existing curriculum; creating increased visibility of the curriculum; placing efforts into faculty development; cultivating and nurturing leadership at all levels in the organization, including among students, faculty, and administration; providing access to CAM-related databases through libraries; and fostering efforts to maintain sustainability of newly established CAM curricular elements through institutionalization and embedment into overall educational activities. These lessons, along with some detail on barriers and strategies, are reported and summarized here with the goal that they will be of practical use to other institutions embarking on new CAM education initiatives.

Lessons learned from complementary and integrative medicine curriculum change in a medical school

Objectives  This paper describes a pilot study that examined lessons learned from the introduction of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) elements into a medical school curriculum.

Human factors in primary care telemedicine encounters.

Summary Traditional delivery of primary care takes place in a face-to-face transaction between provider and patient. In telemedicine, however, the transaction is ‘filtered’ by the distance and technology. The potential problem of filtered communication in a telemedicine encounter was examined from a human factors perspective. Patients with and without experience of telemedicine, and providers who had experience of telemedicine, were asked about patient–provider relationships in interviews and focus groups. Seven themes emerged: initial impressions, style of questions, field of view, physical interaction, social talk, control of encounter and ancillary services. This suggests that communication can be improved and better patient–provider relationships can be developed in a primary care telemedicine encounter if attention is paid to four areas of the interaction: verbal, non-verbal, relational and actions/transactional. The human factors dimension of telemedicine is an important element in delivery of health care at a distance – and is one of few factors over which the provider has direct control.

Creating sustainable curricular change: Lessons learned from an alternative therapies educational initiative

The authors describe the process by which a curriculum was developed to introduce complementary and alternative medicine topics at multiple levels from health professional students to faculty, as part of a five-year project, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, from 2001 to 2005. The curriculum was based on four educational goals that embrace effective communication with patients, application of sound evidence, creation of patient-centered therapeutic relationships, and development of positive perspectives on wellness. The authors analyze the complex and challenging process of gaining acceptance for the curriculum and implementing it in the context of existing courses and programs. The developmental background and context of this curricular innovation at this institution is described, with reference to parallel activities at other academic health centers participating in the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. The authors hold that successful curricular change in medical schools must follow sound educational development principles. A well-planned process of integration is particularly important when introducing a pioneering curriculum into an academic health center. The process at this institution followed six key principles for successful accomplishment of curriculum change: leadership, cooperative climate, participation by organization members, politics, human resource development, and evaluation. The authors provide details about six analogous elements used to design and sustain the curriculum: collaboration, communication, demonstration, evaluation, evolution, and dissemination.

Integrating telemedicine instruction into the curriculum: expanding student perspectives of the scope of clinical practice

We have developed a telemedicine elective for fourth-year medical students to learn about the delivery of primary care telemedicine. The goals were to expose medical students to telemedicine as a method for delivery of primary care and to reinforce the importance of doctor-patient communication during the health-care encounter. The elective lasted four weeks. It had three components: two online introductory courses to telemedicine; site visits to near and distant telemedicine sites; and a reflective writing paper. In the first year, seven medical students out of a class of 230 chose the telemedicine elective from a list of 188 alternatives. Evaluation ratings and the students’ written comments, along with end-of-course discussions, indicated that the telemedicine elective was a valuable experience. An elective in the medical school curriculum may be a useful way of providing future physicians with an understanding of telemedicine.

Student Perceptions of the Professional Behavior of Faculty Physicians

Abstract This study was conducted to obtain a baseline understanding of the professional behavior of clinical faculty physicians from the medical students’ perspective. Students completed a professionalism evaluation of supervising faculty at the end of each required third-year clerkship over a one year period. Results were analyzed by specific behaviors and across clerkships. Differences were noted in the frequency of the types of problems seen, and varied by clerkship discipline. The most common transgressions of professional behavior reported were the use of derogatory language towards other services or patients and the disrespectful treatment of others. Our study served to provide objective feedback to the faculty about student perceptions of faculty as role models for professionalism while on clinical rotations.

Clinical Performance Assessment and Interactive Video Teleconferencing: An Iterative Exploration

Background: The direct observation of students in authentic settings by faculty provides valuable feedback on performance and helps ensure mastery of clinical skills. Description: We explored the use of interactive video technology (IVT) as a way of involving community preceptors as raters on a clinical performance exam for 3rd-year students after their family medicine clerkship. Family medicine preceptors, from locations in their communities, observed students on campus conduct interviews and physical exams of standardized patients and then interacted with them during their case presentations. Evaluation: We chose an action research approach to this project and conducted four independent trials. Interviews and observations were structured around three areas of concern: human, technical, and institutional. Conclusions: We feel confident in recommending IVT as a viable option for involving community preceptors in high-stakes testing and with other campus-based activities. We also report on the value of IVT in faculty development activities.

Human Factors in Telemedicine

1 President, American Telemedicine Association; Department of Radiology Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. 2 Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. 3 Biomedical and Health Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. 4 University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. 5 Department of Information and Communication Sciences, School of Medicine, Southern Illinois University, Springfield, Illinois.

“Coming About!”—A Faculty Workshop on Teaching Beliefs

Background: The role of faculty in academic health care centers is changing rapidly. Identifying and examining personal teaching beliefs and values can help faculty members improve their performance and change the way in which they view their roles as educators. Description: A structured, 2-h workshop is detailed in this paper. It involves individual reflection, facilitated small group dialogue, and large group discussion. Expected outcomes of the workshop are a start on a teaching philosophy for inclusion in a faculty teaching portfolio, along with a personal metaphor for teaching. Evaluation: This workshop has been offered nine times with both campus faculty and community preceptors. Both qualitative and quantitative measures are detailed that demonstrate its value. Conclusions: Faculty members should be provided with structured opportunities to reflect on evolving issues in medical education. This workshop on teaching beliefs is one effective way of challenging faculty to reexamine personal values.

Development and pilot testing of an online case-based approach to shared decision making skills training for clinicians

BackgroundAlthough research suggests that patients prefer a shared decision making (SDM) experience when making healthcare decisions, clinicians do not routinely implement SDM into their practice and training programs are needed. Using a novel case-based strategy, we developed and pilot tested an online educational program to promote shared decision making (SDM) by primary care clinicians.MethodsA three-phased approach was used: 1) development of a conceptual model of the SDM process; 2) development of an online teaching case utilizing the Design A Case (DAC) authoring template, a well-tested process used to create peer-reviewed web-based clinical cases across all levels of healthcare training; and 3) pilot testing of the case. Participants were clinician members affiliated with several primary care research networks across the United States who answered an invitation email. The case used prostate cancer screening as the clinical context and was delivered online. Post-intervention ratings of clinicians’ general knowledge of SDM, knowledge of specific SDM steps, confidence in and intention to perform SDM steps were also collected online.ResultsSeventy-nine clinicians initially volunteered to participate in the study, of which 49 completed the case and provided evaluations. Forty-three clinicians (87.8%) reported the case met all the learning objectives, and 47 (95.9%) indicated the case was relevant for other equipoise decisions. Thirty-one clinicians (63.3%) accessed supplementary information via links provided in the case. After viewing the case, knowledge of SDM was high (over 90% correctly identified the steps in a SDM process). Determining a patient’s preferred role in making the decision (62.5% very confident) and exploring a patient’s values (65.3% very confident) about the decisions were areas where clinician confidence was lowest. More than 70% of the clinicians intended to perform SDM in the future.ConclusionsA comprehensive model of the SDM process was used to design a case-based approach to teaching SDM skills to primary care clinicians. The case was favorably rated in this pilot study. Clinician skills training for helping patients clarify their values and for assessing patients’ desire for involvement in decision making remain significant challenges and should be a focus of future comparative studies.