Interprofessional Education on Complementary and Integrative Medicine

Interprofessional education and complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) strive for patient-centred medical care. Combining both concepts in education seems promising to prepare students for future health care. This article explores the question of what should be considered in undergraduate interprofessional training on complementary and integrative medicine for students of medicine and other health care professions and what benefits can be expected.

A three-round Delphi study was conducted with experts from varied professional backgrounds who have experience in teaching and patient care to address CIM training in the above-mentioned setting. Presented here are the results of the third round, in which 40 experts were asked open questions about what benefits/opportunities and what barriers/challenges they expect when such training programmes are offered. The statements were inductively evaluated by content analysis, to develop categories and subcategories.

The response rate was 90% (n = 36). The categories (and most frequently mentioned subcategories) were as follows: Regarding benefits: patient care (strengthening holistic and patient-centred care); teaching and learning (learning together); faculty development (opening up new perspectives); and regarding barriers: teaching and learning (uncritical teaching); faculty development (lack of acceptance); implementation (difficult scheduling).

Experts expect interprofessional teaching on CIM to have positive effects not only on holistic and team-oriented patient care but also on faculty development. It might be challenging to teach the topics in a critical manner and on a scientific basis to ensure high-quality teaching. The results of this study can be used to promote an appropriate implementation of such training programmes.