2008 Woodie Awards
Alternative medicine comes to med school, hospital
Issue date: 10/2/08
Hopkins Hospital began offering integrative and "traditional" medical treatments in a new clinic, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) on Sept. 2.
Traditional medicine has been used for almost 5,000 years in China, much longer than its Western counterpart. It follows a holistic approach based on the idea that curing a disease means treating both body and mind.
Anastasia Rowland-Seymour, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, said that integrative medicine combines traditional treatments with conventional treatments. Mixing the two types of treatments can sometimes have harmful effects, so it is the doctor's goal to incorporate them in a way that is not only effective but also safe for the patient.
"The idea is to do it in a way that's safe but [also] addresses all the issues for patients: mind, body, spirit and any other psychosocial issues [they] might have as well," Rowland-Seymour said.
With the increasing popularity of alternative medicine, numerous medical schools now offer courses on the subject. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that of the 117 United States medical schools surveyed, 64 percent offer electives in CAM.
In last year's course catalog, the School of Medicine only offered one elective in CAM: "The Philosophy and Practice of Healing and Complementary Medicine."
"Students will ... gain an appreciation of the philosophy, validity and effectiveness of different health and healing paradigms (i.e. non-biomedical) in the treatment of patients," the catalog noted.
A new curriculum instated in fall 2009, modeled after the changes at the Hospital, will give undergraduates as well as graduate students the opportunity to take a variety of classes on CAM during Intersession, according to Patricia Thomas, associate dean for Curriculum at the Hopkins School of Medicine.
"An afternoon in each of our Intersessions is going to be devoted to what we refer to as restorative medicine. That's going to be an opportunity for students to participate in other forms of healing such as yoga, meditation or mindfulness training," Thomas said.
Traditional medicine has been used for almost 5,000 years in China, much longer than its Western counterpart. It follows a holistic approach based on the idea that curing a disease means treating both body and mind.
Anastasia Rowland-Seymour, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, said that integrative medicine combines traditional treatments with conventional treatments. Mixing the two types of treatments can sometimes have harmful effects, so it is the doctor's goal to incorporate them in a way that is not only effective but also safe for the patient.
"The idea is to do it in a way that's safe but [also] addresses all the issues for patients: mind, body, spirit and any other psychosocial issues [they] might have as well," Rowland-Seymour said.
With the increasing popularity of alternative medicine, numerous medical schools now offer courses on the subject. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that of the 117 United States medical schools surveyed, 64 percent offer electives in CAM.
In last year's course catalog, the School of Medicine only offered one elective in CAM: "The Philosophy and Practice of Healing and Complementary Medicine."
"Students will ... gain an appreciation of the philosophy, validity and effectiveness of different health and healing paradigms (i.e. non-biomedical) in the treatment of patients," the catalog noted.
A new curriculum instated in fall 2009, modeled after the changes at the Hospital, will give undergraduates as well as graduate students the opportunity to take a variety of classes on CAM during Intersession, according to Patricia Thomas, associate dean for Curriculum at the Hopkins School of Medicine.
"An afternoon in each of our Intersessions is going to be devoted to what we refer to as restorative medicine. That's going to be an opportunity for students to participate in other forms of healing such as yoga, meditation or mindfulness training," Thomas said.
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