Nature as Medicine and Classroom: Evaluating an Innovative, Outdoor Course for Medical and Dental Students.

Background: There is a growing, global awareness and recognition of the important, interdependent relationships between our natural world and human health. Several contemporary health organizations have placed calls to action and emphasize an urgent need for collaboration and interdisciplinary research, education, and clinical work to address the increasing degradation of our planetary and human health. With more research dedicated to nature's health impacts, health professions schools would benefit by including such training in their programs while also cultivating a comprehensive mind-body health perspective to support both the health of student practitioners and their future patients.

Disclosure of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Although use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is rising among older adults, many do not discuss these healthcare practices with their primary care practitioners (PCPs). This study sought to determine the prevalence of CAM use and to identify factors associated with CAM disclosure among patients ages 65 and older. : Participants completed an anonymous survey, which evaluated their CAM use over the past year and disclosure of CAM to a PCP.

Recommended integrative medicine competencies for family medicine residents.

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and Integrative Medicine (IM) has grown steadily over the past decade. Patients seek physician guidance, yet physicians typically have limited knowledge and training. There is some coverage of IM/CAM topics in medical schools and residencies but with little coordination or consistency.

Therapeutic uses of magnesium.

Magnesium is an essential mineral for optimal metabolic function. Research has shown that the mineral content of magnesium in food sources is declining, and that magnesium depletion has been detected in persons with some chronic diseases. This has led to an increased awareness of proper magnesium intake and its potential therapeutic role in a number of medical conditions.

Healing with the needles.

A child's spontaneous desire to help her mother during an office visit prompts me to reflect upon the multidimensional nature of healing and how, as family physicians, we often encounter these unique moments in our day-to-day practice.

CAM education: promoting a salutogenic focus in health care.

Introduction: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) education has created a focus that not only brings awareness of various CAM therapies to conventional medical education but also highlights how these therapies can bring insight toward improved health care.

Methods: A survey of CAM educational leaders at institutions awarded grants for incorporating CAM education into medical curricula was performed to address how CAM education can improve health care delivery in America.

Results: Five (5) core themes were noted to be successful in achieving this goal.

Natural and traditional medicine in cuba: lessons for u.s. Medical education.

Reprinted with permission from Academic Medicine (Academic Medicine. 81(12):1098-1103, December 2006). The Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) Academy of Science has recommended that medical schools incorporate information on CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) into required medical school curricula so that graduates will be able to competently advise their patients in the use of CAM.

Natural and traditional medicine in Cuba: lessons for U.S. medical education.

The Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) Academy of Science has recommended that medical schools incorporate information on CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) into required medical school curricula so that graduates will be able to competently advise their patients in the use of CAM. The report states a need to study models of systems that integrate CAM and allopathic medicine. The authors present Cuba's health care system as one such model and describe how CAM (or natural and traditional medicine) is integrated into all levels of clinical care and medical education in Cuba.