Himmelfarb Participates in "Medical Science and Beyond: Teaching the Unconventional Unconventionally"

The Himmelfarb Library staff was recently invited to present an orientation to the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) literature for George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) medical students and GWUMC patients attending the Center for Integrative Medicine. These students and patients are involved in the development of a CAM curriculum at the GW School of Medicine. The project is funded by a $377,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The literature sessions offered recommendations on searching the automated catalog for our ever-growing collection of Complementary and Alternative Medicine resources, an orientation to selected internet resources and demonstrations of databases containing Complementary and Alternative Medicine literature.

This project, a three year pilot study, entitled "Medical Science and Beyond: Teaching the Unconventional Unconventionally," has three phases. The first year provided a 20-person group of first year medical students with a variety of CAM treatments at the GW Center for Integrative Medicine (GW/CIM).

The second phase, January to May, 2002, presents these same students, now in their second year, with a 15-hour course on CAM modalities, focusing on CAM practice information, a review of the evidence for specific modalities, and advice guidelines on patient interactions regarding CAM. In addition, this second year program offers self-care information and experience for these students. Individual lectures on acupuncture, chiropractic, western herbal medicine, spirituality, homeopathy, and orthomolecular (vitamin/mineral) medicine are included. Other presentations will cover core CAM concepts and practices (including non-conventional diagnostic procedures) and relevant historical, cultural, and political forces shaping the development of CAM practices. A small group of GW/CIM patients will also attend the classes and some of these patients will be the basis of the case studies used in the course. In addition to the group of participating medical students and patients, the didactic phase of the project will be open to GW faculty and house staff.

Starting in September, 2002, the third year of the grant will allow the now third year students to work with CAM practitioners at the GW/CIM. They will observe treatments and discuss how to incorporate these modalities into their future practices and current self-care plans.

The course lectures will be given by nationally-recognized researchers and practitioners. Among the speakers are Alan Gaby, orthomolecular medicine, David Winston, western herbal medicine, Christine Pulchaski, spirituality, and Hannah Bradford, acupuncture. For more information on this project, please telephone Hannah Bradford at 202-833-5055 or 301-767-1750. You may also email her at hvbradford@cs.com.