Exploratory and Pioneering Study on Courses Involving Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Within an Integrative Approach at University of Messina Medical School

Objective: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used by patients with chronic diseases, including cancer, but many physicians still have little knowledge about these medical methods and/or do not believe in their efficacy. This leads to inadequate doctor-patient communication and self-prescription of CAM with a high risk of interaction with standard cancer treatments. Information about CAM should be planned at all levels of medical education, starting from university, to promote the use of CAM among specialists. The primary objective of this study, conducted between October 2023 and February 2024, was to assess the opinion and impact of learning about CAM in future graduating physicians. Methods: One hundred and sixty medical students attended a 2-hour CAM academic training course; they also completed an anonymous 35-item questionnaire divided into 2 sections. The items included in the first section investigated their attitudes toward CAM. The second part of the survey investigated the students' opinion about the course they had attended and re-evaluated their knowledge of CAM. Results: Of the 160 participants, 79.4% were aware of the existence of other forms of medicine besides conventional medicine, and the most well-known CAM were Oriental and Chinese medicine (48.8%), homeopathy (8.1%), and acupuncture (5%). About 58.4% percent of participants agreed that universities should teach CAM, 51.3% believed that different medical approaches can coexist, and 78.1% did not consider Western medicine to be the only therapeutic option. One hundred percent found the teaching of CAM useful, 88.8% agreed that CAM should be taught in all medical/health/biological degrees, and 88.1% would propose an integrative approach. Conclusion: Clinical practice can be significantly improved by introducing CAM into university training programs. This will meet the educational needs of modern and innovative medicine, with the hope that in the future, physicians will be able to provide patients with tailored treatments choosing their options from both conventional and alternative medicine and will discourage patients from seeking treatment and medical advice from non-medical practitioners.