• Kim Do Yeun DY Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea., Wan Beom Park, Hee Cheol Kang, Mi Jung Kim, Kyu-Hyun Park, Byung-Il Min, Duk-Joon Suh, Hye Won Lee, Seung Pil Jung, Mison Chun, and Soon Nam Lee.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
• J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Sep 1; 18 (9): 870-4.

BackgroundThe current status of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) education in Korean medical schools is still largely unknown, despite a growing need for a CAM component in medical education. The prevalence, scope, and diversity of CAM courses in Korean medical school education were evaluated.DesignParticipants included academic or curriculum deans and faculty at each of the 41 Korean medical schools. A mail survey was conducted from 2007 to 2010. Replies were received from all 41 schools.ResultsCAM was officially taught at 35 schools (85.4%), and 32 schools (91.4%) provided academic credit for CAM courses. The most common courses were introduction to CAM or integrative medicine (88.6%), traditional Korean medicine (57.1%), homeopathy and naturopathy (31.4%), and acupuncture (28.6%). Educational formats included lectures by professors and lectures and/or demonstrations by practitioners. The value order of core competencies was attitude (40/41), knowledge (32/41), and skill (6/41). Reasons for not initiating a CAM curriculum were a non-evidence-based approach in assessing the efficacy of CAM, insufficiently reliable reference resources, and insufficient time to educate students in CAM.ConclusionsThis survey reveals heterogeneity in the content, format, and requirements among CAM courses at Korean medical schools. Korean medical school students should be instructed in CAM with a more consistent educational approach to help patients who participate in or demand CAM.

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