A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan
Abstract Background Demonstrating a positive impact of educational programs on clinical care outcomes is challenging. We assess students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors as short-term outcomes of integrating a structured Traditional Chinese Medicine course within a Western medical school. M...
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| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-024-04704-x |
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| author | Sunny Jui-Shan Lin Shung-Tai Ho Yi-Chang Su Chien-Sung Tsai Shu-Meng Cheng Cheng-Yi Cheng Tso-Chou Lin Chien-Jung Lin |
| author_facet | Sunny Jui-Shan Lin Shung-Tai Ho Yi-Chang Su Chien-Sung Tsai Shu-Meng Cheng Cheng-Yi Cheng Tso-Chou Lin Chien-Jung Lin |
| author_sort | Sunny Jui-Shan Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Demonstrating a positive impact of educational programs on clinical care outcomes is challenging. We assess students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors as short-term outcomes of integrating a structured Traditional Chinese Medicine course within a Western medical school. Methods A prospective questionnaire survey was conducted among first-year and second-year undergraduate medical students who participated in the “Introduction to Chinese Medicine” course in 2020. The survey assessed their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors before and after completing the 32-hour course. Results In total, 89 participants who completed both pre- and post-course questionnaires exhibited significantly higher scores in Chinese medicine knowledge after the course (3.82 ± 0.67 vs. 4.05 ± 0.73, p = 0.002). The majority of medical students displayed positive attitudes towards traditional Chinese medicine (80.9% vs. 83.3%, p = 0.392), particularly regarding the statement, “Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes holistic considerations and whole person health to a greater extent than Western medicine does” (75.3% vs. 88.8%, p = 0.017). Additionally, most medical students reported proactive behaviors related to integrative care with Chinese medicine, including inquiring about Chinese medicine therapy history (76.4%), the concurrent use of Western and Chinese medications (78.7%) and participating in academic exchanges with Chinese medicine physicians (78.7%) after the course. More medical students expressed an intention to proactively learn more about Chinese medicine after the course (40.4% vs. 51.7%, p = 0.031). Conclusions The elective “Introduction to Chinese Medicine” course enhanced Taiwanese Western medical students’ knowledge of Chinese medicine, fostered positive attitudes towards integrative healthcare involving Chinese medicine, and increased their willingness to learn more about Chinese medicine for future clinical practice. Trial registration Registration prior to patient enrollment was not applicable because participants were not assigned to treatment groups in this study. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6b3d873555fe4601b24154bf46df08a3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-7671 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies |
| spelling | doaj-art-6b3d873555fe4601b24154bf46df08a32025-01-26T12:15:07ZengBMCBMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies2662-76712025-01-0125111110.1186/s12906-024-04704-xA pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in TaiwanSunny Jui-Shan Lin0Shung-Tai Ho1Yi-Chang Su2Chien-Sung Tsai3Shu-Meng Cheng4Cheng-Yi Cheng5Tso-Chou Lin6Chien-Jung Lin7Department of Chinese Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical CenterDepartment of Anesthesiology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical UniversityNational Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Health and WelfareDivision of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical CenterDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical CenterDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical CenterDepartment of Anesthesiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical CenterDepartment of Chinese Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical CenterAbstract Background Demonstrating a positive impact of educational programs on clinical care outcomes is challenging. We assess students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors as short-term outcomes of integrating a structured Traditional Chinese Medicine course within a Western medical school. Methods A prospective questionnaire survey was conducted among first-year and second-year undergraduate medical students who participated in the “Introduction to Chinese Medicine” course in 2020. The survey assessed their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors before and after completing the 32-hour course. Results In total, 89 participants who completed both pre- and post-course questionnaires exhibited significantly higher scores in Chinese medicine knowledge after the course (3.82 ± 0.67 vs. 4.05 ± 0.73, p = 0.002). The majority of medical students displayed positive attitudes towards traditional Chinese medicine (80.9% vs. 83.3%, p = 0.392), particularly regarding the statement, “Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes holistic considerations and whole person health to a greater extent than Western medicine does” (75.3% vs. 88.8%, p = 0.017). Additionally, most medical students reported proactive behaviors related to integrative care with Chinese medicine, including inquiring about Chinese medicine therapy history (76.4%), the concurrent use of Western and Chinese medications (78.7%) and participating in academic exchanges with Chinese medicine physicians (78.7%) after the course. More medical students expressed an intention to proactively learn more about Chinese medicine after the course (40.4% vs. 51.7%, p = 0.031). Conclusions The elective “Introduction to Chinese Medicine” course enhanced Taiwanese Western medical students’ knowledge of Chinese medicine, fostered positive attitudes towards integrative healthcare involving Chinese medicine, and increased their willingness to learn more about Chinese medicine for future clinical practice. Trial registration Registration prior to patient enrollment was not applicable because participants were not assigned to treatment groups in this study.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-024-04704-xMedical curriculumTraditional Chinese medicineKnowledgeAttitudeBehavior |
| spellingShingle | Sunny Jui-Shan Lin Shung-Tai Ho Yi-Chang Su Chien-Sung Tsai Shu-Meng Cheng Cheng-Yi Cheng Tso-Chou Lin Chien-Jung Lin A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies Medical curriculum Traditional Chinese medicine Knowledge Attitude Behavior |
| title | A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan |
| title_full | A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan |
| title_fullStr | A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan |
| title_full_unstemmed | A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan |
| title_short | A pre- and post-course survey of an elective Chinese medicine curriculum among junior Western medical students in Taiwan |
| title_sort | pre and post course survey of an elective chinese medicine curriculum among junior western medical students in taiwan |
| topic | Medical curriculum Traditional Chinese medicine Knowledge Attitude Behavior |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-024-04704-x |
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