Med, nursing schools teaching alternative remedies
ABC News Health, Nov. 1, 2009
More than a third of Americans use alternative medicine, and medical and nursing schools are adding instruction in acupuncture and herbal remedies to their curricula. UTMB Dr. Victor Sierpina, head of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, said the purpose of these lesson plans is not propaganda. “We are not trying to make students CAM practitioners,” but to train them to be “sensitive to where people come from, their folk medicine, their home remedies,” he said. Just as there are true believers who ignore evidence that something doesn’t work, there are true doubters who are guilty of “arrogant thinking that we’ve got it all figured out,” Sierpina said. Dr. Mehmet Oz agreed. The Columbia University heart surgeon and frequent Oprah Winfrey guest, now with his own TV show, has long shown an open mind toward complementary and alternative medicine. The Associated Press article appears in hundreds of newspapers and online publications, including the AARP Bulletin, MSNBC, Forbes and The New York Times.