Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Complementary And Alternative Medicine: Attitudes And Use Among Health Educators In The United States, Ping Johnson, Jennifer Priestley, Kandice Porter, Jane Petrillo

Jennifer L. Priestley

Background: Interest in and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States is increasing. However, CAM remains an area of nascency for researchers and western practitioners. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine U.S. health educators' attitudes toward CAM and their use of common CAM therapies. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among members of a professional health educator listserv. Results: Health educators generally have positive attitudes toward CAM and about 90% have used at least one CAM therapy in the last 12 months. Differences in CAM attitudes and use were significant, with females …

A Survey Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine Knowledge Among Health Educators In The United States, Ping Johnson, Jennifer Priestley, Roy Johnson

Jennifer L. Priestley

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among U.S. health care consumers, but no study has examined how much health educators know about CAM. Purpose: To examine the knowledge of basic CAM concepts and common CAM therapies among health educators in the U.S. Methods: An online survey was conducted among 1,299 health educators with valid e-mails on a professional listserv. The response rate was 39%. The 16-item CAM knowledge scale yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .71. Results: Participating health educators were most knowledgeable about chiropractic and massage therapy, familiar with the general definition of CAM, understood whether acupuncture is …

Exploring Online Community Among Rural Medical Education Students: A Case Study, Ryan Tyler Palmer

Dissertations and Theses

There is a severe shortage of rural physicians in America. One reason physicians choose not to practice, or persist in practice, in rural areas is due to a lack of professional community, i.e., community of practice (CoP). Online, "virtual" CoPs, enabled by now common Internet communication technology can help give rural physicians the CoP experience they traditionally have lacked, despite their remote practice locations. Therefore, it is important for rural medical education programs to provide technological experiences that give students the skills needed to create virtual CoPs in future rural practice contexts.

The Oregon Rural Scholars Program (ORSP) provides such …