Medical education in non-conventional therapies

Abstract

The demand of the population by complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been substantially increasing
in the last decades, requiring that doctors have basic notions of these various therapies, in order to guide patients in different treatments of those who are accustomed to prescribe. In this way, the medical schools have the responsibility to provide to students the knowledge of scientific evidences, theoretical assumptions and practical approaches used in these different forms of treatment. The present review has the purpose of fomenting the discussion regarding the teaching of non-conventional therapeutics in medical schools. It is focused on the interest of the population and the medical class, the importance of the initiatives in undergraduate and graduate (residency), and the perspectives of medical education
in non-conventional therapeutics.