An examination of technologies in complementary medicine education and practice: The perceptions and experiences of naturopathy students, faculty and educational leaders

A complementary medicine student-led telehealth clinic: evaluating learning & teaching perceptions

OBJECTIVES

This study evaluates a multi-centered complementary medicine (CM) student-led telehealth clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Likert and qualitative responses explore student and educator learning and teaching perceptions of the implementation of a successful telehealth clinic.

RESULTS

51 students and 17 educators completed the survey. Respondents agreed that support from educators (90%) and orientation (70%) assisted effective performance. Over 90% (93%) of all respondents supported telehealth in student-led clinics, whilst 87% encountered barriers such as technical and infrastructure issues. Respondents agreed that telehealth practice skills improved in case history taking (90%), treatment (90%) and building patient rapport (60%). Respondents (61%) disagreed that physical examination was effectively performed, and 100% of respondents agreed telehealth was a valuable learning experience. This study is the first to explore student and educator perceptions of telehealth in an Australian University multi-centered CM student-led clinic. To be successful in an educational environment, students and educators require digital literacy and adequate telehealth practice infrastructure. Whilst some in-person practice skills are transferable to telehealth, educators need to adapt curriculum to ensure counselling and physical examination skills are specifically taught for virtual consultations. Telehealth in clinical practice requires continued investigation and educational development.

Attitudes To and Uptake of Repertory Software in Homeopathy Clinical Practice-Results of an International Survey

BACKGROUND

 Despite the substantial size of the maturing complementary medicine (CM) industry, the technologies used by practitioners have received little research attention. In the clinical delivery of homeopathy services, repertory software can be employed to cross-reference client symptoms with numerous databases, making the process of seeking a clinical intervention quicker and more accurate. The purpose of the study is to learn about the quantitative patterns of usage, uptake and attitudes to repertory software amongst professional homeopaths.

METHODS

 An online cross-sectional survey of 15 questions was completed by practicing professional homeopaths between August 2016 and May 2017, using non-probability snowball sampling. Questions gathered demographic information, reflections and attitudes on the use of electronic repertories in clinical homeopathy practice.

RESULTS

 In total, 59% of respondents reported using software regularly in practice and 71% found that it adds clear value in their work. Sixty-eight percent of respondents learned about repertory software during homeopathy training, and 47% were introduced to software when they began clinical practice. Lack of sufficient training is a very important barrier to the use of repertory software, indicating that more robust and accessible software training is needed for practitioners. Many respondents agreed with a statement that repertory software represents good value for money and yet 46% agreed that it is cost prohibitive for most practitioners, signaling a challenge for software companies. Few respondents reported regularly using more than three of the most common repertory features.

CONCLUSION

 This preliminary study presents some potentially significant uptake, usage and attitude markers that stand to shed light on the practice of homeopathy and the place of emerging technologies such as repertory software. Ultimately, more research is needed to help identify and address the challenges, risks and tensions around integration of practice-enhancing technologies in CM educational and clinical settings to best serve the diverse and changing needs of practitioners.