Complementary Medicine

Professors: Helaine Selin and Emily Maiella

Term: 2011S

Meeting Info:  Tuesday 09:00 AM - 10:20 AM Cole Science Center 333 Thursday 09:00 AM - 10:20 AM Cole Science Center 333

Description:  Health involves all aspects of our lives. The mind, body, spirit, and environment all interact to influence a person's sense of wellbeing. High-quality health care must support the whole person. There are many terms used to describe approaches that are not considered conventional Western medicine. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of biomedicine. While some scientific evidence exists regarding some CAM therapies, for many there are important unanswered questions that can be answered through well-designed scientific studies. Working individually and in small groups, we will identify questions to pursue by reading and critiquing the primary scientific literature. The acceptance of these therapies is influenced by politics, history, personalities, and even their effectiveness. We will carefully evaluate some of these alternative therapies by examining their successes and failures. REA, WRI, QUA, PRS, PRJ, MCP. This course fulfills Division I distribution requirements.