CAM 488: Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The course gives an overview of the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicine CAM modalities centered on the five domains of Complementary, Integrative and Alternative Medicine. These include the Alternative medical systems (traditional Chinese medicine, Unani medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy); Mind-body Medicine (techniques designed to facilitate the mind's capacity to affect the physical body's functions in health and illness, such as meditation, yoga, and MBSR); Manual therapies (osteopathy, massage, and chiropractic); Energy-based therapies (biofeedback, acupuncture); and Biologically-based therapies (herbal medicine and dietary supplements). Principles of Prophetic medicine will be introduced where the major elements of traditional Islamic healing methods will be covered. The course will present theory and principles of CAM practices and train students to critically evaluate evidence of their efficacy and safety.