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Refocusing Health
Newsletter 6 (Spring 2026)
Editorial
Despite its potential to help alleviate some of the pressures European health systems are facing today, TCIH is only rarely part of healthcare professionals mainstream education, which means that physicians, medical specialists, nurses, and other healthcare workers are often taken by surprise when patients seek their advice on complementary prevention and treatment options. The widespread exclusion of TCIH/TCIM from academic curricula not only contributes to creating the erroneous impression that its modalities are not sufficiently informed by evidence, but it also means that proven TCIH practices do not get promoted - let alone prescribed - where they could make a real difference. Although many conventional healthcare professionals are themselves experimenting with TCIH modalities (e.g., popular practices like yoga or mindfulness), confusion about the scope, purpose, and broader philosophy of TCIH remains. The consequences are deplorable as it means limited access to TCIH knowledge, little to no funding for TCIH research, and reduced patient choice.
However, the interest in gaining TCIH qualifications is growing, including among conventional healthcare professionals, and in countries where it is taught at university level (e.g., Germany and Switzerland), this appears to positively influence their attitudes and openness to TCIH, its holistic mindset and patient-centredness. At the same time, innovation in teaching methods and digital technologies is opening new possibilities for TCIH education and professional training.
Meanwhile, the WHO Global Traditional Medicines Strategy 2025-2034 provides a new impetus for advancing education on TCIH. From the perspective of Refocusing Health, this is encouraging because a strategic, inclusive educational approach to TCIH could be accompanied by a shift towards greater consideration of One Health interlinkages. Ultimately, this could contribute to improved sustainability such as sensitivity to environmental and biodiversity aspects, as well as enhanced interprofessional collaboration and empathy, in the healthcare sector.
EUROCAM Secretariat
Bridging Worlds: Educating for Inclusive, Collaborative Care
This viewpoint essay by Hunter et al. provides a fitting introductory piece since it focuses on the role education plays in fostering inclusive, culturally competent, and interprofessional communication and collaboration between conventional and TCIH healthcare practitioners. A prerequisite is the development of cultural competency among professionals, which includes the ability to recognise personal and professional cultural biases that could inadvertently marginalise patients wishing to use TCIH. The authors argue that the development of experiential learning programmes designed to help overcome engrained biases and assist active collaboration could be very useful for breaking down the barriers to interprofessional partnerships.
Source: Hunter J, Majd I, Kowalski M, Harnett JE. Interprofessional Communication - A Call for More Education to Ensure Cultural Competency in the Context of Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine. Global Advances in Health and Medicine. 2021;10. doi:10.1177/21649561211014107
What does the WHO's Traditional Medicine Strategy means for Education?
The World Health Organization's new Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034 includes the vision of "a world in which there is universal access to safe, effective and people-centred TCIM for the health and well-being of all". To get there, steps should be taken, inter alia, to promote a dialogue between TCIM professional associations and regulatory authorities for standards of educational programmes, put in place policy frameworks for professional education and communication, and facilitate the integration of education between biomedicine and TCIM. This associated document provides countries with practical approaches to define, compare and strengthen TCIM integration across health systems building blocks, and tailor integration strategies to unique country contexts. An important goal is to provide a framework of models of integration to instigate discussion, comparison and research. At the same time, it describes how different TCIH/M models influence education in this realm.
Source: Integration of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine into health systems: conceptual framework. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
TCIH in Swiss Medical Education: What Students Know, Think, and Expect
Switzerland has been one of the frontrunners when it comes to integrating TCIH into academic medical education and is the only European country where this is mandated in the Federal Constitution. This cross-sectional study examines the findings of an online survey on medical students’ attitudes, knowledge, and expectancies regarding TCIH carried out across Swiss universities that offer degrees in human medicine and thus required to offer TCIH modules. The findings reveal widespread unawareness of TCIH being mandatory. While most participants felt it should be taught, with over 50% expressing general interest in TCIH methods and their application and a large majority expecting that patients have an interest in it, too, views diverged greatly between different modalities. More than half of students declared having insufficient knowledge to adequately inform patients about it. There were also significant differences as a function of gender (with women holding more favourable attitudes) and linguistic regions. Interestingly, a national level educational policy regarding TCIH’ representation in academic medical education is still lacking.
Source: Berlowitz I, Adler H, Gallego Perez D, Templeton AJ, Wolf U (2025) What do future physicians think of traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM)? Fifteen years after the inclusion of TCIM in the Swiss constitution. PLOS ONE 20(12): e0333920.
From the Student Desk: What Medicine's Next Generation Wants to Learn About TCIH
Remaining in Switzerland, the University of Fribourg involved medical students in the design of TCIM courses. The aim was to identify elements that could be of general importance for curriculum development in undergrad medical education, including the need and usefulness of TCIM courses, their content and structure, and acquisition of important competencies. Crucially, students agreed that TCIM represents an essential subject for them; they favoured a longitudinal and transversal curriculum, allowing cross-fertilisation with other medical disciplines. They also emphasised the importance of a patient-centred and relationship-based approach to good patient care, which is integral to the definition of TCIM. Finally, students highlighted the diversity of attitudes, expectations, and perspectives as an inherent issue for academic teaching and learning and for patient care. The authors conclude that further research on TCIM curriculum development is warranted, including also perspectives of faculty members and experts.
Source: Zurkinden, E., Dubois, J., Rodondi, P.-Y., & Huber, B. M. (2025). Involving Medical Students in the Curriculum Development of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine: An Exploratory Qualitative Study. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 12.
Know Better, Do Better: Rethinking CAM Education in German Medical Schools
How knowledgeable are German medical students about TCIH? Another survey - developed in cooperation with the working group Prevention and Integrative Oncology of the German Cancer Society, a disease area where TCIH use is particularly high - focused on attitude towards and knowledge on evidence-based medicine (EbM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the EU’s most populous country. The results showed low familiarity with EbM (43.3%), CAM and other related concepts (less than 25%). Overall, and in contrast to previous studies undertaken elsewhere, this survey recorded few changes in students’ attitude even if they were exposed to EbM/CAM during their training. The authors postulate this scepticism might be due to a lack of differentiated teaching in which well-characterised and evidence-based complementary methods are presented. It could also be that students get the notion that these methods are not part of the academic healthcare system, since few TCIH experts able to integrate a critical discourse are employed by medical faculties.
Source: Ciarlo, G., Josfeld, L., Muenstedt, K., Micke, O., Buentzel, J., Zomorodbakhsch, B., … Huebner, J. (2025). Evidence-Based Medicine and Complementary and Alternative Medicine – Attitudes and Knowledge of German Medical Students. Cancer Investigation, 43(6), 477–484.
From Sceptic to Curious: TCIH Education Making Waves in Germany
Still in Germany, where TCIH is provided in both physician-led and non-physician contexts, this article analyses the results of a survey conducted amongst medical students enrolled in an undergrad TCIM elective course. The aim was to evaluate their acceptance and assess changes in attitudes and self-reported engagement following the course. The authors explain the need to increase knowledge about TCIH in relation to its growing prevalence and frequent non-disclosure; physicians need to be able to routinely elicit and document its use, appraise evidence, and discuss safety and potential interactions with biomedical treatments. The survey results convey that the course was well accepted and associated with greater openness toward TCIH, while also highlighting the complexity of integrating it into medical practice. Experiential and discussion-based teaching formats may play an important role in fostering interest and reflective engagement. Structured, evidence-informed teaching may help future physicians develop the competencies needed to discuss it with patients.
Source: Michael Jeitler, Daniela A. Koppold, Claudia Römer, Etienne Hanslian, Gonza B. Ngoumou, Andreas Michalsen, Georg Seifert, Christian S. Kessler, Farid I. Kandil, Wiebke Stritter. A clinical elective on traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) for undergraduate medical students in Germany: A pre-post survey evaluation, Advances in Integrative Medicine, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2026, 100649, ISSN 2212-9588.
The Whole Picture: Integrative Medicine in Australian General Practice
In Australia, this mixed-methods study undertaken in 2021 mapped the Integrative Medicine (IM) education and training pathways and needs of members of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ IM Specific Interest Network. It reveals the absence of a single education pathway in IM, with knowledge often acquired via self-directed learning. GPs who practised IM were significantly more likely to have IM education and positive attitudes towards it, particularly natural products, and higher self-rated IM competencies. Knowledge gaps were identified in population health and context, and organisational and legal dimensions of applied IM practice. Several professional and systemic barriers to the practice, education, and training of IM were identified, such as the dearth of formal programmes and certification/accreditation, as well as unawareness of existing resources. Study participants expressed broad support for the recognition of IM as a sub-specialty through formalised post-graduate training and accreditation. The authors underline the importance of defining best practice in IM for GPs and providing a standardised pathway for recognising advanced skills.
Source: Ee C, Templeman K, Forth A, Kotsirilos V, Singleton G, Deed G, Dubois S, Pirotta M, Harnett J, Myers S, Hunter J. Integrative Medicine in General Practice in Australia: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Education Pathways and Training Needs. Glob Adv Health Med. 2021 Aug 4;10:21649561211037594. doi: 10.1177/21649561211037594. PMID: 34414016; PMCID: PMC8369962.
The Digital Future of Acupuncture Education
This article examines how Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is incorporating technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality into acupuncture education. The authors argue that future practitioners need not only a solid grounding in traditional theory and clinical practice, but also the skills required to engage with digital tools and interdisciplinary innovation. The paper describes educational reforms designed to strengthen clinical competence, lifelong learning, and knowledge integration while preserving the core principles of traditional Chinese medicine. As such, it offers an interesting perspective on how TCM education may evolve in response to technological developments and changing healthcare needs, complementing the broader discussion on curriculum development and professional training featured in this issue.
Source: Yang S, Guo J, Cai D, et al. “Digital Intelligence Application, Three Abilities Improvement”: Modernizing Acupuncture Education with Big Data and Virtual Reality at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Medical Acupuncture. 2025.
Teaching Tomorrow's Vets About Integrative Care
Finally, this article reveals that veterinarians are faced with similar rising demand and questions regarding the combination of complementary and alternative therapies with conventional care of animals. Hence, students would benefit from exposure to the principles, theories, and current evidence supporting or refuting techniques used in Integrative Veterinary Medicine (IVM). The authors conclude that relevant courses should be unbiased; comply with the educational standards of the teaching institution; subject to objective periodic faculty evaluations; routinely updated; and involve outside experts where it is not possible to recruit permanent teaching staff.
Source: Memon MA, Shmalberg J, Adair HS, et al. “Integrative veterinary medical education and consensus guidelines for an integrative veterinary medicine curriculum within veterinary colleges”. Open Vet J. 2016;6(1):44-56. doi: 10.4314/ovj.v6i1.7. Epub 2016 Mar 28. PMID: 27200270; PMCID: PMC48240