The National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) is offering a new online Continuing Education
Series on complementary and alternative medicine.
This lecture series offers health care professionals
and the public the opportunity to learn more about complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies and the state-of-the-science
about them through video lectures by some of the leading
experts in this field. Health care professionals can
earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits. Users
who complete all the test chapters can generate an online
certificate. The CME series is free and can be viewed
at nccam.nih.gov/videolectures.
“With 62 percent of the American public using CAM,
from dietary supplements to chiropractic, there is not
only a great need to inform conventional and CAM health
care professionals, but also to provide the public with
information they can use to make decisions about their
health care options,” said Stephen E. Straus, M.D.,
NCCAM Director. “This CME series is a valuable addition
to the other resources on the NCCAM Web site.”
CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems,
practices, and products that are not presently considered
to be part of conventional medicine. Examples are dietary
supplements, hypnosis, chiropractic manipulation, and
acupuncture. The series currently has six different
lectures. Each lecture includes an overview of the CAM
area, a review of research results and ongoing research,
and discussion of the historical and practice perspectives.
CAM topics covered are:
- Overview of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Herbs and Other Dietary Supplements
- Mind-Body Medicine
- Acupuncture: An Evidence-Based Assessment
- Manipulative and Body-Based Therapies: Chiropractic
and Spinal Manipulation
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Aging
Each lecture includes:
- A video lecture by a scientific expert
- The lecture transcript
- An online test that can be taken to receive CME
credits (credits for nurses will be added soon)
- Additional resource links
NCCAM is dedicated to exploring complementary and
alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous
science, training complementary and alternative medicine
researchers, and disseminating authoritative information
to the public and professionals. For additional information,
call NCCAM’s Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226,
or visit the NCCAM Web site at nccam.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The
Nation's Medical Research Agency — is comprised
of 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the
primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting basic,
clinical, and translational medical research, and investigates
the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and
rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its
programs, visit www.nih.gov.