Integrative medical education: Educational strategies and preliminary evaluation of the Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Medicine (ICURAM)

Objectivesthe development and preliminary evaluation of a new medical program aimed at educating students in patient-centered integrative care and developing appropriate educational strategies.MethodsThe Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Medicine (ICURAM) was developed with modules on anthroposophic medicine integrated into the full 6 years of the regular medical curriculum. The educational strategy is the ESPRI2T approach, combining Exploratory learning, Supported participation, Patient-based learning, Reflective practice, Integrated learning, an Integrative approach and Team-based learning. The student participation, assessed based on the number of credit points earned per year (ctp/year) through the ICURAM (1 ctp = 30 h workload), served as a preliminary indicator of student interest.ResultsOf the 412 55%medical students participated in the program: 16% full participation (≥4 ctp/year), 18% partial participation (1–3.99 ctp/year) and 22% occasional participation (0.25–0.99 ctp/year). The amount of additional workload taken on by students was between 7.8 h/year for occasional participants, 33 h/year for partial participants and 84 h/year for full participants.ConclusionMore than half of medical students were willing to invest a significant amount of additional time in the optional program.Practice implicationsAn integrative medical curriculum with a student-centered educational strategy seems to be of interest to most medical students.