Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a categorical term used to describe a range of medical and health care systems and/or therapeutic modalities, practices and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine – that is, medicine as traditionally practiced by physicians and allied health professionals (e.g., physical therapists, psychologists, nurses, counselors). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognized CAM use not only as an alternative medical strategy, but also as a supplemental or complementary health care strategy. This course informs practitioners of the underlying theories associated with CAM and reviews the empirical evidence associated with the prevalence of its use and its efficacy. Individual patient predictors of CAM use are discussed and guidelines are provided to assist clinicians and healthcare professionals to ethically identify which patients may benefit from CAM use.

• Identify the diverse medical and health care systems, practices and products that fall within the realm of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
• Discuss the base rates of CAM use in patients and the socio-ethnic differences regarding the uptake of CAM
• Describe the underlying theories behind CAM use
• Articulate the factors that aid in the identification of patients likely to benefit from CAM use