Natural Medicine and Therapy (Lincoln)

Code School Level Credits Semesters
MEDS3109 Medical Education Centre 3 10 Autumn UK
Code
MEDS3109
School
Medical Education Centre
Level
3
Credits
10
Semesters
Autumn UK

Summary

Patients are increasingly using natural medicines to treat both acute and chronic conditions and it is vital that medical graduates have a working knowledge of the range of complementary therapies that are available. They need to understand why patients use them and how they can affect the safety of other types of treatment a patient may receive. This is particularly important with an increasingly diverse population in the UK who will be using a wide range of different types and forms of natural medicines.

The first part of the module will consist of a series of eight lectures which will introduce students to the main forms of natural medicine that are used globally. These include an outline of the principles and practice of western herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, Indian ayurvedic medicine, homoeopathy, anthroposophical medicine, and acupuncture. They will gain an appreciation of the main phytochemical bioactivity definition (antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, antiaging activity of different classes of phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids and essential oils. They will gain an understanding of the main extraction and manufacturing processes used in developing herbal medicines and how these can affect activity. The main systems such as digestive, biliary, cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous, reproductive, endocrine, musculo-skeletal and skin will be covered and how natural medicines can be used to treat common disease states in a holistic manner. Teaching sessions will cover the role of adaptogenic herbs and their use in all the main forms of herb medicine. Several sessions will review the evidence base for these types of therapies. Students will be introduced to the list of herbal ingredients that subject to more than one set of restrictions in the UK by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

The second part of the module will consist of a group seminar looking at how herbal medicines can interact with conventional therapies and how they can be given alongside allopathic treatments in an integrated manner. This will build on the knowledge they gained from the first part of the module and from their core pharmacology and therapeutics teaching.  This will be done by reviewing case studies of real-life patients. This will further enforce their understanding of the teaching materials in the first part of the module as well as providing opportunities for inter-professional education with groups of healthcare professionals that students will not usually interact with during their training.
 

Target Students

Medical students in A10L only

Classes

We will plan a visit to Complementary Medicine Clinic at Lincoln College (https://complementarymedicines.co.uk/book-a-treatment ) where students will have the opportunity to interact with Medical Herbalists and patients.

Assessment

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

This module is designed so that the students can obtain some of the outcomes specified by the GMC in Outcomes for Graduates. The GMC state that graduates should respect patient choices about the use of complementary therapies and have a working knowledge of the existence and range of these therapies, why patients use them, and how this might affect the safety of other types of treatment that patients receive. This module meets this outcome.Students will have the opportunity to critical evaluate each of the main types of natural medicine that are used globally and in the UK. As future doctors they could be working with communities where the use of natural medicines is widely practiced. A major component of this module is the critical review of patient attitudes to natural medicine but also the evidence-base behind these therapies. Many of the major clinical trials and evidence involving herbal medicines will be reviewed during the teaching of this module. This will endorse any critical appraisal skills they will have obtained from their core teaching. This module will use a wide range of teaching styles such as lectures and group discussions. The assessments require a certain amount of self-directed study and research in areas where they aren’t robust guidelines in place, and they will have to interpret information from a wide range of resources. The synoptic assessment will involve the student’s presenting information on a particular herb or therapy integrating the chemistry, formulation, evidence-base, current usage, drug-herb interactions, patient attitudes, pharmaceutical care and counselling. The care plan will involve them reviewing a patient they have seen during their clinical placements who is taking allopathic and natural medicines. They will have to critically evaluate whether the therapies they are receiving are appropriate in terms of interactions, evidence-base, licensed indications and also check the herbal ingredients which are subject to various restrictions in the UK.

Learning Outcomes

This module covers the following outcomes in the GMCs Outcome for Graduates.

Outcomes 1 − Professional values and behaviours

Professional and ethical responsibilities

2c Summarise the current ethical dilemmas in medical science and healthcare practice; the ethical issues that can arise in everyday clinical decision-making; and apply ethical reasoning to situations which may be encountered in the first years after graduation

2j Recognise the potential impact of their attitudes, values, beliefs, perceptions and personal biases (which may be unconscious) on individuals and groups and identify personal strategies to address this

Dealing with complexity and uncertainty

6a Recognise the complex medical needs, goals and priorities of patients, the factors that can affect a patient’s health and wellbeing and how these interact. These include psychological and sociological considerations that can also affect patients’ health

6c Identify the need to adapt management proposals and strategies for dealing with health problems to take into consideration patients’ preferences, social needs, multiple morbidities, frailty and long term physical and mental conditions

Leadership and team working

8c Recognise and show respect for the roles and expertise of other health and social care professionals and doctors from all specialties and care settings in the context of working and learning as a multi-professional team.
 

Outcomes-2 Professional Skills

Diagnosis and medical management

14j Take account of patients’ concerns, beliefs, choices and preferences, and respect the rights of patients to reach decisions with their doctor about their treatment and care and to refuse or limit treatment

Prescribing medications safely

18m Respect patient choices about the use of complementary therapies, and have a working knowledge of the existence and range of these therapies, why patients use them, and how this might affect the safety of other types of treatment that patients receive
 

Outcomes 3 − Professional knowledge

Clinical research and scholarship

26a Explain the role and hierarchy of evidence in clinical practice and decision making with patients

26b Interpret and communicate research evidence in a meaningful way for patients to support them in making informed decisions about treatment and management

26i Describe the concept of personalised medicine to deliver care tailored to the needs of individual patients
 

Conveners

View in Curriculum Catalogue
Last updated 07/01/2025.