Building Bridges

1
Building Bridges
Bastyr University Naturopathic Physician Research
Education Project (N-PREP) Rachelle McCarty ND
MPH

• Qualitative Assessment of a Clinical Faculty
  Exchange between a Naturopathic and an Allopathic
  Medical Training Program

2
Clinical Exchange Goals

• To provide Bastyr faculty an opportunity to
  observe how evidence-based medicine (EBM) is
  performed at the University of Washington (UW),
  and UW faculty to model EBM to Bastyr students at
  Bastyr Center for Natural Health (BCNH)
• Foster integrative medicine at both clinics

3
Program Overview

• Administrative support for observation agreements
  (immunization/TB updates, background checks,
  approval signatures, name badges)
• Bastyr faculty observe four hours weekly at UW
  for three months
• UW faculty observe once monthly at BCNH
• Faculty schedule shifts themselves

4
Program Evaluation - NDs

• All Bastyr faculty completed written evaluation
  to determine if program goals were met
• EBM observed
• change teaching/practice
• impediments to EBM at BCNH
• satisfaction with program
• Based on informal feedback, added Qualitative
  Assessment 2 one-hour focus groups, individual
  structured interviews

5
Four Questions

• What did you take, if anything, from the clinical
  exchange experience beyond what was specified in
  the grant?
• How are you using and implementing these ideas
  and experiences?
• Were there any other unexpected benefits in the
  areas of teaching, administrative processes or
  clinical practice? If so, what were these
  specifically?
• What additional comments, suggestions or
  recommendations do you have for future clinical
  exchanges?

6
Methods and Results

• 53 of core clinical faculty (22 of all clinical
  faculty) completed a clinical exchange between
  October 2007 and July 2010
• Nine participated in either a focus group or a
  structured personal interview
• Two independent manual content analyses of
  transcribed notes yielded eight major themes
• Consensus by team results in six final categories

7
Six Themes

• Integrating EBM into ND Clinical Teaching
• Strengthening of Professional Relationships
• Exposure to Clinical Experiences outside the
  Usual ND Scope
• Reaffirmation of Naturopathic Training and
  Profession
• Observation of Clinical and Administrative
  Resources
• Recommendations for Future Clinical Exchanges

8
Team

• Robin Fenn PhD
• Barak Gaster MD
• Wendy Weber ND PhD MPH
• Jane Guiltinan ND
• Manuscript accepted to EXPLORE The Journal of
  Science and Healing

This work was supported by a grant from
National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine National Institutes of Health U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services www.nccam.
nih.gov