Bastyr University
Naturopathic Physician
Research Education Project
(N-PREP)
Rachelle McCarty ND MPH
Building
Bridges
Qualitative Assessment of a
Clinical Faculty Exchange
between a Naturopathic
and an Allopathic Medical
Training Program
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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