Challenges associated with developing research capacity amongst complementary medicine (CM) practitioners: a case study from a {CM} higher education ins

摘要

Purpose: Background: Contemporary higher educationinstitutions are required to showa commitment to scholarshipand the advancement of new knowledge through researchwithin their faculty. In fields where training has historicallybeen underpinned by a focus on technical skills, such as complementarymedicine, meeting these requirements requiresdeveloping research capacity within a faculty which is highlyskilled as practitioners and educators but may have limitedskills in research.Methods: Methods: Secondary analysis of an internalorganisational climate survey involving the faculty (n=389) ofa leading complementary medicine higher education providerin Australia which examined attitudes towards research andexperience with a range of research activities.Results: Results: The majority of participants (n=202,response rate 51.9%) identified research as being important totheir profession (89.5%) and to their personal goals (86.0%), andthat it was important to have clinically-trained researchers(83.1%). However, only 16.5% had published in a peer-reviewedjournal despite 70% reporting having designed, conducted andcompleted some original research. Nearly 1 in 5 participantsidentified having no interest in undertaking a research higherdegree. Participants were more likely to be interested in pursuinga higher degree by research if they had experience withjournal publications or research projects.Conclusion: Conclusion: The advancement of new knowledgeand the sustainability of the professions of complementarymedicine will rely on faculty in academic departmentsof higher education institutions to undertake meaningfuland relevant research. For this to be achieved some challengestowards developing research capacity will need to beaddressed. A number of solutions to overcome the differencebetween interest and capacity will be proposed.