Complementary and alternative medicine: opportunities and challenges

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has emerged as a significant sector within the health care industry as patient demand has increased, as the number and diversity of providers has grown, and as more providers deliver evidence-based CAM modalities to patients. The challenges confronting health care organizations that offer CAM are both similar and dissimilar to organizations that do not offer CAM. The unique challenges will be described in a way to provide academics and health care finance practitioners with a plan to address these challenges which range from lack of third-party coverage to lack of knowledge about financing CAM among patients and providers. Not only will the unique challenges be described but the distinctive opportunities to finance CAM will be highlighted. These opportunities will be discussed from both a financial perspective and innovation perspective with the aim of providing academics and health care financial practitioners with a rationale to offer CAM to patients and get compensated for providing these services.     

Occupational therapy as an academic discipline in Finland

The aim of this short report is to outline the relation between Finnish educational policy and the dualistic educational structure of Finland, to describe the consequences of this system for education in occupational therapy at university level, and to speculate on the likely development and challenges facing academic occupational therapy education in the future. The authors have been involved in the development process. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.     

Public health workforce development: progress, challenges, and opportunities.

The public health workforce is key to strengthening public health infrastructure. National partners have articulated a vision of a sustainable and competent workforce prepared to deliver essential public health services. Six strategic elements provide a framework for action: monitoring workforce composition; identifying competencies and developing related curriculum; designing an integrated life-long learning delivery system; providing individual and organizational incentives to ensure competency development; conducting evaluation and research and assuring financial support. Partners convened in January 2003 to review progress and to re-evaluate strategies in light of the recently released Institute of Medicine reports on infrastructure and workforce issues. Although significant challenges remain, there is convergence on priorities for competency development, research questions to be addressed and next steps in the national dialogue on certification and credentialing in public health.     

精准医疗:分子流行病学的机遇与挑战

自2003年人类基因组计划完成,到2015年1月美国总统奥巴马宣布启动精准医疗计划,人类初步完成基因组到生物学、生物学到健康、健康到社会的三级跳。作为新型交叉领域,精准医疗的产生和发展离不开生命科学、基础医学、临床医学、流行病学、统计学、社会学和信息学等多学科的共同支撑和促进。分子流行病学作为流行病学与分子生物学的交叉学科,被认为是促进精准医疗的核心力量。本文将基于精准医疗和分子流行病学各自的特点和研究进展,着重探讨分子流行病学对精准医疗的贡献和意义,并展望精准医疗未来可能的机遇与挑战。     

Entry-level practice: challenges, obligations, and opportunities

Each of us has a unique and varied set of experiences, ideas, and skills that we bring to dietetic practice. This diversity is the strength of the profession. With a strong commitment to provide nutrition services to the public, entry-level practitioners can successfully meet the challenges, fulfill the obligations, and maximize opportunities in a way that will make the vision of the future a reality for the profession of dietetics.